Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi everyone. I was finally able to put my original bridge pickup back in my 75 4001 after having it re-wound (Thanks Sérgio!). The pickup sounds really good but I noticed during a gig this weekend that the G string volume was a lot lower than the rest of the strings. I could barely hear it in the mix at all. After looking closer it appears that the saddle for the G string was not cut in the center and is not allowing the string to line up properly over the pole piece. Could this be enough to cause the volume difference? Also, does it matter at all which way the pickup is mounted (which end where you rest your thumb is up)? Thanks for any suggestions. Here's a few pictures of it:

Try turning the pickup around. The wiring is what's important, not which side of the pickup is towards your thumb.

Also you can turn the saddle around and see whether it aligns better. Also consider the height of the string as this really makes some differnce.

I had my bridge pickup out a while ago and just for an experiment tried putting it back turned the other way around to see if the pole pieces lined up better with the strings. They did not. In fact the alignment was completely out for all strings so I turned it back around again. I have a '75 4001 too and my G string does not line up exactly with it's pole piece on the bridge pickup - exactly like in your picture. Just like you the groove on my G string saddle is cut further from the centre than on the other saddles. However I've never had a problem with the G string volume, despite the G string not being directly over it's pole piece. I have a good volume balance between all the strings. So this may not be the cause of your problem either. Could there be other factors at work here on your instrument: string type, eq, string action/height on the G side, playing style, dead string? I guess if you temporarily put the pickup in the other way round you could see if the E string goes quiet. That might tell you if the problem was with the pickup itself. Good luck!

Thanks guys. I will flip the pickup around to see if it lines up better with the pole pieces. The strings are a brand new set of D'Addario EXL 170s and the action/string height is very good on this bass - nice and low without any buzzing. I'll possibly turn the G string saddle around too to see if that helps.

Hipshot

antonius wrote:I had my bridge pickup out a while ago and just for an experiment tried putting it back turned the other way around to see if the pole pieces lined up better with the strings. They did not. In fact the alignment was completely out for all strings so I turned it back around again...

You can flip each individual saddle of the bridge separately!!! That should work better!

VRICKY63 wrote:Hipshot

Craptastic.

One must ..........in time.........................accept...................the truth..............Eric . Hipshot !

heinpete wrote:

antonius wrote:I had my bridge pickup out a while ago and just for an experiment tried putting it back turned the other way around to see if the pole pieces lined up better with the strings. They did not. In fact the alignment was completely out for all strings so I turned it back around again...

You can flip each individual saddle of the bridge separately!!! That should work better!

Re-read my post. I was talking about the bridge PICKUP, not the bridge. I'm fully aware that the individual saddles can be flipped, but since the groove is cut so far from the centre on the G saddle, turning it around would simply place the G string on the other side of the bridge pickup pole piece, and the string would be closer to the edge of the neck too - so no benefit in doing that. But as I said in my original post this slight misalignment of the G string over the bridge pickup pole piece isn't a problem for me and causes no discernable loss of volume or tone for the G string, so it might also not be the cause of Greg's problem, since his bass has exactly the same G string misalignment as mine.

Hey Greg! You're welcome.
That G string is definitely off, all right.
Yes, turning its saddle around or getting a new one should take care of the problem.

Thanks again Sérgio. Btw - you should be receiving a thank you card in the mail soon! Do you know if the new saddles will fit the old bridges? I think I remember reading here that someone had a problem - they sat too high up? Anyone know where to acquire an older saddle?

New saddles won't fit the old bridges. Best you can do is ask on the Rickenbacker Wanted forum, or maybe someone will jump in here with one.

antonius wrote:Re-read my post. I was talking about the bridge PICKUP, not the bridge. I'm fully aware that the individual saddles can be flipped, but since the groove is cut so far from the centre on the G saddle, turning it around would simply place the G string on the other side of the bridge pickup pole piece, and the string would be closer to the edge of the neck too - so no benefit in doing that. But as I said in my original post this slight misalignment of the G string over the bridge pickup pole piece isn't a problem for me and causes no discernable loss of volume or tone for the G string, so it might also not be the cause of Greg's problem, since his bass has exactly the same G string misalignment as mine.

So this looks like you either have to rearrange all the individual saddles to find a combination that works, or you get one single new saddle and file it so it fits the old bridge.

VRICKY63 wrote:Hipshot

+1 yup