Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The answer to that is definitely "Yes, it can be sanded down." The procedure is not that much labor-intensive, and it won't damage the pickup coils.

What you wanna do is cut a shallow route lengtwise on the top of the pickup to accommodate the "chrome bar" on a toaster cover. The black, textured plastic wrap on a HB1 is roughly 1/32" thick, so I don't think you'll need to go much deeper than that, i.e. into the reddish epoxy stuff underneath it. Even if you need to go a bit deeper, rest assured no harm will come to the coils. Now I'm not familiar with the English names of the precise tools required, but unless you're really handy with those you should commission a professional to do the job. Cheers!

rickcrazy wrote:...Now I'm not familiar with the English names of the precise tools required...

Belt Sander

Bench Grinder

I seem to recall it was mostly the sides that were making it a little snug. The chrome bar of the cover just rests on the top on mine but up close you can just barely see the gaps in the sides of the toaster slots as the HB-1 has for it's elevated rectangular "notch" area for its standard cover.

This is going on the bridge position of a 330, so any signs of not looking "factory" will stick out like a sore thumb.

Sergio, thank you so much for your advice . I was hoping maybe a little work with an emery board on all 4 sides might slim it up enough for the toaster cover to fit like it does on a toaster, but I guess I'll have to give it a look.

whojamfan wrote:This is going on the bridge position of a 330, so any signs of not looking "factory" will stick out like a sore thumb.

Snowman, if I recall, Brian M. in Vancouver has Toaster-covered HB1s on some of his Rics, so you might also want to consult with him on the nitty-gritty of the steps involved.

whojamfan wrote:This is going on the bridge position of a 330, so any signs of not looking "factory" will stick out like a sore thumb.

Mike, They're under the pick guard now, but I seem to recall the gap between the base and the cover was very close, just not right in contact. and the gaps in the toaster slots are very close. Basically, you need to be right up on top of it to see it.

Ooh! VERY cool! I bet it sounds as good as it now looks! You did a great job restoring a 480 that was a victim of a hack job.

360girl wrote:Ooh! VERY cool! I bet it sounds as good as it now looks! You did a great job restoring a 480 that was a victim of a hack job.

Thanks! It does sound good....reallllly good!