Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So I'm at the point where I have to decide what pickups I want for my Laredo 5 string conversion project. Since this will be a more traditionally spaced 5-er as compared to a 4003s5 Ric pickups won't provide the needed string coverage. I'm leaning towards Nordstrand "Big Singles" but before placing the order I thought I'd check here for opinions.

I don't know if you can buy them individually, that is, without buying a bass already attached to them, but Harvey Citron pickups are pretty amazing sounding. I have four of them.

well...
Iv'e had these pickups in my larder for some time and the intention was to use them in some sort of project but you know how it goes...
They are PRS five string bass pickups from the late 80s to early 90s and they have never been used.
They have alnico slugs of about 1/4" diameter and read about 6.9k on the thingy meter. (designed for use with a preamp I think)
They are 58mm from the centre of the B to the G pole which is good for a narrow spaced bass (like a Rickenbacker) you can see that they are the same bobbin as the 4 string pickup with respaced poles (Kind of like the sort of thing that Rickenbacker might do)
They are 110mm long and 25mm wide.
I've often thought that they would be just the thing for a project. I've never heard them (they have never been soldered into anything) but from the specs and dimensions I suspect that they would sound like a cross between a Rickenbacker toaster pickup and a 51P pickup.
I'm not really sure what they would be worth but they are a good spec and rare item.
These pickups make hens teeth look like Squier Strats...

Eden.

What Dane said!

I am in the same position. Do you want the pickup to fit in the existing place, or is some routing acceptable for you?

- Several Bartolini's should fit into the existing routing theoreticaly.
- Forumite ig55 tells he had the Barto Rick replacement pickup in the the bridge position of a 4004. But he did have a 4003 bridge cover over it.

weemac wrote: They are 110mm long and 25mm wide.

This is not a straight fit. The hole in my 4004 is 90 mm x 37 mm.

berth wrote:

weemac wrote: They are 110mm long and 25mm wide.

This is not a straight fit. The hole in my 4004 is 90 mm x 37 mm.

Use a hammer!

Eden.

weemac wrote:

berth wrote:

weemac wrote: They are 110mm long and 25mm wide.

This is not a straight fit. The hole in my 4004 is 90 mm x 37 mm.

Use a hammer!

Eden.

A soft hammer....

incubus2432 wrote:I'm leaning towards Nordstrand "Big Singles" but before placing the order I thought I'd check here for opinions.

These are some of the best pickups I've heard--I don't think you'd be sorry if you went with them.

I've always wondered why people doing 5er conversions on 4004s didn't do something like this, as the problem with the Cii/5 (according to some, I know this is disputed) was simply the narrow horizontal length of the pickup aperture.

weemac wrote:Use a hammer!

A dremel would be a better fit to make it fit.

cassius987 wrote: the problem with the Cii/5 (according to some, I know this is disputed) was simply the narrow horizontal length of the pickup aperture.

I can make it work if I adjust the bridge sadles of the B more towards the middle. Plectrum playing is great this way. With finger style I prefer the sadles more towards the outer sides. The problem is mainly with the bridge pickup. If I adjust the saddles more outwards the neck pickup is still quite even in response of all the strings.

berth wrote:Forumite ig55 tells he had the Barto Rick replacement pickup in the the bridge position of a 4004. But he did have a 4003 bridge cover over it.

Actually it had a 4003 route at the bridge position, so it was like installing the Bart on a 4003. All I had to do was to screw the pickup onto the pickup baseplate.

The OP says he wants "a more traditionally spaced 5-er as compared to a 4003s5", so I don't think the Bart replacement would cover that much of a spacing.

Nordstrand 5-string pickups are produced for 19mm spacing as standard. They offer customized spacings at a surcharge. The cover size doesn't change, though. They come in Bartolini P2 soapbar size. So you'd need some routing to make them fit. Routing the bridge position like a 4003 and use the 4003 treble pickup surround may be a solution.

PS: Big singles sound great, as all Nordstrand pickups.

Thanks for some of the tips/opinions. There is a surprising new development that may make this discussion a moot point.....I should know more shortly.

For the project this thread was started for I was, more or less, going to be dealing with a blank canvas. Due to the extensive work required to make a four string Laredo into a "standard" spaced 5-er the routing from the original pickups would be covered/replaced by a new body top so placement and p/u shapes were restriction free. More of my concern was tone and from the basses I've heard em the Big Singles seemed to fit the bill.

Whoa! What's that luscious piece of lustful gorgeousness?