Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi guys, this has probably been discussed before, I just couldn't find it in a discussion. I finally adapted enough **** together to have a stereo to dual mono cable to experiment with ROS. Everything works ok. Pickups are working independently, the switch is operating correctly etc. I ran the cable from the treble pickup into a distortion pedal and out to its amp. When I roll the treble PU volume all the way down, somehow distortion is bleeding through to the bass pickup. If I unplug the plug from the treble pickup cable or roll the distortion pedal volume control down it goes away. Why am I getting this bleed through??

Thanks

John

Hi John,
I do recall a thread to this effect somewhere - just not sure where. I don't think they are totally independent channels. Matter of fact I think you might notice the Tone setting are not isolated either. I think the higher volume setting Tone has effects on the lower volume setting Tone. But it does sound great!

Welcome to the disappointing aspect of the Ric-O-Sound hype. Although I was a disciple in the late 60's and early 70's it was studio work that opened my eyes and ears as to what had been propagated upon the bass world. Since 1975 any Rickenbacker that I have run in stereo has been modified to enable true separation of the pickups. One is at the mercy of factory specs when trying to utilize true stereo separation unless surgery is performed. At the least why would one think it is called "Ric-O-Sound" and not stereo. It sounded great, live in the late 60's early 70's running Acoustic 360's and Marshalls, until I personally tried to use effects, in the studio, with the vaunted "R-O-S" and was immediately disappointed with what I heard on playback. True stereo separation, without tone interaction between pickups, would be the obvious next "upgrade" to move "Ric-O-Sound" into the Next Gen like the cap/no cap option now available on factory spec instruments.
Just my humble opinion but I now know how to correct the inherent flaw in "R-O-S" through wiring mods so no biggie, just a minor PITA, for me to correct that fatal flaw. Even without "R-O-S" the "bleed" effect is noticeable, but, years of trial and error have shown the path to listening and making adjustments to achieve my own personal tone goals without "R-O-S'. As soon as my "on order" Fire-Glo C64 arrives my C64S will be modified for true stereo with round-wounds.

We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses.

So no way to solve it without some wiring mods. Oh well its still something to play around with. I still prefer mono just for the ability to mix pickups. If I ever did decide to run a stereo rig full time, Id probably just run out of the mono output to a splitter out to two separate amps.

"We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses"


Ha, that's great and so true. And I think Jeff Rath would agree with that statement. Of course some of us like VVT or stacked pots but that's just some old f*nder habits that are hard to break.

"We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses."

Agreed....I much prefer separating the signal into clean and dirty channels at the preamp stage. Running individual signals for each p/u always seemed, to me, to short change the Ric tone.

Boy, that'll be the day- when Jeff Rath and I agree on something!

Now if you two could stop yanking each other's B-string...

Bob, I'm glad you didn't say G-string.....

Yeah, that could get scary!

>>>We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses.<<<

That's funny! Sounds to me like the ROS jack still exists more for historical, rather than functional reasons. Much like the bridge mute.
Those HB1s are great pups, though I prefer a high gain and a toaster.

RoS never did much for me. I like running stereo with both pickups, one amp clean and one with some fx. Nice full rich Ric tone, and you can switch between pickups for more variety without losing the true stereo effect. Great fun.

"We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses."

As long as you like the same tone shading on both pups.

"We perfected Rick-O-Sound when we released the 4004 basses."

What exactly does that mean? Did you change the way they were wired?

In any case, I like it very much as it is (was?)through my 4003, though I don't often use it; mainly because of the logistics of hauling extra amps and cabs to clubs where nobody but me notices anyway.