Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

does anyone know where i can get a vintage style pickup for my 82 4001?

Sergio!

Are you looking for a toaster, horseshoe or both?

www.the-music-connection.com/ric.htm

i've found the toaster, but nobody seems to have the horseshoe.
i want something a little bassier sounding than the stock '82 pickups. will the vintage pickups be the right thing?

WHoa good luck.

Mike Parks says he has been b/o for 1 year now, same for Rhodes and Pick Of the Rics.

Gotta love them horseshoes

The vintage pickups are "Janglier" ...

The older pickups have less windings and the bass cut capaciter was also installed until 1980 ... this gave the 60's and 70's Rics a real treble bite ... this was necessary for the old 60's and 70's bass amps ... there was little or no overhead and no horns in bass amps ...

The modern pickups ... 1990 to present are more overwound ... this makes them thicker and louder ... but there is still plenty of treble bite if you play through a modern amp ...

So if you want a bassier sound ... then you want modern pickups ... the 80's pickups are thicker than 70's pickups but not as thick as the modern ones ...

and if you want even thicker pickups the 4004 really has a good p-bass like growl while still maintaining a Ric sound ...

The toaster is a good neck pickup ... it is smoother than a high gain ... a toaster neck and a modern high gain is a very good combination on a Ric bass ... and it looks cool to.

Thanks, Matt.
Hi, Alex, and welcome. Well, I couldn't have explained it all better than Jeff. So, take your pick. If a less clear sounding pickup is what you're looking for, overwound pickups are definitely the way to go, i.e. 90's pickups. Alternatively, you could have the pickups on your 4001 overwound to become hotter and less trebly, or even have someone make you a set of pickups to those very specifications.

Sergio, anything for a fellow Rick Bass-man

Alex, check to see if your 4001 has the .0047 mfd cap in it. (Not the two big, similar ones, just the smaller one) If it does, remove it and you'll have some better bass response. I firmly believe that the toaster pickup is meant to be 1/2 in. closer to the neck, not a full inch away like most 4001s and all 4003s, not that it can't be done with good results. This all has to do with the toaster having considerably less output than hi-gains and the physical properties of a nickel or steel string moving over a magnet. Rick basses are pretty bass-heavy if set up for it, so you shouldn't have to go and buy new pickups. See if you could get the sound you want by adjusting your bass and amp, and if not, buy newer hi-gains or Rick humbuckers, not a toaster and horseshoe. Vintage may look better, but the sonic characteristics of both pickups combined is most likely not what your looking for. Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

I too think they were designed for the old position, I also think that they just don't look right in the newer position. If you want bottom get a couple of post nineties 4003 high gain pickups, remove the cap if it's still there and you'll have more than enough bottom. If you want still more bottom remove the screws and rubber washers from the bass pickup, it'll be closer to the strings that way. I did that to my late 70's 4001's and it made a big difference. You can even try that with the pickups you have now, you might be surprised.

thanks.
i removed the cap this morning and it was instantly so much better.
i was having trouble tracking down a horseshoe anyway.
also, are the stock high gains typically noisy (60 cycle) and, if so, what would anyone recommend to fix it.

a lot of people say that RIC pickups are noisy, and technically they are as they are single coil. But really it doesnt come through audibly within a band or on a recording.

My 1991 4003's pickups are rather noisy, i think because they are VERY strong.
I swear the pickups on the early 90's basses AND guitars are the most powerful RIC pickups - My 4003 bridge pickup can badly clip my preamp at a level where my 4001's bridge pickup is only just acheiving a fair amount of gain. And that 4001 has the cap removed

can you wire the pickups so that when you are using both, they are hum cancelling? kinda like a jazz bass?

Of course, turn off and/or stay far away from any TV's, CRT monitors, flourescent and neon lights etc.

If you still get a bit of 60Hz hum, strange as it sounds, try rotating yourself 90 degrees.

The pickups are both wound the same direction, so you don't get the humbucking effect when they are both turned up.

You just have to learn to live with some level of single coil noise if you love single coil tone.

Embrace the hum.

You can also shield them if you want. I shielded two 4001's once with sticky copper and they were very quiet, I had to aim the pickups directly at a neon sign or any source to get noise. I shielded the pickguards, the cavity where the controls are and also the cavity where the treble pickup is. It was very effective. I made sure everything was grounded. If it is not grounded it will actually be worse, will act like an antenna for noise.
Or you could turn one upside down.......