Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone notice a sound difference between 325s with three toaster pickups connected and 325s with two toaster pickups connected (like John's). If you can, could you post a recording of the two types?

Well, Adam, I've said this before, but...rewiring a 5 pot 325 so that the 5th pot is a volume/cut control for the middle pickup, opens up an amazing variety of new sounds.

I've rewired my old '81 with only 2 pots when I did the "vintage" conversion on it. The two pots are both volume controls; one for the bridge/neck pickups, depending upon what the selector switch was selecting, the other is merely a volume control for the middle pickup.
(I decided that, since I rarely use a guitar's tone (treble rolloff) controls, I could dispense with these).

I can get the following pickup combinations with two knobs and one three-way switch:

B; B+N; B+N+M; N; N+M; B+M; M.

These seven distinctive sounds are all achievable with both volume pots in their full-on positions, and using only the 3-way switch. But the REAL fun starts when you choose which of the two pots to leave full-on, and which to turn down, and use the same switch positions. I can hear a difference in sound with about a quarter of pot travel. My ears are not super-sensitive, either; I'd be the first to admit that. Just working with the quarter-travel idea to vary the sound of any combination selected with the switch and/or the middle pickup pot, the options are now running into the hundreds very quickly, not that anyone would ever use 'em all.

Anyone have the formula for calculating this? (Doctor Who?)

This simple mod gives me dozens of tones impossible to achieve with a standard 5-pot harness.

Paul,

Have you ever done this/your mod on a 370/12? Sorry for getting off 325 specifics but I don't have one....YET!!!

Si..........

It would be the same on any 3-pickup Rick. Note that I went from 5 pots to 2, though (mostly for the vintage '58/'59 look!).

On a 5-pot 3-pickup Rick, the trick is to make the 5th pot a volume control for the middle pickup. It involves five minutes with a soldering iron. This gives you the same wide range of tones plus the options of treble rolloff for either bridge or neck pickup.

Hey Paul,

Which wires would one switch around to accomplish your 5th knob mod? I've changed pickups in my Ricks, but have always left the pots alone so I'm much less familiar with pot wiring theory, or whatever you want to call it. Do you have a schematic?

I'm interested in this too. I'd like to do it to my 350V63. Any links to a schematic?

Try this.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/service_g_schematics.asp

These are the stock factory schematics.

Here's the method, from the old alt. guitar.rickenbacker group:

How can I rewire my 325 or 350 to make the 5th knob
function as a volume knob for the middle pickup?

"What you end up with is a regular acting 2 pickup rick, less 5th
knob, and the fifth knob acts as a volume for the middle pickup.
The mid pickup functions independently of the switch, and it does
not utilize a tone knob. Works great on my 350, but takes a little
getting used to. To utilize the mid pickup by itself, you'd have
to kill the volume on the other 2 pickups.

To perform this, have the headstock facing away from you. Remove
the pickguard and flip it over:

1. Disconnect the middle pickup lead from the top right post
on the selector switch. Also, remove the mid pickup ground
(braided wire) from the bass tone control, or whichever pot
it is soldered to.

2. Find the red wire running from the left post of the 5th knob
to the center post of the bass volume pot and remove this
wire completely. Keep the wire as you'll need it later.

3. Find the red wire running from the bottom right post of the
selector switch to the middle post on the 5th volume pot.
Remove wire at middle post of 5th knob, and solder it to
middle post of bass volume pot.

4. Solder the mid pickup lead to the center tap on the 5th pot.

5. Solder the mid pickup ground (braided wire) to the left tap
on the 5th pot, as well as to the pot itself. You may have
to strip the wire to have enough braid for this. I ran the
braid through the tap, soldered it at the tap and then to
the pot.

6. Utilizing the wire removed in step 2, run it from the right
tap of the 5th pot to the left tap of the bass volume pot.
Tracing this wire, you'll see that it is the hot supply from
the input jack, which is jumped through the treble volume pot
as well.

Thanks Paul.

Thanks, Paul! I'm intrigued by the tone-blending possibilities.

I was thinking that maybe I should buy one of these things. I would probably like a smaller bodied RIC, and I prefer semi hollow guitars. I switched from my 381 to my Silverjet at my last gig; the latter was easier to wield about the stage,which made me think that I should probably consider a 325 or a 350. Hmm....

The mods sound really cool Paul. I've yet to buy a three pickup model RIC, but I always read with interest anytime there's a discussion of the tonal characteristics of or switching mods done to the three pickup models.

Yeah, the tonal spread opened up by this simple mod is nothing shot of amazing.

I wonder how a mod similar to the 370/12RM set-up, minus the compressor board, would work. I finally read the RM manual and have played with the settings enough to appreciate the many tonal variations possible. For those not familiar with the layout, here is a rough idea of its four-pot set-up:

(Neck Volume)______(Middle Volume)

____________________________________(Bridge Volume)

(Master Volume)_____(Rotary Tone)

(lines needed as space fillers, sorry!)

I'm not sure how one would do the Rotary Tone switch without the compressor board, but it might just be a switch in/out for a capacitor or two. Oh, the pickup selector is: Up - Neck/Middle; Center - Neck/Middle/Bridge (i.e., all three); Down - Middle/Bridge.

doctorwho wrote:... its four-pot set-up:

(Neck Volume)______(Middle Volume)

____________________________________(Bridge Volume)

(Master Volume)_____(Rotary Tone)

...

So, no one noticed that I meant five, not four?

Too busy looking at all a dem dashes...My Les Paul Personal (low impedance) has a rotary switch labeled "DECADE" that puts the signal through a number of caps and yields a pretty huge number of tonal variations.



Here's a shot of the control panel. The rotary switch (second from left) is pretty obvious:



The schematic will help for techies:



And here's a chart of the cap combos showing all the possibilities: