Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Sorry if this has been asked, and it probably has. I can't seem to locate a thread on the topic. Are the neck and bridge pickups the same, aside from the hardware mounting configuration? If they are not the same, what are the differences? Thanks!

They are typically wound with the same amount of wire, and the bobbins are practically identical save for the pole spacing; but the magnet on the bridge position is a lot bigger and mounts to the bobbin a little bit differently, by way of two medium-large bolts.

That's good information... thanks! It sounds like my plan might work. Please indulge me while I explain my plan. I want to remove the big cavernous chrome plate around the bridge pickup and build a pickguard that houses the bridge pickup the same way as the neck pickup. To do so I would need to purchase another chrome trim cover like the neck pickup. The two pickups appear to be the same size and shape. But just the cost of the chrome along with the correct mounting plate assembly is not much less than a whole new neck pickup assembly, with pickup. That being the case, I might as well get another complete neck pickup assembly and mount it at the bridge position. But I wondered how that would effect the tone by using that to replace the original bridge pickup. That's why I wanted to know the electronic differences between the two. Am I still going to get my classic Ric 4003 sound with this plan? Thanks.

It's really hard to mount a chrome ring around the bridge pickup because of the magnet. It can't take the bottom part of the ring at all, which houses the threads.

I agree, just getting a neck pickup is simpler for your plan. Tonally it will be a bit tamer, but the volumes will probably balance more evenly as a result. If it were me I would also make it RWRP though it is harder on the neck pickups, where the magnets are glued on.

Here is sort of what it could look like:

Yeah just looking at it, it looked like a potential nightmare to try to shoehorn the chrome ring on the original bridge pickup. So for economy and sanity I'll double up on the neck assembly. Hopefully it won't be too tame. I was thinking about mounting it maybe a half inch closer to the bridge to increase the bite. Plus I can dial in just about any amount of growl on my GK rig.

I'll look into RWRP - an excellent idea. That photo - probably the coolest mod I've ever seen on a Ric bass. Triple toasters with a fretless? Sure curious how it sounds.

Since hum on my stock 4003 can be an issue, especially when I try to apply any amount of distortion, I'd really like to try RWRP. But the only references or procedures I find are for the bridge pickup where the magnet is not glued. Since I'm going to a double neck pickup configuration, the RWRP will be done to one of those neck pickups. I can't find anything documenting how-to or even if it can be done. Do you have any place to point me for wisdom? Since the magnet is glued to the bobbins, is it a case where I need to pop off the magnet and reverse it, or flip it, rewire the pickup, or some or all of it? Any thoughts and guidance will help a lot - I just ordered the second neck pickup assembly from Rickenbacker and would like to have the plan and knowledge in place when it gets here. Thanks.

RWRP is the exact same procedure in principal -- flip the mag, reverse the leads. But I have never tried it on a neck pickup and my concern is magnet removal could be a chore.

Rich-E-Split wrote:I'll look into RWRP - an excellent idea. That photo - probably the coolest mod I've ever seen on a Ric bass. Triple toasters with a fretless? Sure curious how it sounds.

Here ya go.

https://soundcloud.com/cassius987/kindletree-music-box
https://soundcloud.com/cassius987/midni ... can-kids-1
https://soundcloud.com/cassius987/sketc ... elo-chords

Well I'm going to give it a shot. I'll do ample research in advance, and am proceeding carefully. I'm documenting with lots of notes and photos as I go, so if I pull it off I'll have a great tutorial for everyone out there who wants to try the same. Since I have a new neck PU assembly on the way from Rickenbacker, I'm working the project now with the PU I have in hand. If I screw the pooch on this one at least I'll have a new one soon to put the bass back to original. Got gigs coming up and I don't want to be without it.

Hey, thanks for the audio clips! They sound great and the bass glides, sounds sweet and smooth, and yet still sounds all Rickenbacker. Well done!

So after looking over some info and a great tutorial, yours, I've come up with four critical points I need to confirm:

1) The pickup bobbin remains in its original orientation - the poles that were under E,A,D, and G strings will remain that way after the conversion.

