Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have 2, 12k Toaster PUP's either fitted to my 4001, 4003 or 4004 (depending what time of the year it is!!!!)
and I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on the history or these wee elusive animals.

i.e. when did they (Rickenbacker) start making them and maybe perhaps why.

I think I'm correct when I assume that they aren't made anymore, but why did they stop making them at this impedance.

RYB

The 12kΩ toasters were made from approximately 1984 - 1999. RIC went back to the 7.4kΩ scatterwound variety after widespread public suggestions for a more accurate replication of the original toasters from the sixties.

From the old alt.guitar.rickenbacker FAQ section:

Subject: 5.10 Will unwinding my vintage re-issue pickups make them sound
better? What is the procedure?

You might like the difference it makes, but Rickenbacker put quite a bit
of effort into into the design of these pickups. Here's what John Hall
has to say about it:

"The modern reissues measure about 11.2K with a lab grade ohmmeter.
As I said before, you'll find genuine vintage pickups which have a
variety of specs . . . sometimes as high as 16K and as low as 7K ohms
DC resistance. The modern one is indeed a compromise between output
and a particular type of sound, but not any greater of a compromise
than many of the original, unspecified or less-than-consistent units.

During the vintage pickup "redesign" phase, we tested close to 100
pickups from a variety of parameters and the current product is
essentially an average or composite of all these units. But beyond
this, we even looked through all of our old production and purchasing
records to make sure we are using materials of the genuine specs.
I can tell you that again that nothing other than #44 wire has been
purchased, although several different insulation materials and other
wire coatings have been used through the years."

[John Hall, [email protected], 7/10/1998]


Also noteworthy is that the 'hot' toasters are wound uniformly, while the newer 'scatterwound' ones are wound randomly, like they were in the old days. Each of the newer toasters actually has identical 'random' winding, as it's machine-controlled.

La Machine:http://flickr.com/photos/16705181@N00/2 ... 269084444/