Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Can anybody on the forum explain or speculate on the design considerations that led to the horseshoe pickup being used on the original model 4000 bass?

Was the toaster in production while the 4000 was being designed? If so, was it considered for the job and rejected?

Were any other Rics using horseshoes during that time? If not, then when had they most recently been used?


Thank you,
bluewhale

Bluewhale asked if I'd move this thread to this forum.

Yes, Joey was kind enough to move this over from "Vintage Rickenbackers."

I've always wondered how the horseshoe ended up on the 4000. A singular event in bass history.

Well, I can tell you horseshoe pickups were used on Spanish guitars and lap steel guitars from the 1930s.

Didn't the early Rickenbacker electric uprights (like in this thread) use horseshoe-style pickups?

Yes, Harry. I couldn't find a picture of one but that thread linked to this:

http://www.retrofret.com/products.asp?P ... 0212212003

The impression I've had is that the Horseshoe pickup was available, was a tried-and-true pickup, and would fit into the design. Most likely the original 4000 bass was designed so that it could hold that pickup (only). The first few years of production incorporated a lot of available guitar hardware, too. When the two-pickup idea came up, using a second horseshoe was probably considered for a nanosecond when they realized it would look pretty awful. What I don't get is why they didn't redesign for two surface-mounted Toasters as they eventually did on the 4005 and 4004 (humbuckers for the latter, but similar shape and mounting). Yeah, I know the pickguard covers the truss channels which were a lot longer back in the day. But it was probably all they could do back then.

hieronymous wrote:Didn't the early Rickenbacker electric uprights (like in this thread) use horseshoe-style pickups?

Here is one at the RIC sponsored exhibit at the MOMM in 2006.

Thanks for all of your replies, and thanks for more great pics, jps.

bluewhale wrote:Was the toaster in production while the 4000 was being designed?

The catalogs shown on the RIC corporate website suggest not. These are found under History -> Literature Archive -> 1950s. The 4000 first appears in the 1957 catalog. The Spanish guitars shown there don't feature toasters, but either a horseshoe or "semi-adjustable recessed" pickups. I assume that the latter became the toaster seen in the 1958 catalog, with a new cover "shielding the pickup from electrical interference."

bluewhale wrote:Were any other Rics using horseshoes during that time?

A resounding "yes" - they're all over the 1956 catalog.

jps wrote:

hieronymous wrote:Didn't the early Rickenbacker electric uprights (like in this thread) use horseshoe-style pickups?

Here is one at the RIC sponsored exhibit at the MOMM in 2006.

Man would I like to have a go on that baby.

FretlessOnly wrote:

jps wrote:

hieronymous wrote:Didn't the early Rickenbacker electric uprights (like in this thread) use horseshoe-style pickups?

Here is one at the RIC sponsored exhibit at the MOMM in 2006.

Man would I like to have a go on that baby.

With the horseshoe pickup it may not sound very "uprightesque".

Likely it would sound a bit hot and crispy - lacking in fundamental and having a fair bit of finger noise. My guess anyway. But yeah; I'd really like to have a go at that baby. But many don't know; the upright bass is a largely mid-treble-toned instrument when played acoustically. Those jazz recordings made nowadays with big round low ends really reflect new pickups and recording techniques.

Keep in mind that bass is made of cast iron when conceptualizing it's tone.

I suppose "woody" wouldn't be the best adjective then.

FretlessOnly wrote:But many don't know; the upright bass is a largely mid-treble-toned instrument when played acoustically. Those jazz recordings made nowadays with big round low ends really reflect new pickups and recording techniques.

+10