Position of bridge pickup

[Dr. Frankenrick]

I'm going to throw this out there to the floor. In my opinion, the bridge pickup on Rick guitars is positioned too close to the bridge.

For another project I am working on, I have a surface mount goldfoil style pickup attached straight to an output jack. I tried placing it on top of my Rick and found that I much preferred the sound of the pickup positioned a centimetre or two forward from the actual position of the bridge pickup on the guitar. It still had a chiming top end, but sounded much richer. When placed right up against the bridge it lost a lot of the body and power.

[iiipopes]

Placement of the bridge pickpup is a trade-off between jangle and girth. On my 1981 320, which has the 21 inch scale instead of the 20 3/4 325's, the pickups were still in the old positions, with the additional 1/4 inch in scale length made by moving the bridge back, effectively changing the tone of the bridge pickup as the OP described - being that much farther from the bridge. Until I figured that out, I wondered why my guitar did not have the bite of the early Beatles' records.

YMMV, but to me, my taste for a Rickenbacker is to have a little more edge or jangle, even at the expense of "body" of tone, so I actually moved my bridge pickup back closer to the bridge as is on the 20 3/4 inch scale models.

[Dr. Frankenrick]

Placement of the bridge pickpup is a trade-off between jangle and girth. On my 1981 320, which has the 21 inch scale instead of the 20 3/4 325's, the pickups were still in the old positions, with the additional 1/4 inch in scale length made by moving the bridge back, effectively changing the tone of the bridge pickup as the OP described - being that much farther from the bridge. Until I figured that out, I wondered why my guitar did not have the bite of the early Beatles' records.

YMMV, but to me, my taste for a Rickenbacker is to have a little more edge or jangle, even at the expense of "body" of tone, so I actually moved my bridge pickup back closer to the bridge as is on the 20 3/4 inch scale models.

Interesting take on it, though I suspect that the proximity of the bridge pickup is one of the reasons Rick owners struggle to balance the output between neck and bridge. People saying that a 12k hi gain in the bridge balances about right with a 7.4 k toaster in the neck reflects my experience.

[Ric5150]

Placement of the bridge pickpup is a trade-off between jangle and girth. On my 1981 320, which has the 21 inch scale instead of the 20 3/4 325's, the pickups were still in the old positions, with the additional 1/4 inch in scale length made by moving the bridge back, effectively changing the tone of the bridge pickup as the OP described - being that much farther from the bridge. Until I figured that out, I wondered why my guitar did not have the bite of the early Beatles' records.

YMMV, but to me, my taste for a Rickenbacker is to have a little more edge or jangle, even at the expense of "body" of tone, so I actually moved my bridge pickup back closer to the bridge as is on the 20 3/4 inch scale models.

Interesting take on it, though I suspect that the proximity of the bridge pickup is one of the reasons Rick owners struggle to balance the output between neck and bridge. People saying that a 12k hi gain in the bridge balances about right with a 7.4 k toaster in the neck reflects my experience.

I wouldn't say it's a struggle - that's the reason the '5th' knob was added.

A 12k toaster pairs well with a scatterwound in the neck, as well - but as it turns out, I also prefer the sound of a 12k toaster in the neck on 6-strings, so I'm back to being unbalanced.

[kt66]

I wouldn't say it's a struggle - that's the reason the '5th' knob was added.

.

spot on,

I always regard the neck pick up as the main one, and bridge secondary, I have never liked
the all treble sound some players go for on Ricks.

So many players only use the bridge pick up and I think that misses so much of the tone of these fabulous guitars.

I love playing my 340/6 with selector "up" ie neck pick up (and maybe middle too???)
and dial the 5th knob towards the treble end, at a certain point magic happens and it gets an almost acoustic guitar type
sound.

[jps]

I wouldn't say it's a struggle - that's the reason the '5th' knob was added.

.

spot on,

I always regard the neck pick up as the main one, and bridge secondary, I have never liked
the all treble sound some players go for on Ricks.

So many players only use the bridge pick up and I think that misses so much of the tone of these fabulous guitars.

I love playing my 340/6 with selector "up" ie neck pick up (and maybe middle too???)
and dial the 5th knob towards the treble end, at a certain point magic happens and it gets an almost acoustic guitar type
sound.

This refutes that!

[iiipopes]

...and dial the 5th knob towards the treble end, at a certain point magic happens and it gets an almost acoustic guitar type
sound.

Yes! I have a magic point like that on my 1981 360-12WB FG ckbd.