Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I am in the process of building my 2nd bass guitar, the design of which borrows a lot of Rickenbacker measurements (scale length, angles, thickness, etc), but is quite a departure in shape. When complete, I would love to install 3 gold Ric humbuckers, a la the 4004LK, but with a different control layout.

Can anyone tell me how I might achieve a wiring layout that includes a master vol, master tone, coil tap switch (probably a push/pull on the tone, separate toggle if necessary), and 3 on/off mini toggle switches (one for each pup)

I am thinking I would wire each pickup to an on/off switch first, but I get stuck when getting to the pots.... would I have 3 leads going to one lug on each side of a push/pull pot?

3 on/off switches might seem a bit much, but it's the simplest way I can think of to get every pickup combination possible with 3 pickups.

Any diagrams or step-by-steps are much appreciated!

Thanks in advance

jake

This information is not really Ric-specific or Ric pickup-specific. It could relate to any three-humbucker guitar. Basically you would just wire the humbuckers through their respective switches to the master volume where the signals would join, then to the master tone, then to the output. The coil tap could be wired to tap all the pickups at once or else you'd have to have independent switches for each.

It's a simple, easily-done idea so I would worry too much about it. I've heard of (and wired up) much stranger things.

Sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything non-Ric related, I wasn't sure if there was any special info. on the HB-1's in particular. Thanks for clearing it up!

jake

Jake, this might be of interest... http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19521-HB1%20Wiring.pdf

Thanks!

mad_phingers wrote:I am in the process of building my 2nd bass guitar, the design of which borrows a lot of Rickenbacker measurements (scale length, angles, thickness, etc), but is quite a departure in shape. When complete, I would love to install 3 gold Ric humbuckers, a la the 4004LK, but with a different control layout.

Can anyone tell me how I might achieve a wiring layout that includes a master vol, master tone, coil tap switch (probably a push/pull on the tone, separate toggle if necessary), and 3 on/off mini toggle switches (one for each pup)

I am thinking I would wire each pickup to an on/off switch first, but I get stuck when getting to the pots.... would I have 3 leads going to one lug on each side of a push/pull pot?

3 on/off switches might seem a bit much, but it's the simplest way I can think of to get every pickup combination possible with 3 pickups.

Any diagrams or step-by-steps are much appreciated!

Thanks in advance

jake

First off I have no idea how to wire in the coil tap so I'll leave that to the experts.

One "flaw" I see in your plan is that yes you can have any combinations of the pickups with your mini-toggle/master volume layout but you have no ability to blend different levels of each. Have you thought about wiring it V/V/V/T with dual concentric pots? I had this done on my LK with the stock mini toggle being replaced with a simple on/off kill switch. Just another option or ya' and good luck.

That's definitely something to think about, although I tend to only need more blatant changes in tone. Being that I play in a rock band with a fairly aggressive tone, subtle shift in tone aren't easy to notice. I also like having the ability to change quick at the flick of a switch.

Believe me, I lack finesse and subtlety in my tone (and technique) so i understand where you are coming from. I also don't believe in limiting my options either and a knob can be rolled on/off pretty quick too. On my LK my "go to" tone is just having all three pickups and the tone full on and when I want to cut through the mix a little better rolling the mid and neck pickups down half way does the trick. If I were to just turn them off and leave the bridge it is just a bit too harsh (generally). That's my experience anyway.

Post up some pics of your project when you get a chance.

mad_phingers wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything non-Ric related, I wasn't sure if there was any special info. on the HB-1's in particular. Thanks for clearing it up!

No worries, I just wanted to be clear up front--they're fairly standard 4-conductors with a shield.

You can see the top body wing borrows pretty unashamedly from the Ric design. Materials as well, I am using Walnut for the wings and just glued up some hard Maple for the neck. (Even though the similarities to a Ric bass are not blatant, this design does owe a lot to Rickenbacker, thus I feel the need to throw in the disclaimer that this bass is only for myself, not to be sold, nor will it be mass produced, it is a one-off)

Very nice......I don't think it's anywhere near enough to a Ric to be an issue. Keep us posted on the build.

I would be interested in seen continuing photos of this build as it progresses.

Cool, thanks for the support guys. I feel a little bad having a full thread devoted to this build here being that it isn't really Ric-related, so if anyone wants to follow the progress, PM me and I'll give you the link.

jake

Jake, I had to edit your last post. The forum rules (#7) states that links to other chat forums are not allowed.

I had a hunch I was doing something illegal! Sorry once again!