Hey Paul
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Timothy,
I'm sorry I don't have any mp3s of my bass' sounds, but I'll try my best to describe my impressions to you. (In an objective manner with a little bit of subjective flavor!)
Please bear in mind that I'm speaking as someone who plays with a pick and the current strings on my bass are Dean Markley medium light (45-65-80-105) nickel plated roundwounds. Also, I took away the four corner screws of the toaster which prevented it from getting as close as possible to the strings, solderd the ground wire to the base ring, held the pickup assembly together with duck tape along its 2 long edges, substituted the 2 rubber grommets with 2 very thin plastic washers and raised the pickup to its maximum height.
Overall, the toaster, despite being a little weaker in output level than the bridge high gain, it has a more defined, hi-fi sound to it. Imagine all the missing treble frequencies added back to the neck hi-gain and you have a basic idea of the toaster's sound. By "hi-fi" I mean crisp, clear highs and warm but well defined lows with the mid range scooped out a little.
Ever since the mod, I've been playing with the toaster soloed a lot because it sounds good to my ears. The bridge hi-gain used to be bright and edgy under comparison to the neck hi-gain, now it sounds "lo-fi" ( still very "in your face" though), compared to the toaster.
You can crank the toaster full up with the bridge hi-gain backed off a bit to have a hi-fi acoustic string bass sound with midrange "bone", or crank the bridge hi-gain and back off the toaster a little to have a gutsy sound that's still full-spectrum. And of course we all know how the bridge hi-gain sounds by itself.
Since I got the toaster as close as physically possible to the strings, the level difference between it and the bridge hi-gain is quite acceptable. (Timothy, is your neck hi-gain as loud or even louder than your bridge hi-gain? I really want to know the answer.)
I had been suspecting that my neck hi-gain was a defect (its output level was as low as the toaster and quite muddy) and Mr. Hall was very kind to let me send it back to be inspected. I've yet to know the result.
By the way, I bought my toaster from Chris Clayton at http://www.pickofthericks.com. $95 including shipping in the US. Best deal around.
And did I mention that the toaster looks so good?
Let me know if you have further questions.
I'm sorry I don't have any mp3s of my bass' sounds, but I'll try my best to describe my impressions to you. (In an objective manner with a little bit of subjective flavor!)
Please bear in mind that I'm speaking as someone who plays with a pick and the current strings on my bass are Dean Markley medium light (45-65-80-105) nickel plated roundwounds. Also, I took away the four corner screws of the toaster which prevented it from getting as close as possible to the strings, solderd the ground wire to the base ring, held the pickup assembly together with duck tape along its 2 long edges, substituted the 2 rubber grommets with 2 very thin plastic washers and raised the pickup to its maximum height.
Overall, the toaster, despite being a little weaker in output level than the bridge high gain, it has a more defined, hi-fi sound to it. Imagine all the missing treble frequencies added back to the neck hi-gain and you have a basic idea of the toaster's sound. By "hi-fi" I mean crisp, clear highs and warm but well defined lows with the mid range scooped out a little.
Ever since the mod, I've been playing with the toaster soloed a lot because it sounds good to my ears. The bridge hi-gain used to be bright and edgy under comparison to the neck hi-gain, now it sounds "lo-fi" ( still very "in your face" though), compared to the toaster.
You can crank the toaster full up with the bridge hi-gain backed off a bit to have a hi-fi acoustic string bass sound with midrange "bone", or crank the bridge hi-gain and back off the toaster a little to have a gutsy sound that's still full-spectrum. And of course we all know how the bridge hi-gain sounds by itself.
Since I got the toaster as close as physically possible to the strings, the level difference between it and the bridge hi-gain is quite acceptable. (Timothy, is your neck hi-gain as loud or even louder than your bridge hi-gain? I really want to know the answer.)
I had been suspecting that my neck hi-gain was a defect (its output level was as low as the toaster and quite muddy) and Mr. Hall was very kind to let me send it back to be inspected. I've yet to know the result.
By the way, I bought my toaster from Chris Clayton at http://www.pickofthericks.com. $95 including shipping in the US. Best deal around.
And did I mention that the toaster looks so good?
Let me know if you have further questions.
A high-gain in toaster's clothing? Piece of cake, Paul. In fact, I'm just making such a pickup for my 21 fret 4001. It's about power! I'll send you some details shortly.
In case you're wondering what becomes of those pickups I replace with my own, it's simple: I keep them in a safe place. For obvious reasons, I neither get rid of them nor take them apart.
In case you're wondering what becomes of those pickups I replace with my own, it's simple: I keep them in a safe place. For obvious reasons, I neither get rid of them nor take them apart.
A Rickenbacker bass is much like the Jaguar E car - perennially ultra-fashionable.
My neck and bridge hi-gains seemed to be fairly well balanced from the day I got the bass. After I put Pyramids on, I did raise the neck pickup as much as I could, (no modifications to the pickups by me) and I lowered the bridge pickup a bit. They still seem evenly matched in output.
I quite happy with the sound of the hi-gain pickups, but that toaster sure does look good!
I quite happy with the sound of the hi-gain pickups, but that toaster sure does look good!