Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, all.....long time no-post,

I still have the 12k toasters in my '94 360 12 MG. Two questions, please:
(UPDATE: once I got a tube amp - a crate vintage combo (blond) with 2X12s, 4 EL84s and 4 12 AX7s, AND rolled off the bridge treble by 25%, the bass tone to zero, AND rolled the 5th knob to "just" where it gets bright - I now have a good touch of "that" Ric jangle clean with switch in middle, and when I switch to the bridge and channel switch to full gain (dirt) I get an amazing "Voxy" early Rory Gallagher / Mick Taylor tone).
Note: only 1 pedal - old Boss Enhancer EH1 for pulling through certain frequencies for more definition and crispness.

1) If I were to swap out for scatterwinds would I have to put the cap. in? I did this briefly with the 12k bridge PU and it sounded dull, thin and terrible.
How do new scatterwinds overdrive?
2) Has anyone done custom rewinding, like say 1/2 way between 7.5k and 12K, but scatterwound for a more driven jangle? Or do you have to drop from
12k all the way to 7.5k for the full monty jangle in clean, and then just not have the punch of 12k drive?

Thanks, and I hope you are all having a great Spring.

I went the other way; I had some toasters custom wound to 14 and 15k for more output.

it is my experience that - once you got your ways around old toaster you will regret the swap for 7.4k which in fact are anything between 7 -7.5k.

those new toasters have different qualities but to get the hot KERRRANG sound out of them is not it. imho they shine where the clean super clean sound is needed. and the extra cap is not pivotal issue there either, what the cap does in vintage rics can be always done on the amp side...

Donnell, you might want to post this in the Winding Up With The Best section, as pickups are Sergio's specialty, and he has probably wound (or unwound) pickups to the resistance range you are asking about.

I've got 7.4k toasters in some guitars, and an experimental former high gain pickup, since rewound to 12k, that has had the polepiece holes drilled out so I can put toaster magnets in, and I currently have short pole Alnico 5 magnets in it. I plan to try some alnico 3 long poles (Thanks Sergio) when I get a chance. I also have a toaster rewound with 43 gauge wire to around 9.5k that I plan to experiment with, and I have a toaster rewound with 44 gauge formvar, and another with 44 gauge plain enamel, both wound to around 12k. It is certainly possible to have someone rewind a toaster to whatever level you desire. It would be cheaper to use an older high gain and take out the polepieces and put in some alnico magnets, given the high cost of toasters these days. I prefer the 7.4k toasters in the neck and middle positions, and prefer hotter toasters in the bridge, or in the neck on basses.
Greg

Thanks everyone for your comments. Its always great to hear personal tales of these experiments and your results. Do those 7.5s overdrive like a 12k?
It seems like the newer, not newest, high gains with higher windings drive a bit like the hot toasters?

Anybody else like their driven 12 tone like me enough to regularly play above the 12th fret? I will attempt to get these sounds up on Youtube as a test
drive for you folks.

The 7.5k's are quite clean and don't overdrive nearly as well as the 12k toasters. The 12k toasters are cleaner and weaker than the 14k high gains, though they are more natural sounding to my ears. Personally I like the 7.5k toasters in the neck or middle, but not in the bridge position, except on 12 strings. I prefer a hotter toaster in the bridge position.

Greg

grazioso wrote:...and the extra cap is not pivotal issue there either, what the cap does in vintage rics can be always done on the amp side...

Not exactly - especially if you're playing with both the neck and bridge p/ups blended together. The bass-reduction effect of the 'vintage tone' cap has to be applied before the signals are blended.