370/6 Modification

carr · Post by **carr** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 4:37 pm

I'd been lusting after a 370/6 for sometime and now having obtained one I am having some difficulty with the middle pickup. ( I dont have this problem with the 360, there being no middle pick up)
I constantly hit the middle pickup with my pick..I tried shortening the pick * grin* to no avail. Is there any simple way of lowering the pickup or do I just have to modify my playing style?

John

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 7:34 pm

I have had several three pickup guitars in my life .The hardest ones to pick were a Gibson ES-5 and a Les Paul Custom ...the easiest is my Strat.

If you have the rubber grommets,you could remove them or using a single edged razor blade ,slice them in half at the center line.Store the cutoff pieces in case you want to reinstall them.

If you have the foam pad ,first try removing the pad altogether.Stick the pad on a piece of wax paper for later.

If that does not make it ,then order a thinner pad from Rick.

carr · Post by **carr** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 7:54 pm

Thanks for that , Mark.
I'll lhave a look at the foam pad. One of the reasons I asked about modding a 360 to a 3 or even 4 pickup (much to someones hilarity) was to get the sound variance but I was looking at adding 2 strat type pickups to keep that centre height down. The 370 proved my fears

john

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Fri Aug 24, 2001 4:09 am

There are some cool things that can be done with the three pickup guitars .

Wiring opens up some very different things /possibilities and you could lower the middle pickup ALL the way down and still have a function.

Interested?

popster · Post by **popster** » Mon Aug 27, 2001 8:28 am

What is best (most versatile, easiest) way to wire a 3 pickup Ric?

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon Aug 27, 2001 10:53 am

My favorite way is to take the middle pickup off the selector switch .

I un wire the 5th knob except for the ground wire .

I take the bottom lugs on the switch and connect them together .

Next ,I un-wire the two output jacks .

If there was a mono /switching jack and a stereo jack in the Rick-o -sound jack on the jackplate then I do this ;

The .0047mfd cap goes to the hot on the stereo jack and then the other end goes to the hot on the mono jack .The lead from the mono jack goes to the connected lugs on the switch.

You must connect the grounds on the two jacks also .
What this will give you is two mono inputs .
1- is the vintage crisp tone (this is the Rick-O-sound jack)
2 is the full output 'modern' tone (this is in the Standard jack)

This gives you the best of both tones ! and makes for easy usage.

The 5th knob gets wired as the middle pickup volume control .You add this to the circuit at any time .

This gives you a choice of the typical two pickup guitar selections or by adding the middle to what ever you have on the switch ...it gives you two Strat style tones and all three at once!