Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This afternoon I pulled the high gains out of my brother's Fireglow 360-12 and installed a pair of toasters that he'd bought. He and I both expected that the guitar would offer improved tone with the toasters (especially considering that it's a 12-string), but WHOA!!! It's like a different guitar now. The improvement, especially with the neck pickup, is unbelievable. Has anyone else had a similar experience of being blown away by how much better the toasters sound in a direct comparison -- on the same guitar -- to the high gains?

On which Ricks do the high gains shine? Or are the toasters always going to be the better pickups?

I am in agreement that they are alot different, but both have the Ric characteristic. I have never done an A/B like you have, but I too like the toasters on my 360/12. I still think the hi-gains are great sounding, warm and smooth. Toasters seem crisper, hey, why not, after all, they are called toasters. I am thinking of putting them on my 330. You can get them for $67 a piece at music123.com !! Is it is an easy swap to make ?

Steve, it's easier than it could have been -- with the Rick 5th knob setup I was fearful of pulling back the pickguard and finding all manner of wiring insanity. But fortunately it was a simple two-wire solder job (lead wire to the switch, ground wire to the pot), alot easier than some of the Gibson/Duncan four-wire situations I've dealt with.

I've played high gain equipped Ricks (my first Rick was an '89 620) and toaster Ricks as well (I've owned/own a 325C58, a 1997 Re-Issue, and a 360v64), but this was my only experience of an A/B comparison of the pickups on the same guitar. The 620 sounded great, as did the 360-12 with the high gains (pre-toasters). I agree that both types of pickups have their pluses.

My 620-12 sounded good with its original hi-gains, but the neck pickup was too muddy to be used by itself, so I put in a pair of pre-scatterwound toasters that I had unwound to 7.5k ohms. The neck pickup became usable, and beautifully so. I now found the bridge pickup to be harshly bright. So I put one of the high gains in the bridge position, after modding it to accept the toaster cover. Now it has the bright chrome look of two toasters with a sound that is the best of both worlds.

Nice compromise Ted. Do you find an imbalance between the two in terms of hum in any way. I would love to see a photo of it.

Wow, you guys are HARD CORE !!! Realize, just by shopping for Ric's, we are in the vast minority, but to mix and match pick-up electronics and aesthetics, you start to fall within the 0.001 percentile.

Ted, having read your post, it supports my rough generalisation that hi-gains in 21 fret gtrs are a little too muddy & 7.4 scatterwounds are a little too 'scratchy' (although I have been talking about thinlines
http://www.rickresource.com/cgi-bin/dis ... POST116116 )

Your compromise would seem to be a well thought out balance.

I have a 370-12 Mapleglo...came with high gains...I'd sold a 360-12 with hi-gains to buy the 370, but was never satisfied with the hi-gains...very muddy to my ears...I was always sort of disappointed with the guitar and its sound...and I tried EQ, boosters compressors, different amps, etc to unmuddy it...to no avail...a couple years ago I swapped the high gains in the 370-12 for scatterwound toasters...ansd yeah...it was like a brand new guitar...mud gone...high jangle...every guitar Ive owned has a sweet spot and the 370-12 is no different you do need to turn the tone down a bit to get it...but it made the guit come alive...

It wasn't hard to do if you can solder and keep track of little rubber grommets...took me about 1/2 hour to change out all 3, tighten the strings and tune...

The highgains on my 330 are superb. They don't do the toaster jangle/chime of a 12 but they are great as a 'picked chord' rhythm/lead guitar. They cut through the strat/les-paul sounds other jam-buddies use, and sparkle, bite and growl when pushed. This is through my 30 watt tube amp with the clean channel maxed out. Pick/strum gently and they're clean and lyrical, push a little harder and they bite - I've even had singers who have no clue about guitars come up and say they love the sound it puts out. Horses for courses, highgains for 6 string 330s.

I never really cared for the high gains. I found them too noisy and if it hadn't been for swapping my 330 for a 650, I would probably have change the high gains for toasters. A friend of mine had a 620/12 with toasters and I always loved the sound of that guitar on my amp!

i have hi gains on my 330/12 and toaters on my 360. you folks are prompting me to switch them.

hmmmm...
geoff

That might work out better, if you're not afraid to try it. I have almost the same thing, 360/12 and 330/6, with toasters on the 360/12, and hi-gains on the 330/6. I might say the toasters are a little "thin" for my taste, but with 12 strings, it makes so much sound, it's hard to call it thin. I am a novice, admittedly, but you might be happier with that configuration. The hi-gains sound so full and warm on the 300 series 6-string Ric's. When you want to rock out, wouldn't you want the high gains? And when you do rock out, that's usually on the 6-string, right? It would make sense to swap them, and see if you like it better.