Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I went to see a local band recently and was more than pleased to see the guitarist playing what looked like a fireglo 360/6 V64.
He was playing through a mesa Boogie amp and his sound all night was absolute killer.
They played covers of the Jam/Who/Stranglers/Stereophonics/ to more jangly melodic stuff like the Mamas and Papas and the Byrds.

At the end of the gig I had a chat with him and was astonished to find that the guitar wasn't really what it appeared to be....

Firstly, the guitar was a 360/6 WB OS. He'd added vintage knobs and replaced the hi gains with toasters.
But here was the real shock, they weren't Ric toasters, they were the Kent Armstrong ones.
I know the purists on here will shoot me down for this, but they sounded brilliant, and at £35 a pick up compared to the £250 that people are asking here in the UK, it's a tempting thought. I know Ric are selling the originals at $150, but unfortunately not directly to us here in the UK.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else that has heard the Kent Armstrong pick ups in action and their views on them.

Cheers.

Rob.

Rob http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RICKENBACKER-VINT ... 1|294%3A50
£150 each.

Who cares who made them if they sound good?! I have custom overwound bridge toasters in two of my Ricks and they're awesome. Thanks you Sergio!!

I haven't heard them Rob, but I suspect that there will be some infringment of copyright for the design as they look the same as RIC ones. Did they sound like vintage toasters?

As for the 360 WB, Tony Carey had some of the best looking FG examples I've seen.

Here's a nice 12 string available at the moment.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RICKENBACKER360-W ... C294%3A200

scotty wrote:Rob http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RICKENBACKER-VINT ... 1|294%3A50
£150 each.

I'm quite surprised that they are still there when, as Rob says, the standard price from UK profiteers is £250 each.

I've got two sets still waiting to be fitted to 330s - don't make me buy them all.

I don't see them on his product page.

http://www.kentarmstrong.com/Products.html

xcoyle wrote:I don't see them on his product page.

http://www.kentarmstrong.com/Products.html

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Replac ... ront_SRK1F

Out of stock.

godber wrote:I haven't heard them Rob, but I suspect that there will be some infringment of copyright for the design as they look the same as RIC ones. Did they sound like vintage toasters?

As for the 360 WB, Tony Carey had some of the best looking FG examples I've seen.

Here's a nice 12 string available at the moment.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RICKENBACKER360-W ... C294%3A200

I've not heard vintage toasters on a Ric in that situation before so it's hard to say.
But comparing them to high gains I would say they had more definition and certainly more cut/treble/ring about them, but how much of this was down to the amp/settings is hard to guage.
They didn't sound anything like the cheap and nasty reputation that they have though.

Sound is such a subjective thing, if the pickup doesn't squeal to the point of being unusable, than it's really just a preference. Some people like Fender
Squier pickups better than the ones offered on their guitars 3 times the price, or Epiphone ones better than Gibsons. You are pretty much limited to the pickups that RIC manufactures due to their size, and getting them, especially overseas,can be a very difficult and expensive venture. Personally, I like to try different kinds of pickups in my other guitars, and would like to have that same option with my Ricks, but I really don't. The whole rewinding thing is about it, and while that is very cool, it would be nice to have a selection of pickups to choose from.

I don't know where the trademark infringement would come in to play on any pickup that would be a drop in replacement, and don't even want to go there.

All I can really say is just make sure whatever you purchase has a money back guarantee, so if they do sound cheap and nasty, all you are out is the shipping.