Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone know when ric started using the scatterwound toaster pickups? Were the toasters used prior to the scatterwound basically hi gains with a toaster cover?

I believe that scatter-wound toaster pickups began in 1999. From around the mid 1980s to the late 1990s toaster pickups had a resistance of approximately 11-12 KOhms. The current scatter-wound toasters have a rating of around 7.4 KOhms. They are not constructed like a high gain. I await correction by the Rickenbacker historians whose memory is far better than mine.

Peter's right. They were introduced in '99 on the new limited run models 425/450v63, and 325/12v63. From that point forward, I believe, they were standard on any toaster-equipped model. Time flies. It seems like it was just ten years ago.

Toasters have six alnico magnet pole pieces. Hi-gains use slugs for the poles, and have a ceramic magnet across the bottom of them.

jdogric12aolcom wrote:Peter's right. They were introduced in '99 on the new limited run models 425/450v63, and 325/12v63. From that point forward, I believe, they were standard on any toaster-equipped model. Time flies. It seems like it was just ten years ago.

I'm not too sure about this, but there was also a 1993-style 360/12V64 from that same run, with about 3 or 4 of those made, and I think they had scatterwounds, too. Kevin Kuney owns one, perhaps he can chime in here.

Is the tone affected if the the polepieces are cut shorter?

I don't believe so. If there is a tone difference, it's probably very slight.

vintagemusicgear wrote:Is the tone affected if the the polepieces are cut shorter?

yes - they do sound slightly different with shorter poles ... they mellow out ....BUT! - i would recommend to replace them with shorter magnets instead of cutting them - magnets don't like heat and any cutting will certainly heat those magnets up. ric also uses different glue to set those magnets in on recent scatterwound tosters so it is much harder to get those magnets out than on the old style 12k toasters where the glue was titebond or similar compound and simple twist and pull with grips would get them out...new magnets also chip easier...finally - the sound of a pickup is so subjective issue that only you can tell which kind you like better. i have guitars with old 90's toaster and like the sound a lot and i have guitars with modern toaster and i like the sound as well - neither one of them sounds in my opinion as the old 60's toaster did though. it is my subjective view that if you take modern scatterwounds and put sixties style electronics behind them - 250k volume pots and 1meg tone pots and proper 0.005 treble cap it will sound much closer to the elusive 60's ric sound than "factory" fresh new ric.

Great post, Dusan.

Thanks for educating a new guy who was just about toask the same question!

Tony