Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi guys,

Yesterday I experimented with taking my cover off of my bass, It definitely felt different, but I just couldnt get over the giant hole it left. Anyway I noticed that the pickup shifts around a little on the mounting plate. I tried to tighten the two screws on the bottom of the pickup a little more, but they were as tight as they could go and I didnt want to torque them too much as I was scared Id break the pickup. Is it normal for the pickup to do this?

Thanks

John

So is the pickup sliding on its back plate? That shouldn't happen.

But the pickup is mounted to the back plate, and the back plate should be screwed to the pickup surround with the two large screws/springs. Because there is quite a bit of distance between where the screw head is anchored to the pickup surround, and where the screw's threads enter the pickup's back plate it is usually possible for the pickup to be pushed around and tilted slightly.

Yes the pickup is sliding on the backplate its self. Its not enough to matter, I can put some washers on the screws and I think it will stop it.

Yep, that will work - the washers, I mean. The problem with your treble pickup lies in the two screws that attach it to the base plate. Being a tad longer than they should, they're hitting the top pickup bobbin plate.

You get to like the giant hole look after a while. I'm very used to it as for many years the chance of seeing a Ric bass with the cover on was almost nil. People have only really been using the covers again for probably the last 5 years in any great number. I can't stand them.

A guy on talkbass is supposed to be making a bunch of inserts to sell that fits in the underside of the surround to fill in the hole. I hope he gets them made soon. I dont care much for the pickguardian mod. Another question.The (cloth?) wrapping around the pickup is starting to unravel a bit on the pickup. Not much, maybe a little less than half an inch or so. Im afraid ill snag it with my finger or something and jerk it loose. Is there an adheasive or anything that I need to use to tack it back down?

I have learned to live with the cover as I like the look and dont like the sharp corners that are left when the cover is removed. They have surely been designed like that to gouge and cut away at your hand whilst playing ! Just jesting, but I do not find it comfortable to play with the cover off. I made a similar plate to the Pickguardian and it was ok but I hated the look of it and very soon put it back to stock. I am surprised that a chrome plate hasnt been made by an accessory company like Allparts to remedy the problem?

John, try just a small dot of super glue at the end of the cloth tape to hold it from hanging. It shouldn't take much to hold it. It is wrapped about 3 or 4 times around, so even cutting off the 1/2" wouldn't hurt.

I bought the plexi pickup surround that Pickguardian sells. That looks lice and has no sharp corners. The pickup holds in there nicely.

Appreciate the info guys! I hope the guy on talkbass is still planning on fabricating plates that fit on the inside of the pickup surround to fill the hole around the pickup. The surround itself doesnt bother me. Upon further inspection I believe the previous owner filed the sharp corners off of it. You cant notice it unless you look for it, and even then you can't see the file marks unless you look inside the plate.

John

As Greg suggested John,,,,take a look at these:

http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html

Sounds like just what your looking for.

I appreciate the link, Ive seen them before, I just don't care for the look. I have no problem with the surround itself, and would like to use it as it still retains the "look" of the bass. What I want is a plate to fit on the underside of the existing surround with a hole just big enough for the pickup to come through. Like in the 3rd page of this thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=353745&page=3

John

To each his own I suppose.

IMHO, the plate pictured in the link above does not make the bass look any better than it would look without it. But I do see a problem with it: I play finger-style. My right hand floats around a bit, but spends a lot of time with my thumb resting on top of the treble pickup. Without that open space between the surround and the pickup, I wouldn't be able to rest my thumb on top of the pickup any more.

But that's just pointing out why I wouldn't want one. YMMV.

Yeah I can see where that would be a problem. For me (mostly finger style player as well) I've kind of learned to rest my thumb on the surround anyway, what screws me up is that I'm used to moving my thumb on the string above the one I'm playing. That's where the cover is kind of a hinderance, it gets a little cramped playing behind it, though by no means unbearable or impossible, just a little annoying, and if I play in front of the cover, the strings are a little less taught and I tend to stumble a bit.

Ahh, it sounds to me like you've discovered what many others here including myself have, John: That the ability to have access to one's guitar strings is important!

Some here will point out that shiny chrome things look cool, but pay no attention to them!

Rock on!