Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My 08 4003 had a neck hi gain that I wasn't satisfied with, so I purchased a HB1 from Pick of the Rics.
They had no hi gains or toasters in stock.
Humbucker sounds great on it's own but when I run with the bridge pup flat out, the Bass sounds very weak. Honky in fact.
Both pups are louder individually than together.
When both are on full vol, pulling out the vintage tone knob helps add a little Bass??
Any suggestions?
Cheers, Pete

Reverse the polarity of one of the pickups. When they are out of phase the bottom end will drop out.

petersland wrote:Humbucker sounds great on it's own but when I run with the bridge pup flat out, the Bass sounds very weak. Honky in fact.

If the cap is out of the circuit it's almost certainly because your ears are used to the output of the HB-1. Raise the bridge pickup or lower the neck pickup to get a better balance.

petersland wrote:Both pups are louder individually than together.

How drastic? This happens on all multi-pickup basses and it's called comb filtering. If pickups are out of phase, however, it's a different story and you can hear a more dramatic drop in volume.

petersland wrote:When both are on full vol, pulling out the vintage tone knob helps add a little Bass??

This is just another way to stop comb filtering. Instead of reducing one signal's level you are putting them in perpendicular phases that don't "see" each other and hence can't comb filter. This is a big advantage of the cap for certain sounds.

I think Ken has the right answer.

Cheers Guys.
I tried reversing the bridge pup first. Worked but bad earth.
Then tried the new neck humbucker. It didn't work at all.
So went back to the bridge, reversed the wiring and swapped the pup mount earth.
Hey presto.

petersland wrote:I tried reversing the bridge pup first. Worked but bad earth.

Yes the braided ground (earth) sheilding needs to remain ground, you only switch the insulated wires. Sounds like you got it.