Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Saw a YouTube video the other day that talked about the "history" of Ric wiring, and how that wiring contributes to the classic Ric tone.

According to the video, Ric guitars have a capacitor in series with the bridge pickup -- the cap supposedly cuts lower frequencies, leaving only chimey brightness. But the pickup volume goes down, making it quieter than the neck pickup.

So Ric added the blend knob, to bring the pickups back into equal volume (again, according to the video).

Two main questions, then:

1) How much of that information is accurate? Is there a cap on the bridge pickup, and does that trim off lows, creating chimeyness???

2) Would that trick work on other pickups, like a muddy humbucker? Has anyone tried it?

1. Yes, RIC does put a 0.0047uF cap in series with a lot of the bridge pickups. This will cut out lower frequencies coming from that pickup.
2. Yes, it should work with other pickups, but to what extent and what value cap should be used, would depend on the specifications of the pickup.

Excellent; thank you!

I have a couple projects in the works, and I'm going to have to try the cap idea.

Iv'e used the 0.0047uF cap in several guitar projects in various pickups. It's almost like a coil tap in sound. You could call it a pseudotap! It works like magic on a P-90!
Eden.

Is the cap still used on modern instruments?

I think only on "C" series instruments and on the 4003 basses via a switch..
Eden.

That would be correct. The V series never had the cap installed.

Some musicians I've spoken to complain that with The Rick Cap in place, they have to fiddle with their amps whenever they change to a conventional guitar, so they have it removed even on vintage instruments!

Si........

Yeah but caps = instant tone, at least on my Les Paul. I rewired it to '50s specs (caps connected to output of the pots instead of the input) and though there's a significant decrease in power it sounds 100% better. That's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

37012player wrote:Some musicians I've spoken to complain that with The Rick Cap in place, they have to fiddle with their amps whenever they change to a conventional guitar, so they have it removed even on vintage instruments!

Si........

Advise they just jumper a wire across it, preserving the vintage harness in case of future sale or change of mind.

There is a modification on twin jack rick's that allows conventional tone through one socket and "The Cap" sound on the other jack. You lose the Stereo capability, but then who uses the rick-o-sound option anyway? This way you get modern tone in one socket and Vintage tone in the other socket just buy switching your cable's plugged in position.

Si.........