Pickup selection choices?

[martynwelch]

Just joined here and because I don't have access to a shop locally that sells Ricks, I need some advice.

With any three pickup Rick, is there an option to use just the bridge pickup? I understood from someone that the options are: Bridge and middle, all three and then just neck pickup, but am I right in thinking the fifth, smaller knob controls the blend?
Can you not have bridge and neck together, for example and then dial down the neck content leaving the bridge solo (and vice versa)?
I do fancy a three pickup version but not if I can't feature just the bridge for certain tunes and would have to go for a 330 instead.

Thanks,
Martyn

[jps]

Welcome, Martyn!

The middle pickup is wired in parallel to the neck pickup, so you get: the bridge pickup by itself/all three pickups/middle & neck pickups together, as you go through the switch positions from bottom to top.

[jdawe]

The standard Rick three-p/u configuration is for the neck and middle pickups to be wired together in parallel. So with the switch down you get bridge alone; up gives you neck and middle; and the middle position gives you all three. So getting the bridge p/u alone is no problem. However, there is no way to separate the neck and middle pickups (unlike on a Strat, for instance)

The fifth knob is just a second volume pot in series with the main volume pot for the neck p/u (or on a 3-p/u model, the wired-together neck and middle p/us). Unlike the main volume knob it isn't wired to ground, so cranking it all the way down doesn't cut out the volume from the neck (or neck + middle) entirely. When you have the switch in the middle position and twiddle the fifth knob you are just changing the amount of contribution you get from the neck/middle p/us - the bridge p/u volume isn't affected at all (but you can always adjust it with the bridge volume knob).

In summary, you can always get bridge-alone on both 2 and 3 p/u models. The main consideration is whether you prefer the sound of neck + middle to neck alone, and whether the middle p/u interferes with your picking (some don't like it for that reason).

[martynwelch]

Thanks for the detailed explanations. I'm trying a used 330 tomorrow (in blueburst) to see how it sounds compared to my befuddled memories of the Rick I owned back in the sixties - that was a 3 pickup job, though.
Out of interest, is there any difference in resale value according to colours chosen - Fireglo seems the most prolific and therefore presumably most popular but I have to confess some of the blue ones I've seen advertised in the UK have a certain appeal not only because it's a great colour but also not the same as everyone else's. Not looking to sell as soon as I've bought but more curious than anything else.
My sixties Rick was a darker and richer Fireglo than most I see now but I doubt I'll ever find another like it - hence the thought of maybe trying something completely different in appearance rather than muttering how this or that isn't as I remembered it.

[JakeK]

I've owned two three-pickup Rics in my lifetime, a 325V63 and a Rose Morris 1998 reissue (aka 1997SPC). I often found myself using the bridge pickup alone. Now, there was a small debate here on whether the neck and middle pickups were wired together in series or in parallel, but nonetheless, it did get that quacky tone, which is fine for me if I can control it and solo the two pickups later, which I can't on a three pickup Ric.

Also, a side discussion, some heavy-handed players (like myself) have trouble with the middle pickup getting in the way. If I read right, you won't have that problem and will be getting a two-pickup Ric.

[egosheep]

You can also re-wire a 3 pickup guitar so that the mini-pot is a volume for the middle pickup, so it can be added to either neck or bridge.

[jps]

Now, there was a small debate here on whether the neck and middle pickups were wired together in series or in parallel,

I would assume they are in parallel, otherwise, if one went bad you'd lose the use of both pickups.

[jdawe]

Also, it's clear from the official wiring schematic that the factory builds them wired in parallel.

[libratune]

Thanks for the detailed explanations. I'm trying a used 330 tomorrow (in blueburst) to see how it sounds compared to my befuddled memories of the Rick I owned back in the sixties - that was a 3 pickup job, though.
Out of interest, is there any difference in resale value according to colours chosen - Fireglo seems the most prolific and therefore presumably most popular but I have to confess some of the blue ones I've seen advertised in the UK have a certain appeal not only because it's a great colour but also not the same as everyone else's. Not looking to sell as soon as I've bought but more curious than anything else.

I think blueburst is a great finish color for a Rick -- it's transparent, so you can see the woodgrain in most examples. It's also a very hard finish to duplicate, as opposed to solid color finishes. The Rick blueburst finish was the color of the year for 2005, so there are a limited number out there and it likely won't be repeated.

If you are going with one of the current standard Rick finishes, Fireglo seems to hold its value best. The FGs produced starting in 2006/07 or so are especially well done: darker color around the edges and not "pink" in the middle.

[martynwelch]

If you are going with one of the current standard Rick finishes, Fireglo seems to hold its value best. The FGs produced starting in 2006/07 or so are especially well done: darker color around the edges and not "pink" in the middle.

I've spotted several for sale on eBay that from the photos looked decidedly pink as you described and that was a tad off-putting - a rather anaemic look to my eyes and not at all how I remember my sixties one.

Interestingly there's a 320 up for sale that's been refinished in a solid Azure Blue with white outer edge checking that looks stunning. The paint job looks superb but if that's not a standard colour, might that devalue it in terms of potential future resale?