Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What is the relatively soft material on the underside of Rickenbacker bass pickups? It's not as soft as foam spacers that I have seen on the underside of other pickups, but it is not nearly as hard as a magnet or metal.

On the bridge pickup, it is between the pickup itself and the mounting plate.

Is it safe for me to sand or grind it down?

Thanks!

Sounds like you're talking about the magnet. I'd stay away from grinding on it. That is unless you're into that sort of thing.

Yeah, I guess it is the magnet. It's magnetic, and it looks like that's what the poles mount to, so it seems to be the case...

That really sucks because grinding that down will affect tone. Oh well, so be it.

The magnet on the bridge puckup is easily twice as large as the neck pickup. That is the issue. I may get lucky and not have to grind it at all, but, if I do, I won't have to grind it much.

I am still surprised at how soft the material is.

Thanks, Teed!

All of which begs the question...Why do you need to grind on it at all?

Yes, inquiring minds need to know. Do you wish to make it thinner? I believe it's a rubberized magnetic compound. For the life of me, I can't picture a need to remove material from the magnet.

Sepp

I am toying with the idea of putting Rick bass pickups in a non-Rick bass.

On the neck pickup, do you know the metal plate that the chrome pickup cover bolts to? I may be able to get some custom made plates which I will glue to the pickups. If I can get the custom plates I think I can put the Rick pickups in without too much trouble.

Ah, I see, sort of. Lets talk treble pup first. The magnet is sandwiched between the plastic mounting plate and the pick up. You can take the pick up off the baseplate and mount it to another type of mounting fixture for use in another but I'm nto getting why you need to grind the magnet. I guess I really don't have to know why but I'm assuming for some reason it won't work in the instrument you plan on using it in. Maybe too tall??

OK, the neck pup. The cover is and base plate sandwich the pick up guts. While I never took a neck pup apart, I'm guessing the cover protects the windings. You can probably play without the cover but I imagine it will look like ****.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

Sepp

Ahh....The old "If I put Rick pickups in something else, can I make it sound like a Rick" quest....

aceonbass wrote:Ahh....The old "If I put Rick pickups in something else, can I make it sound like a Rick" quest....

How about a very excellent sounding 1972 Jazz Bass with a hi-gain from the early '80s in the neck(mid) position? Schaller 3-D bridge to allow for narrower string spacing with D'Addario XL 170 strings on it. 3TSB finish removed (PITA to do, too) for a tung oil finish, Recorded through my old original greenface Furman PQ-3 through a Crown D-150A power amp into a custom built cabinet with an Altec 421A driver in it. I do not recall the mic used, probably a LDC Neumann of some sort U47/67/87 (?) into a Harrison console to a 16 track 2" tape MCI recorder.

aceonbass wrote:Ahh....The old "If I put Rick pickups in something else, can I make it sound like a Rick" quest....

Yup! But, I'm optimistic about this particular bass!

Jeff, it sounds like you got pretty close, based on that clip! Every time I see a passive jazz of any kind, I wonder what it would sound like with a stereo output.

Thanks, Conley! It is a very interesting combination, there are elements of both basses, depending on what part of the fingerboard I was playing on; more Rick-like lower down and Jazz-ish up high. The bass is currently with a good friend of mine who has a fretless neck on it now, which sounds really nice. Another thing I did, that I just recalled, is I replaced the tone pot with a switch and a cap to preset a darker tone, if desired (not used on this recording).

Great tone, Jeff! I like it!