Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

laplacian wrote:Anyone using 7.4 in neck and 12k in bridge? that would seem to be the logical combination.

Yep! My '65 360 OS is set up like that, plus with the .0047mfd cap. It's AMAZING...

Gary C. --- a question for you,
if we can pull you into this thread

That Pete Townsend model we played at the "Jammin with Jeff" session last Friday night sure had a wonderful, ultra-jangle, treble sound -- especially in that Bridge pickup. The Bridge pick-up played solo was quite different sounding than the Neck and Middle pickups.

I know you indicated that all three were stock pickups -- but do you know if they are different types (vintage or scatter-wound) or if all three have, in fact, the same output ??

I have never played a Rick that has such natural compression/chime like that particular Pete Townsend model !
It's cool !!

Anymore comments on this subject? I'm still debating this issue in my head. I played a friend of mine's vintage 360 with 7k toasters and I thought it sounded a little more bell-like than mine. It could also be the old HiLoTron/FilterTron thing where HiLoTrons sound really cool when you first hear them but after you play them for a while the thinness becomes apparent and their usefulness is diminished.

But I like HiLoTrons! I find I tend to prefer lower output pickups in general. I love P90's but they have to be on the lower end of the scale (7.5-7.. I also still prefer 7.4k scatterwounds over the original pickups in my 1997 reissue.

laplacian wrote:Anyone using 7.4 in neck and 12k in bridge? that would seem to be the logical combination.

Not toasters, but a freind of mine has a 480 with an 8.6K at the neck, and an 13K at the bridge position. They seem balanced.

Just some observations:

I recently installed some 11K toasters on my 2008 620 6-string...nice clean jangle, but also great when overdriven. The 11K toasters definitely have a brighter and more well-defined tone when compressed as compared to the original, adjustable-pole high gains.

My 370/12 RM (with TI flatwounds) sounds fabulous with their original "high gain" toasters, especially when the onboard compressor is set to the highest setting (full-on compression with treble boost). I've heard that the RM's toasters are closer to 9K...I've never really measured them.

My newest RIc, a 2009 360/12 C63 (TI flatwounds) with their 7.4K scatter wound toasters, has a nicely balanced tone, and it's pickups sound hotter than 7.4K....could be that the PU's are closer to the strings than on my other RICs????

I guess the debate of favoring 11K vs 7.4K will forever continue.......too many variables involved!

Ric HB's may be worth a try on the bridge as well.

Put me in the 12K toaster crowd. I'm lucky enough to have both a set of the 7.5K and the 11K toasters (actually mine are over 13K ohms resistance). I've tried out both on my Rick 360/12. I think the 12Ks sound both brighter, janglier and fuller than the 7.4Ks, more "alive" in fact. The 7.4Ks sound really bright and clear but the tone is rather "thin" compared to the 11Ks. I suspect the amplification you use makes a big difference, but my personal preference is for the richer, janglier, twangier tone of the hotter toasters. I'll still keep in the 7.4Ks around in case I feel the urge to get the authentic Beatles/Byrds 60s tone.

Welcome, Simon!

stsang wrote:Put me in the 12K toaster crowd. I'm lucky enough to have both a set of the 7.5K and the 11K toasters (actually mine are over 13K ohms resistance). I've tried out both on my Rick 360/12. I think the 12Ks sound both brighter, janglier and fuller than the 7.4Ks, more "alive" in fact. The 7.4Ks sound really bright and clear but the tone is rather "thin" compared to the 11Ks. I suspect the amplification you use makes a big difference, but my personal preference is for the richer, janglier, twangier tone of the hotter toasters. I'll still keep in the 7.4Ks around in case I feel the urge to get the authentic Beatles/Byrds 60s tone.

I think a lot, if not most, of this can be down to how one sets the tone controls on an amp. Some may find the hotter toasters thick and muddy, comparatively, to the nice, clean, rich, jangly 7.4k toasters, depending on the settings of the amp, and not changing them when switching instruments to get the most out the particular pickups on one's guitar.

Ron, thanks for the welcome! Good point about amp tone controls making a difference. That does make it tricky to perform apples to apples comparisons of the different toasters. One thing I forgot to mention is that I have the 0.0047uF capacitor wired into the treble volume. That seems to go a long way to reducing any muddiness of my 13K toaster. It also cuts the volume. It was only after installing the cap that I started to prefer the sound of the 13K toaster.

Welcome aboard the RRF, Simon !
There are lots of folks here who will share an interest in your swapping pickups and comparing the tone differences between the 11ks and the Scatterwounds and how the amp controls work into the equation.

Hey, thanks Rich! It's certainly great to be part of the RRF community. In the interest of science I swapped the 11K and 7.4K toasters again for comparison and to even things out, I also bypassed the 0.0047uF cap on the treble circuit. Frankly, both are great pickups and we are very blessed to have such wonderful instruments! OK, now for the opinions of a newbie to the wonderful world of Rickenbacker guitars...

The difference in sound from the 7.4K and 11K toasters was quite distinct using the same amp settings. The 7.4K toasters sounded fast, light, super-jangly, bright and clear as a bell - they had little to no mid bass even from the neck PU. It's 1965 all over again! On the other hand, the 11K toasters had a full range sound with strong mid bass from the neck PU. The bridge PU had plenty of jangle and sparkle with enough mid bass to make it sound "warm". I wouldn't characterize the sound in any way as "muddy" in my set up.

Playing around with the tone controls made a difference, but I wasn't able to get the 7.4K toasters to sound "rich" or "warm" in the same way that the 11K toasters naturally do. Conversely, the 11K toasters didn't sparkle and ring as clearly as the 7.4K toasters do, though they did jangle and "twang" wonderfully. But both sounded great and there's no mistaking the Rickenbacker sound! I guess it's down to your personal preference, the other equipment you connect your Rick to, and playing style. There are so many variables involved, for example simply changing from a 0.96mm to a 0.50mm pick made a substantial difference in tone with the lighter pick giving more sparkle. I use TI flat strings on my Rick.

In the end, I guess I feel the 11Ks give me a more balanced, versatile sound which works for me though I will certainly keep the 7.4Ks around in case I change my mind! My Rick came with the 11K toasters (they actually measure a little over 13K), so I've never experienced the sound of high-gains. I wonder how the 11K toasters compare to high-gains.

Just a follow up to my earlier post... Adding the 0.0047uF capacitor back into the treble volume circuit gives me that piercing trebly bright jangle sound you hear on The Beatles recording of "I Should Have Known Better". This is with the 11K toaster installed on my Rick. The capacitor really makes a big difference, maybe even more so than using the 7.4K toaster without the cap.

Cranking the treble control on a blackface Fender amp can induce some pretty good earbleed, too.

jps wrote: Cranking the treble control on a blackface Fender amp can induce some pretty good earbleed, too

Good point! Sadly I have no funds for a Blackface. That's definitely on my wishlist! Enjoy!