Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all, this is my first post to the forum. I have an 81 4001 and the A and D polepieces are higher than the E and G on both the bridge and neck pickups. The E string is much lower in output than the A and D (the G isn't that bad). After seeing the toaster conversion pictures here on the forum, I was wondering if I can remove the A and D polepieces, shorten them and then reinstall in order to even out the string to string balance?

I am not sure if the coil is wound directly onto these pole pieces making this mod impossible.

I have already modified the bridge pickup to RWRP making the bass humcancelling in the middle position.

Thanks!

I believe you may damage the windings. IIRC, the coil form is the circuit board material and poles.

I tried to convert an 80s high gain to a toaster ... when I removed the iron slugs it destroyed the pickup ... if you want to convert a high gain to a toaster then use a 1990 or later high gain pickup to start with ...

There's a totally safe way to address the issue, John. I'm assuming that neither the A nor the D string are set too low at the saddle block on your Rick, of course.

Sergio, I checked the radius of the strings and it matches that of the fingerboard. So what is the safe fix?

I'm glad I checked in here before I went ahead and broke the pickups!

Thanks to all for the help.

Are you sure you want to try and fix the problem on your own?...
The steps involved are: removing both pickup assemblies from bass, then removing bass pickup from its cover and treble pickup from its surround and mount plate; removing magnets from pickups; slightly lowering A and D polepieces on both pickups; cutting two small, shallow routes on top surface of magnets to accommodate lowermost portion of said polepieces; re-placing magnets; putting back together both pickup assemblies; re-installing pickups on bass and re-soldering output leads to circuit.
Labour-intensive, I know, but worth it. Cheers.

Welcome John Bednar. Time for an S O S - Send it Over to Sergio. He does great work.

Sergio, the labor is no problem, anything that you love is worth putting the time into it!

I already flipped the magnet and reversed the polarity on the treble pickup so the bass is hum cancelling when both pickups are on, so taking the pickups apart again won't be a problem.

My main worry was moving the polepieces without breaking the coil. I have moved polepieces on strat and P bass pickups without killing them, I was just wondering if I could do the same with the rick pickups.

Instead of cutting two routs into the magnet, can't the ends of the lowered polepieces be trimmed or filed to the same length as the E and G poles?

Again, thanks for the advice!

Hi John.
Yes, it is safe to move the A and D polepieces ONLY.
As for trimming or filing their ends, well, if you have the right tools it should be fairly easy. However, I believe it's better that both polepieces remain slightly taller than the E and G ones.

Here's a photo of a late-'80s HiGain that I modified by pushing the center polepieces right down to the surface of the bobbin and then grinding off almost all of the tops of the buttons. I either ground or filed down the two portions of polepieces that stuck out the bottom. The pickup has always worked fine.

This was originally for an experimental project in 1987 (Hint: I bought a lapsteel in 1986), and is now being used in another project from 1989. The polepiece spacing is slightly wider than I'd like, but it still sounds great and there is no noticible weakness in the strings that are off the polepieces.

Quite an interesting mod indeed. From the photo I presume you also made the magnet somewhat shorter, right?

Yes, the magnet is about 1/3 of its original height. I did the routing so that a regular HiGain would fit and it would have required a much deeper rout if I had left this magnet at its full height. Didn't seem to make much of a difference in signal strength for this instrument.