Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey all, just wondering if anyone can describe their experience with these pickups (how they sound, how you wired them, etc.). These are the pickups that fit in the mute assembly cavity.

Paul Alvarez - if you're reading, I noticed by searching this forum that you had one in your '74. Can you tell me more about it?

Also, does anyone know if the original Hi-A is much different from the later Bartolini puckups? I realize that they're all made by Bartolini, just wondering if the design changed over time at all.

One of the Hi-As just went on Ebay for $63. Did one of you snatch that up? I'm wondering if I should have tried harder to score that one . . . The description said something about using it to increase gain, which my '75 4001 could use. Anyway, let me know if these are worth checking out!

I have one of them ... I wired it into the neck volume pot ... it sounded ok but it did not sound as good as Ric pickups ... I took it out ...

for a 70s 4001 you can try 250k ohm tone pots, or try 4003 high gains or try a 4004 hb1 in the bridge position ...

Hey Ethan, I just saw your post. Yes, I have the ORIGINAL Hi-A bass pickup ever made by Bartolini in my '74 4001. It was wired to be in or out of phase with a small toggle switch. It is very bright and I liked how it added to the sound of my 4001. Since this was Bill's first attempt at a bass pickup, I would expect he's improved anything that came later.

HB1 in the bridge position - Dane used one on his 4008CS and it has an awesome full tone.

Ethan, the gain on my '76 4001 is also quite low compared to my other basses. However, I find the sound to be exquisite, so instead of messing with the bass, I just boost the signal with an outboard preamp.

I guess it depends on what context you need the gain for - are you switching between basses live?

I've considered switching basses live, but the difference in output makes it a little tricky. I may just do the preamp thing, as I like the variety of sounds of the 4001 pickups. Just thought it might be fun to add an additional pickup in the mute cavity, since that would make it easy to switch back to the stock pickups.