Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I know that I posted years ago about my 4003S having a crooked bridge pickup. At the time it was solely out of curiosity and has not been an issue, except that now I'm considering installing one of those CNC machined bezel inserts and I don't think my pickup will fit inside the opening. I go back and forth between picks and fingers and sometimes have a tendency to accidentally hook my finger inside the chrome bezel.

Are the pickups glued to the pickup mounting/base plate or screwed to it and is there a simple way to straighten it out? I don't want to order the filler bezel and find out it won't fit and that the pickup can't be straightened easily.

As an aside, has anybody else used one of these and do you like them? I'm debating on whether I'd rather get the one with the raised thumb rest or the concave section.

The seller will work with you to fabricate a custom fit. He did with me. There was a small upcharge. You will need to send him photos and/or drawings with precise dimensions indicated.

How "out of whack" is the pickup installed? I have one of these bezels myself, the concave one for your thumb. They are really great ! Even though the fact that my thumb is even in the same zip code as the bezel. As for the bridge pickup....... I dont think I have ever seen one installed thats not even a little bit out of whack,.... Including mine! Got a pic?

My personal opinion is that it's pretty out of whack
It has never bothered me and I'm sure it has no affect on the sound, but from the pictures I've seen of the bezel insert I don't think they could make the wall thin enough to fit around my pickup (pics below). Is the coil glued to the mount and can they easily be removed and repositioned? I really don't have the time to dismantle it to try straightening the pickup and then reassemble it until a bezel arrives and I don't want to leave it torn apart for a couple of weeks.

OK you win.... Thats about as "Out Of Whack" as I have seen I bet it could be straightened out if you had the time. Thats what I would do before having a custom fit bezel built crooked on purpose..

How do you remove them from the mounting plate without damaging the pickup? Is it just glue and some careful use of a putty knife will break it loose or are they screwed on from the back? As long as it isn't a complex procedure I would just order the bezel and then fix the pickup alignment at the same time I installed the bezel for minimum down time.

I'd pull out the assembly and see how it's mounted to the plastic plate and take it from there. On my 2008 4003, it's held on with two screws. Very simple.

tinman 1967 wrote:Thats about as "Out Of Whack" as I have seen

That's almost a Hendrix tribute Ric.

I'm going to say you will find one screw is totally loose or gone for the pickup to be that skewed. They just screw to the plate, so see if the other screw is still there and if not, get one like the one holding the other side and reattach the pickup to the plate making sure it is centered to the plate. This should be an easy fix and I'd do it when I had it apart to put on the bezel.

Wow!! That would bug the heck out of me!! I'd have that sucker out in a NY minute and I'd be making her straight.

I use the Tubeampology deluxe bezel on all my 4001/3 basses. I like the thumb purchase point on this model. Yeah, I know I know, I should allow the thumb to float but I'm an ole dog that does not like new trick!! I've been a planted thumb player nearly forever although I tend to float the thumb a bit when playing the e string on my 4002 the top edge of the pup is a bit to close to get a good E string gallop going.

Sepp

It would be nice if it was simply missing a screw. I haven't had it apart since I bought it 8-9 years ago and the bridge cover wasn't installed correctly, but I don't remember seeing screws on the bottom of the pickup (wasn't looking for them either) as I had been told crooked pickups were fairly common. It definitely isn't loose on the plate, yet by the same token I've never tried twisting it to straighten it.

I guess I'll just order the bezel and assume I need a new screw or have to drill a new hole. Just have to decide on the raised edge thumb rest or the divot.

milo wrote:It would be nice if it was simply missing a screw. I haven't had it apart since I bought it 8-9 years ago and the bridge cover wasn't installed correctly, but I don't remember seeing screws on the bottom of the pickup (wasn't looking for them either) as I had been told crooked pickups were fairly common. It definitely isn't loose on the plate, yet by the same token I've never tried twisting it to straighten it.

I guess I'll just order the bezel and assume I need a new screw or have to drill a new hole. Just have to decide on the raised edge thumb rest or the divot.

For how far off-center it is and where the plate holes are, if the skewed side had a screw, it would be into copper wire, thus my feeling only one screw is there.

I prefer the deluxe model. I don't always anchor my thumb (a lot of my tone is in my hands; where and how I attack the strings), but it's nice to be able to do so.

How and why does this stuff make it out of the factory like this?

How do you know it came out of the factory like that?