650 with 3 pickups?

[kennyhowes]

Has anyone done this? Discuss.

[weemac]

Well, on a tremolo model with coil taps it would be sort of a Rickensuperstrat...

Eden.

[iiipopes]

From my experiments with pickups, I don't think there is enough tonal difference in the neck and middle pickups on a 24-fret 3-pickup guitar to justify it. Since on a 21-fret instrument the neck pickup is farther upstream under the double octave node, there is a significant enough tonal difference. That's my take on it.

[kennyhowes]

I could see that.

What about on a 21-fret instrument, like a 620 or a 450?

[iiipopes]

I could see that.

What about on a 21-fret instrument, like a 620 or a 450?

Yes, that does have enough difference in tonalities. And that's the configuration that really benefits from my 3-pickup wiring modification using a push-pull for the 5th knob. I do not care for the factory stock wiring of the "up" position of the selector switch having the neck and mid together. To me, it sounds indistinct and lacking in true RIC character. Again, with my experiments, I have found the most usable settings are with the push-pull. With the push-pull in push or down position, the bridge pickup has the .0047 capacitor inline, and only the neck pickup is sent to the "up" position of the selector switch, so the guitar functions like a vintage 330 or 360. With the push-pull in pull or up position, the bridge pickup bypasses the .0047 inline capacitor, and only the mid pickup is sent to the "up" position of the selector switch. This gives a completely different palette of tones that is not available with the stock wiring. PDF's are attached for download, both for mono and Ric-O-Sound wiring. This is how I have my own 320 wired. Note the Ric-O-Sound version has a different grounding to prevent ground looping and hum. The benefits are that all the pots all retain their original factory functions, and the push-pull, having the smaller knob, is not noticeable aesthetically.

So, to recap, with the push-pull in "push" or down position the selector switch is:
Up - neck pickup
Mid - neck and bridge pickups together with .0047 inline capacitor to bridge pickup
Down - bridge pickup with .0047 inline capacitor

And with the push-pull in "pull" or up position the selector switch is:
Up - middle pickup
Mid - middle and bridge pickups together bypassing the .0047 inline capacitor to the bridge pickup
Down - bridge pickup direct, bypassing the .0047 inline capacitor

These are the mods that are the subject of this thread: http://www.rickenbacker.com/forum/viewt ... f=2&t=7928

370PushPullMod.pdf

(63.57 KiB) Downloaded 111 times

320PushPullMod.pdf

(77.23 KiB) Downloaded 105 times

[Ric5150]

I don't know. I much prefer blending the middle and bridge pickups to the neck and bridge on all of my 3-pickup guitars, 3 of which are 24-fret. I have a 350v63, a 350, and two 340s (all but the v63 being 24-fret). The 350 and one 340 have hi-gains, the other two 12k toasters. I personally find the 'improvement' more prominent with the hi-gains when running distortion. I'm definitely a fan of middle pickups - as long as you modify the switching.

Personally, I prefer just replacing the volume pots with push/pulls and running the neck and middle pickups through the switches. Pull the neck volume to kill the neck or pull the bridge volume to kill the middle. That gets you every pickup combination and everything else still works 'normally'.

[Dom]

I've longed for a 3 pickup 650 for years. Specifically I did a photoshop (now lost on my last computer) of a 3 HB1 650 Excalibur with the upper horn in the 325 shape.

I agree that switching on a three pickup guitar is everything. A master volume & 3 way for the neck & bridge & a separate volume for the mid gets you everything & is intuitive enough. On mine I lost the blend but that won't matter on a 650. Add phase switching and you can roll that in with the mid pickup too. Volume pots & push pulls are slow though. Simplest way I can figure between all 7 tone combos is using two three way switches...neck & mid on one then run to the upper lug of the next 3 way switch to choose between N & M selections and the bridge. Blend stays intact and one move still gets you the bridge pickup alone. I really have to try this out on a cardboard pickguard & see if it plays well and I can handle the aesthetic change on the 350.

I do find that with HB1's that I prefer the neck & mid coil tapped when used together, they get a bit frequency hungry when both bucking. The mid pickup on a 24 fret sounds like it is in a sweet spot to me and has an crispier edgier sound than the warmth of the neck. Sounds great alone.