Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

How does this sound? I love the feel of these basses, and I want one, but the shoes get in the way of where I play.

Has anyone taken off the shoes?

yeah the tone changes slightly, but hard to quantify.

just toss 'em over to me when you're done...

No, send them to me!

John-

There was a thread a few days ago that covered this topic. See thread entitled "4001V63 Horseshoe PUP."

I have removed the horseshoes on my C64S and on my V63. I didn't notice any significant difference in tone, but its not exactly a controlled experiment for a few reasons that I can think of off hand: 1) When removing the 'shoes, it is hard to get the pickup in exactly the same position it was in before the mod relative to the strings. 2) When I've done this mod I've replaced my old strings with new ones. 3) Once the mod is done, my fingers are then plucking the strings from a new location (directly over the pickup), which does affect the tone slightly.

Those are good points Jeff. They would seem to explain why some people report a slight tone change after removing the shoes.

V63's get noisier and sound less full to me, I had two and both sounded the same and I kept them like that for a while, the sound was degraded enough for me to sell both of them as I couldn't play them with the shoes on them. I think they sound better with the shoes on.
But, I've never heard a C64 with or without shoes.

Well, here is another question then... what's the difference in sound between the horseshoe and a new hi-gain?

I only have experience with the V63 horseshoes and this is a very subjective thing but to me they were a little less aggressive and a little smoother sounding which i think had a lot to do with the horseshoe part, they were more refined sounding with the shoes on them to me.

The high-gain has rubber magnets that lay under the bobbin. The modern horseshoe has fairly large alico poles instead. The windings are probably different as well. The V63 pickup is very hot and I understand that the C64 is toned down a bit. The vintage horseshoes are totally different. They are not very hot and have magnetic shoes. They have a wonderful tone when used properly. To get the best sound, they must be played fairly softly. The narrow gap between the pole pieces and the horseshoes does not give the strings much room to move. The string will hit the poles or magnets if struck too hard. Squire gets around it with his picking technique. He tends to move the strings side to side (parallel to the top of the bass) so he can play hard without clanks and pops. It would be difficult to do the same thing finger-style.

The sound of the horseshoe with the cap removed is muddy.

A real one you mean? You guys realize I've never seen nor heard a real horseshoe except on recordings or in pictures.

yeah,bob, i hate to admit it but a real one without the cap sounds funky.maybe thats why they are there.

interesting. I took the cap out of my '65 and overall it improved the sound - I guess each one is different....

A friend of mine has a 68 4001 - with the original pickups. if it had a cap on the horseshoe, its been removed. It sounds just like a later rick to me - the horseshoe is FAR louder than the toaster.

Honestly, i think ill never play a 60's rick bass anda friends dad has one!

Just ask nicely Owen....