Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all,

I tried searching through past posts and found some info but didn't find anything definitive. Probably just didn't search well enough.

Anyway, can anyone tell me what the typical ohm changes have been for Hi-Gains (guitar, not bass) through the years from their start to current? I've see a few of the posts state the 70's had lower readings, and later increased in the 80's and 90's.

I know there is variation, but I'm just curious if there are ballpark ranges in years and typical ohm values.

I believe the Hi-gains have always been around 11-12kΩ. Keep in mind tha many people try to measure the DC resistance (improperly called impedance) at the output jack with the pickup still incircuit. This will many times give a false reading, due to series (volume control) or parallel (the second pickup) affecting the reading. The pickup must be measured with at least one lead disconnected from the circuit. Or, at the very least, the pickguard must be removed, and the measurement taken at the pickup leads, with the selector switch set to the pickup not being measured (this takes the pickup effectively out of the circuit).

Thanks for the info. I have a couple of Hi-Gains that were from the early to mid 90's that are reading around 10 to 12 ohm. But I have a 480 from the 70's that just seems like it's "weaker" and more jangly than what I've heard with other solid body Rics with Hi-Gains from the 90's and on. And it definitely sounds like it has the 0.0047 cap in it. At next string change I'll try your advice and take off the pickguard and measure them.

beatlefreak wrote:I believe the Hi-gains have always been around 11-12kΩ. Keep in mind tha many people try to measure the DC resistance (improperly called impedance) at the output jack with the pickup still incircuit. This will many times give a false reading, due to series (volume control) or parallel (the second pickup) affecting the reading. The pickup must be measured with at least one lead disconnected from the circuit. Or, at the very least, the pickguard must be removed, and the measurement taken at the pickup leads, with the selector switch set to the pickup not being measured (this takes the pickup effectively out of the circuit).

I don't have any experience with 60's Rics, but the 70's into the early 80's hi-gains were definitly weaker than today's stuff. I had a '73 4001 with original pickups, and the neck hi-gain was around 8.5k at the pickup itself. I have a 1989 hi-gain sitting here that is 9.05k. The bridge hi-gain off my 4001 went bad before I measured it, and TV Jones rewound it for me to around 9.5 (sounded fantastic btw, I'd still have it except the buyer of the bass insisted I include that pickup). OTOH the hi-gains on my 360 BBR are around 12k, and for me, thats too muddy in the neck position but sounds great in the bridge. For a bass, i like the weaker hi-gains in the 1/2 inch spacing and the stronger ones in the 1 inch spacing.

Greg

Most I have measured of recent production (early '90s and later) have been around 11k to 12k but I have seen them higher. The one I just sent to Ron O'Brien measured 13.8k. Construction of these pickups has varied over the years.

Chip: My 480 had a bridge pickup around 5.KOhms. Which was too weak for my liking. Luckily Sergio fixed that problem for me by adding more windings.

Thanks all for the responses. I've always been a fan of the 12k toasters, and put them in my other 480 and my 620 because I thought the Hi-Gains were too hot and mid-range for my liking. But the Hi-Gains in this 480 seem much closer to the 12k toasters, which was odd to me. They don't sound exactly the same, but from a response and attack they seem similar. On these, they're not too hot and not too weak - the porridge is just right. So eventually I'll take ohm readings out of curiosity.

The bummer is I like the look of the toasters too and I don't want to mod them to look like toasters in fear and damaging or altering their sound.