Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So I was playing my 2030 today and got to wondering how the treble pickup could have so much gain. If you have never played a 2030, I have to tell you that they have output-o-plenty, especially in the treble pickup. The electronics are done quite differently from any other RIC model in that they are mounted on a piece of PC board. Very few wires are used and the pickup and ground wires are connected using a neat wire harness. Here is the control cavity with the cover removed.



The design concept is quite elegant and shows a lot of forward thinking. I wonder why RIC did not do more things like this. Here is the board removed from the cavity.






As you can see, the circuit is quite simple. I had always assumed there was some kind of active circuit in there that was driven by the AC supplied by the guitar cable. That does not seem to be the case at all.

Here is the cavity sans board.



Pretty cool, eh? The 2000 series is often overlooked by players. I think that is a mistake. They have very nice necks and produce some great sounds. Jeff Rath likens the sound of a 2030 to a ****** off P-bass. I understand what he means. The only thing I don't like about them is the short upper horn which, when strapped, makes the bass hang in the 3:00 position. I prefer a 1:30 to 2:00 hang. Also, it is not quite as pretty as some of RICs other designs. The raw power of these basses more than makes up for the lack of looks.

Excellent post.

So what would the advantages of the circuit-board be? Simply a less messy cavity? Would it make pickup changes easier?

I am surprised to see nylon shafts on those pots.

I assume the board would simplify manufacturing and assembly - less labor. It could have even lead to swappable tone modules.

There was a RIC guitar design - I believe by John Hall - that allowed for the rapid swapping out of pickups. I recall hearing that one example was built and it remains in the JH personal collection.

Great info Ted, thanks. I'm very unfamiliar with the 2000 series basses, never owning one or playing one all that much. That definitely makes a very neat control cavity, eliminating the wires that go from component to component within the cavity.

Shh Ted, the 2030 was supposed to be your's, Jeff's, and my little secret.

Ted, please save those for use in the book, if you can. Here's a shot of the wiring cavity on my Fireglo 2060, the later version of the 2000 series. By then, they had set up the controls like the 4004 series -- volume, tone, and microswitch.

The guitar with the modular electronics is the model 490.

The 2030 bass was touted as being an "active" ... but it is really passive ... it is a hot bass ... the pickups are 15k ohm series humbuckers and in combination with the circuit board it is a hot bass ... the first few years they actually had single coil pickups and the circuit board ...

The 2030 is an interesting bass ... but the 2030 bolt on necks don't seem to flatten out as nice and the 4000 neck through series ...

I got a 2030 a while ago as I thought it would be the only way of seeing what they were like. Got so say that it was not for me.

I found the neck seemed too flat, the markers on the binding and the fret edges made it hard for me to see where I was on the neck. The tone was OK, but not in the 4001 league IMO and the big thing was the weight. It weighed a TON. No idea what the actual weight was but it was much, much heavier than any other bass that I have ever played, and I like quite heavy basses.

The heavy maple body gives them a ton of sustain ... On my 1986 2030 you hit the E today and it is still ringing tomorrow ...

They are not for everyone but what bass is? Mine is no heavier than any of my other Ricks. Of course the weight of wood can vary. The bass is somewhat neck-heavy and unless you use a wide strap (or play in the 3:00 position) it will feel heavier than it really is. The radius of the fingerboard is the RIC standard 10" and the binding and side marker on mine are just like those on a 4000 series.

I think it was really our collective nostalgia for the 4000 body that kept sales from becoming a real hit.
The body shape doesn't draw my eye like a 4000 body does. The same goes for the 3000 series.

They do seem to be a very well thought out design.

Ted, I think the trouble with mine is that is had black binding on the neck and in dim lights this was a nightmare.

I remember reading in Bass Player that Adam Clayton had all his black bound Fender Jazz necks changed to white for the same reason, and I bet he was playing under brighter lights!