Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Having played for 20 yrs, and owned all kind of basses I finallybought myself a 4003-fireglow.

Altough cosmeticwise it isn't nice, I removed the pickup cover as it was so in the way for for fingerstyle playing. Are there any alternatives where it looks better, and gives me a sort of thumbrest (like some otherbrands-and their pickups do).

Or is this a thing to more RIC-newbee's like me? One way or the other I have to find a way, because I never going to part from my 4003, as this was a big wish from me to own and play one. Beside that I love the sound so much....feel like Chris and Geddy LOL.

Any thoughts on this?

I find that to play a rick bass finger style, you can jam your thumb inside the pickup cavity and rest it on the pickup itself.

I do think that Rickenbackers definatly lend themselves more to pick playing tho.

Yeah, i agree it looks not that great with the cover off, but that piece of plastic is ridiculous

Welcome aboard, Robin.

The bridge pickup cover sure looks very nice, though lots of people take it off for playability reasons (myself included, except my 4001 fretless). Rest assured that you're not the only one.

Some rest their thumb on the pickup bobbin and some on the mounting surround. However, you don't want to see your treble pickup rot like this due to lack of protection from sweat and scratches. The coils might get inadvertantly damaged too:



How about fitting a hi-gain neck pickup cover to the bridge pickup bobbin? They fit snugly. The ugly magnet and fragile coils are thus covered and protected.
Pleases my eyes too.



P.S.-It's feasible to ground the new cover to avoid hum when touched.

I always thought that was a RIC Humbucker you installed there, Paul. I guess I didn't look hard enough.

I prefer to leave it on, I like the looks of it on. It doesn't get in the way of my fingerstyle playing, since I play near the neck, over the neck pickup mostly.

I tried, but i cant play with it on. The strings have too much give over the pickguard/neck pickup area and my playing just makes it buzz

Welcome Robin,
I think the majority of Ric players take off the covers because that area is a prime plucking area, (PPA) and like Owen says the strings are just taught enough right over the pickup, and to me also gives the best balance of boom and crispness when plucked there. You will also get used to the looks of it, and probably end up liking them better with the cover off as I do. (although they do look cool with the covers on too) I move my hand (and pick) up and down from the bridge to the neck depending on the sound I want, Rics are especially sensitive to where you pluck them due to the clarity of the pickups IMHO.
When I get a new one the first thing I do is remove the cover.

Me too. I remove it upon reception of a new one, or else I can't play and appreciate it.

I play with a pick most of the time, resting my palm in front of the mute and mostly pick 1/2"-1" in front of the treble pickup. The cover just gets in the way of my picking hand.

Bob is right on about Ricks being sensitive to where you pick due to the clarity of the pickups. I also tend to think the neck-through design contribute a lot to this phenomenom.

The pickup cover on my '72 fretless stays on since I pluck her strings with fingers almost exclusively between the two pickups and can live without the sound produced by plucking over the treble pickup.

Robert,
"A RIC humbucker"?
Ha, not a bad illusion at all, though I like the single coil sound better.

I always leave the cover on, theres something special about the tone if you pick hard around the neck pickup, and you get loads more "clank". The buzzing that Owen mentions is half the fun for me, it has to fart and rasp or its just "not right", thats the criteria for me, my '69 and '80 4001s do it very nicely, the others dont.

yeah it does seems that the old 4001's can take a bit more beating playing wise. the 4003's seem to just fart if played hard

I've always left mine on becuase I have watched and tried to apply Chris Squire's picking techniques to my playing. One place where he lays his hand to pick is on the horseshoe/bridge cover. Its never been a problem for me because I play mostly v63s with the horseshoes anyway. Leaving it on gives me two great sweetspots for playing with a pick -- resting your hand on the horseshoe, and resting your palm on the base of the bridge. But it can be problematic when playing with fingers, which I guess is why Geddy Lee never seemed to have any use for the cover.

Squire's bass had a horseshoe where the cover is really an intregrated part of the pickup ... the cover is a magnet ... whereas from the 70's on the cover is a piece of plastic with chrome on it that seems to get in the way.

it's a matter of personal taste, but I think that the bass looks incomplete without the cover. I also follow the Squire school and rest the heel of my hand on the cover. It took some getting used to, but now seems natural.

Oh, there's no doubt you can make do quite well with the cover on, but I don't want to limit my position options. And I never wanted to be like Chris Squire.

I've always wondered if the plastic Hi-Gain cover is also adding something to the tone of the pickup's tone. Has anyone ever notice a subtle difference in sound with or without it?
I'm guessing if it is, it's really there to "mimmick" the look of the Horseshoe. I know these two pickups are totally different.