Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Dear Forum,
I recently installed a RI toaster in my '74 4001 and I'm not sure its working correctly- its not as hot as the previous high gain PU (as you'd expect) but the tone knob cuts a LOT of volume. ie: tone turned to treble gives a decent level- tone turned right down is extremely muted. This is a bit of a shame as it cuts out a lot of tonal options for me- this is the Bassier of the 2 PUPs and I need to have it set to treble .

There is a bit of history with the circuitry in mine- The bridge PU is a 4003 High gain but still has the vintage cap in.

Ananotherthing... I still have the original '74 neck PU and would love to install it in the bridge position- I had a look but they seem to be completely different beasties.

Andy, the toaster cannot get the pole pieces as close to the strings as the higain that was there. The only remedies I know of is to remove the corner screws on the toaster and use thin wire twisted to hold it all together and then leave out the rubber grommets. That gains you about 1/8" in height closer to the strings.

You can remove the higain bridge pickup from the mounting piece and use a long enough screw and nut to mount the neck pup there, but on the 70s basses the windings are about the same and the bridge pup has a larger magnet then the neck pup, and thus more output. So it would be a step backwards, total output-wise.

Thanks John.
What about the tone knob effecting the volume like that- is that common/normal?
It never happened with the 74 high gain- or any other bass PU I've owned.

Its inspired me to put my electronics tinkering into gear to build a stereo preamp- Ricosound on steroids.

I have noticed less output with the tone rolled off to bassy with my two toasters. I again think this is due to being further from the strings.

I didn't notice that your bridge pup is a later higher output high gain. If you want a real punchy output from the bridge, I would not change it, but it will exacerbate the difference in the neck output - get that puppy up as high as you can as I described to alleviate that some. Mounting the neck HG at the bridge will lower it's output, and be rather thin sounding with the cap in circuit, but would add clarity to the sound due to the lower windings, similar to the difference on a 4003 between a current neck HG and putting a toaster in its place.

Andrew, since you seem able to install pickups (solder, etc..) have you tried the polarity trick. Maybe its a phase issue. Swap the leads on the pickup, see if it gets better results. If not, personally if it were me, I would just go back to the high gain. After all, the toasters are guitar pickups. If the high gain sounds better, then to heck with how it looks, or the cool factor, just go with what works for you the best. I'm sure you could unload that toaster in a NY minute

Thanks gents.
Yes I have considered switching it back. I'd probably hang on to the toaster to switch back in at a later date.

OK it's official.
I'm coming out of the closet to declare...I much prefer the '74 high-gain to the toaster.
As uber cool as the toaster is- I swapped them back and..... oh how sweet it is.

Good for you. Another happy ending.

Those early '70s higains are hard to beat....

gshadoan wrote:.....After all, the toasters are guitar pickups....

uh.....yeah.....right!

ben_brown wrote:

gshadoan wrote:.....After all, the toasters are guitar pickups....

uh.....yeah.....right!

Hmm... lets see here. 1,2,3,4,5,6
Yup, guitar pickup.

Perhaps, but they do work fabulously on bass. I should know, as I have five of them on various basses.

BTW, Steve has heard a couple of them when he saw Rare Blend last May in Baltimore. How'd they sound, Ben, er, Steve?

jps wrote:Perhaps, but they do work fabulously on bass. I should know, as I have five of them on various basses.

BTW, Steve has heard a couple of them when he saw Rare Blend last May in Baltimore. How'd they sound, Ben, er, Steve?

They sounded pretty damn good Jeffrey. My "bass toasters" sound pretty damn good too.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that both of us understand the bass and can play it professionally Jeffrey.
Maybe someone(who shall be nameless) hasn't graduated to that plateau yet and doesn't fully understand the "bass toaster"

gshadoan wrote:

ben_brown wrote:

gshadoan wrote:.....After all, the toasters are guitar pickups....

uh.....yeah.....right!

toasterback.jpg

Hmm... lets see here. 1,2,3,4,5,6
Yup, guitar pickup.

Using that rationale, what do you make of Fender Pbass pickups that have 4 poles per half?
What about Carvins pickups with all those adjustable pole pieces?

Both the guitar and bass toasters are the same because they are voiced to work equally well with each instrument. The only difference is the screw holes are threaded on the bass ones. Since there are no adjustable pole pieces(like on a P or Jazz bass)there is no need to change the construction. Rickenbacker has used these pickups in both their guitars and basses for years, and many people install them to get that "special" sound that they offer. Their vintage series basses and guitars come standard with these pickups, so obviously they must be desireable or nobody would want them.

Personally, I have a 4003AFG that I installed a toaster in the neck and couldn't be happier, as I get the best of both worlds. The toaster in the neck is round and full, and sounds nothing like the toasters I have in my Rick guitars.

ben_brown wrote:

jps wrote:Perhaps, but they do work fabulously on bass. I should know, as I have five of them on various basses.

BTW, Steve has heard a couple of them when he saw Rare Blend last May in Baltimore. How'd they sound, Ben, er, Steve?

They sounded pretty damn good Jeffrey. My "bass toasters" sound pretty damn good too.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that both of us understand the bass and can play it professionally Jeffrey.
Maybe someone(who shall be nameless) hasn't graduated to that plateau yet and doesn't fully understand the "bass toaster"