2) The magnet also remains the same in relation to the strings it was originally under - it just gets flipped, basically upside-down, and re-attached to the bobbin. So the 180 rotation is on long edge, and not end-to-end.

3) The original wiring is to be reversed - What was wired to the ground(shield) now becomes the hot (lead) wire, and vice-verse.

4) The 2 conductor pickup cable solders back to its control positions the same as originally - the shield wire to the pot and the lead wire to the switch.

If you answer YES to all four of these, then I think I have my head on straight. If I'm wrong anywhere, now is the best time for me to get it right.

Thanks!

Yes, I think you are overthinking it a bit. RWRP is an extremely simple procedure, and overcomplicating it will actually screw it up.

Think about what RWRP stands for. Reverse wound, reverse polarity. To complete the RWRP mod two things must happen: the magnet polarity must be reversed and the orientation of the wind also reversed. Redundant efforts to accomplish either will mess up the mod essentially by over-correcting. For instance, there is no need to re-solder the leads at the pickup end AND re-solder the leads on the other end (you wouldn't want ground as your hot anyway)--this would actually maintain the wind direction.

Basically this mod is so simple it's frightening, I admit I was scared before I did my first mod too.

To answer your questions:

1. Right, the bobbin and pole piece spacing or placement has nothing to do with the RWRP mod. It is all about the wire in the bobbin and the magnet.

2. When reassembled the pickup should look virtually identical. The magnetic field is oriented 90 degrees relative to the pickup to which it is mounted, so I don't think flipping it end-to-end would change anything (but I have not tried to find out*), save slight alterations in magnetic field strength if the pickup is uneven. Like you say, the pickup is flipped "upside down" (and so too is the magnetic field). How do you confirm this? When you're done, two assembled pickups that are RP to each other will "kiss" face-to-face, whereas if they are SP they are going to "spoon" end to end. Try it beforehand to confirm.

3. Yes, the shield and hot are swapped at the bobbin end.

4. Therefore, no changes are made at the wiring harness end.

You've got this. Just be careful removing the ceramic mag from the bobbin... I have never attempted it and imagine it could be very slow, patient work if RIC got overzealous with the glue. I don't know what the bobbin is made of, but possibly a cyanoacrylate-specific solvent would be useful... Just test it on a small area first to make sure it isn't dissolving the bobbin too.



p.s.: On the bridge Toaster of my 4001FL I had Lindy Fralin's shop alter the polarity with a machine for $20 (also included new lead wires on all 3 pickups as the factory leads were pretty poorly attached). The results were perfect, but they don't do that anymore.

Yeah I'm sure I'm over-thinking it - I tend to do that on something I'm trying for the first time. Plus I love my Ric and don't want to screw it up. Mainly I wanted to have the mental concept solid, and you've done that very well. In summary, it sounds like reverse winding (RW) means switching the wires, and reverse polarity (RP) means flipping the magnet. Everything else stays as it was. That keeps it pretty simple.

The tricky part is separating the bobbin from the magnet since we don't how much or how strong glue they used. Again, I'll be documenting for the benefit of others. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks.

Honestly I am appreciative of you undertaking the endeavor... I want to know how easy/hard it really is to separate the magnet. After that it should be a piece of cake.

Like I said earlier, consider cautious use of solvents rather than brute force.

I'm all done! It was insanely easy, perhaps easier than the bridge pickup. I didn't want to use solvents if I didn't have to so I opted to try to score the glue lines with an exacto knife, gradually working my way under the magnet. I thought the magnet was a rigid, stone-like material so I didn't want to crack or chip it by forcing too hard. Turns out the magnet is a pliable material and it popped off the glue line easily. They didn't use that much glue anyway. What made it easier was backing out all the pole screws because they were threaded into the magnet also. I had to carve a new notch on the opposite side of the magnet to accommodate the center wire and solder point. Again, very easy because of the soft rubbery magnet material. I've got the whole thing reassembled, ready for the custom pickguard.

Anyway it was a piece of cake, and shortly I'll have the whole picture tutorial for all to use. Seems RWRP on a neck pickup was an untouched topic until now, so it's great to have an answer... and the answer is good!