Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well first, I have find a 4004Cii/5. If I can get that far, i'm considering replacing the pickups. Routing is no problem and the pots will be replaced by concentrics so that I have volume and tone controls for each pickup. Does anyone have any pickup suggestions?

There are supposed to be Darkstar 5 pickups available this summer. I'd bet that would be an awesome combination!

I know Greg used Barts.....I'm sure he'll chime in with some specifics......

Bartolinis would be an excellent choice. By the time you find one RIC may have the new pickups ready to go though.

Thanks. Here are my issues right now:

1) I picked up a Warwick Streamer Stage 1 on clearance a few weeks ago. I can get a decent low-mid growl out of it and that works well for our type of music. The problem with the Warwick is that the neck is really wide and not the most comfortable to play. I can still return it under GC's 30-day policy.

2) Most other active fivers tend to be a little too modern-sounding to me. I'm not into that sound. I like the tonal flexibility of an active bass, but I'd like something a little more passive-sounding.

3) I have a Lakland Skyline Joe Osborn 5 that has the J-Bass sound down pretty well, but I'd to also have something with a bit more growl.

4) I have a hard time playing fingerstyle on a 4003s5 and just parted with one.

So I looked at what I liked about the Warwick and realized it's an all-maple body. The Cii/5 is a maple/walnut sandwich on the wings and maple in the middle, so I might get part of that tone going for me. The neck doesn't look like it will be an issue for me since I don't many problems with Ric necks. So I figured I could take a shot at a used Cii/5 and have a growly passive fiver with the possibility of using an external preamp if I want to go active.

I have been casually searching for a Cii/5 for some time with no luck (with the exception of Ed Roman's vastly overpriced TG.....which appears to have been sold recently) so, by all means, give it a shot but don't hold your breath on finding one!

BTW....if you happen to find two drop me an email for a generous bribe.

EDIT....double posts are a good way to raise your post count.....

carvin has some new soap bar pickups that can be passive or active ... they are supposed to have good mid response ... but I haven't heard them ... Seymour Duncan and Bartolini both make soap bar models of various sizes ... and of course there is EMG ...

if you want an external preamp the sans amp and the bass pod do that and more ...

Also for anyone who is dumping a set of HB2 pickups I will take them ...

Jeff......I have an HB-1 that I inadvertently "killed". If you'd like it for a rewind project I'll send it off to ya'.....or I could just toss it in the garbage.


edit.....maybe I'll stop posting today! I see you wanted HB-2's so disregard.

I've never tried a rewind ... there is a learning process that I haven't gone through yet ... I send most of my dead pickups to Sergio and let him do whatever he wants with them ... the hb1 is really sealed up with epoxy and hard to take apart ...

but before you throw it away check for simple broken solder points ...

I nicked a wire trimming the black rubbery junk....long story but apparently a "loop" of winding wire was loose and extended out towards the edge of the p/u base. I already have a new one on the way so to the garbage the busted one goes!

How about Thunderbird Pickups? They have that same kind of soapbar profile and are not active pickups, have a nice growl...just a thought!

I am getting my Cii/5 modded now with custom made pickups to fix the factory problem. They are supposed to be making a wider pickup but not needing to do any routing. It will supposedly extend over the top of the body slightly on either side. I wanted to leave the body alone so that I could retrofit a factory fix once available. I should have this next week and will update the forum.

Would the Bartolini's seen earlier in this thread drop right in or does this require a change to the body? Any insight on how these sound? I might go that route on my second Cii/5.

The last thing in the world I wanted to do was route that new bass. I tried everything. New strings, adjustments, new strings, more adjustments, etc.. nothing worked. After I shot my big fat mouth off, there seemed to be no fix forthcoming. As a last resort, I installed the barts. If I had known at the time that there was that guy local to me, who does alot of RIC repairs, I would have taken it to him. Instead David King installed them for me. The whole episode was and is tramatic for me, and I wish an option would have been available to me that would have allowed me to fix the problem without routing.