Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

mad_phingers wrote:How is the pickup selector on the LK set up?

Sorry I didn't mean to derail the thread......I was just being a tool!

The stock LK selector is wired with the bridge soloed/all/mid and neck pickup paired via the three position toggle. Mine is currently wired with a simple on/off toggle and V/V/V/T via dual stacked pots. I much prefer my current layout and it's completely reversible.

Cool avatar! I remember doing that with a '66 New Yorker that had a 440 and a 4 barrel carb.

coolhandjjl wrote:Cool avatar! I remember doing that with a '66 New Yorker that had a 440 and a 4 barrel carb.

Now you've done it. Talk about derailing a thread..... Be prepared.



Sorry Brian

re: do 4004's have a different pickup spacing? well yes,even among 4004's! one of the things i love about my '04 cii, is the pickups are in a spacing that the factory only did for a short period,(even though they still have that picture on their website),which places the bridge pickup very close to the bridge,and the jazz bass timbre is very easy to achieve with this. i have not really had the chance to see how the current placement compares,but i would think it would have to be somewhat different. playing the cii throo a sansamp vt and markbass combo,i get a lot of growl.....

johnallg wrote:

coolhandjjl wrote:Cool avatar! I remember doing that with a '66 New Yorker that had a 440 and a 4 barrel carb.

Now you've done it. Talk about derailing a thread..... Be prepared.



Sorry Brian

My friend, Warren (Full Cleveland), probably could have done that with his former GTX.

woodyng wrote:re: do 4004's have a different pickup spacing? well yes,even among 4004's

Right, I should have been more specific. I am asking if the more common, standard 2-pickup layout of a 4004 has different bridge pickup spacing than a 4003. Obviously the neck pickup is pushed back, for good or ill depending on who you ask. If it's in the same spot as a 4003 (the bridge pickup on most 4004s), then I can give a better representation of what it should sound like based on my 4003 with HB-1s. I've also played several 4004s and can remember a bit of an extra Jazz-ish thing from that pickup yet I don't really channel than on the 4003 so much, which is why I'm speculating about pickup placement.

coolhandjjl wrote:Do Ric humbuckers growl?

Just my opinion, all things being equal a single coil will far outgrowl a humbucker.

aceonbass wrote:I dropped a 2004 Escalade 6.0 LSX motor into my '66 Skylark last year and it lights up the rear tires quite nicely with the help of an Edelbrock intake and controller setup and Holly 750

Fellow motorhead, I have a Pontiac G8 GT with a 6.0L L76 in it, (364 CI) it's tuned, CAI, HSRK, tranny tune, I get third gear rubber in it, (auto/maual 6 speed) rear wheel drive, now back to the subject at hand.

rictified wrote:

coolhandjjl wrote:Do Ric humbuckers growl?

Just my opinion, all things being equal a single coil will far outgrowl a humbucker.

It is so hard for me to really pin down what a "growl" is in my head. In one sense I'm inclined to agree with you for the way that single coils like Hi-Gains seem really good at overdriving, on the other hand I feel like the warm consistency of humbucker tone allows you to overdrive the pickup in a more practical fashion than if it were a hot single coil. I'm not sure about low impedance pickups like Toasters but I have not experienced tons of this "growl" from them either. Pickup aperture could be a factor since Jazz Basses (associated with growl) have very narrow pickups.

When I think of growl on a bass, it's that woody vibration one gets from an upright, particularly on the E string (on mine, most prevalent from low F# to about Bb). Pickups have nothing to do with that. I believe what is being discussed here is a somewhat dirty sound that lies somewhere in between clean and overdrive distortion. It's an edgy sound with a bit o' crunch to it, but not too much.

FretlessOnly wrote:I believe what is being discussed here is a somewhat dirty sound that lies somewhere in between clean and overdrive distortion.

I agree John, I think that's what the OP, John is looking for, is the overdriven treble bite. Some call it a growl. For me the growl is that burpy/farty sound, which to me, seems to come from pickup design, placement and playing technique.

In that case, I think that frets and roundwounds play a not insignificant role in that tone.

To me growl on an electric bass is when the pickups are set close to the strings and have a little overdriven bite in them when plucked or picked hard, I've always felt that humbuckers were too clean in and of themselves. But then again I've only owned Gibsons and Fenders with humbuckers.

rictified wrote:To me growl on an electric bass is when the pickups are set close to the strings and have a little overdriven bite in them when plucked or picked hard, I've always felt that humbuckers were too clean in and of themselves. But then again I've only owned Gibsons and Fenders with humbuckers.

I've got some Gibson mini-humbuckers on a 6-string that definitely do that - get a bit ragged and biting when playing hard, when normal playing is set at a clean tone.