Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm still looking for a new/used Rickenbacker.

Today I played a 2014 4003FG. One thing that struck me was how spoiled I am by my Alembic's active humbuckers, and my Precision Bass's and Jazz Bass's split humbuckers. The Alembics are simply silent when I'm not playing -almost completely resistant to picking up hum and buzz. The Precision Bass is pretty quiet but will pick up some hum once in a while. The Jazz Bass is pretty quiet when both pickups are turned up full.

In comparison the 4003's two single coil High Gains were full of hum that varied based on which direction I was facing. It was the usual level of noise I deal with when I play a Telecaster.

Can anyone recommend a set of humbuckers that will fit and work well in a 4001 or 4003?

I'd look at a 4004 but at the moment I prefer the classic looks of a 4001v63.

Look no further than RIC's HB-1 pickups.

Thanks, Jeff! I think that I even have an HB-1 in the parts box.

Can I use an HB-1 in the bridge position horseshoe mounting plate on a 4001v63?

Will it fit into the bridge position High Gain mounting plate on a 4003S? Will the pickup shield cover still fit?

Yes. The mounting plate should already have two holes located where you can mount the pickup onto it. If they do not anymore, it is a very simple matter to drill two holes in the plate.

I put a scatterwound toaster in my old 4003FL that way (it had the holes, already).

Nice clean solution. Thanks!

Now I have to find a 4004 to play to hear how it sounds.

You're welcome over, anytime. The one with the HB-1s (the Snowglo) is strung up with TI Jazz Flats but it sounds fantastic with them.

I had HB1's in my 4001 for a time. What I did for the bridge pickup is have Pickgaudian make me a small cover with a hole cut out for the pickup and matched the 4 screw holes of the surround. It worked perfectly. When I went back to original it was easy. I'll see if I have a picture of the bass.

Here is a pic.

HB1's are 180 degrees out of phase with RIC single coil pickups, so you'll need to reverse the red and blue wires in the HB1's lead. Otherwise,when running both pickups, they'll be out of phase and thin sounding. Also, the stock electronics are barely suited to single coil pickups, let alone HB1's, so you'll need to change both pots and tone cap in the bridge pickup circuit. HB1's also have extra wiring in their leads that make it possible to switch them from dual to single coil operation. i do this with special push-pull pots in custom wiring that I build for these basses.

I have an hb1 in my '72 4000,along with the new wiring components that bring out the best of that pickup.
It sounds great,and the best part is,it's dead quiet.
If i were to use 2 hb1's in a 4001/3,i would want the 500k push pull pots to do the coil tapping on both.

rikk wrote:Here is a pic.

Very nice and neat installation!

Anyone have a diagram of the HB1's? Are the coils stacked? What type of magnet are they, bottom, blade or rod? What is their ohm rating?

teeder wrote:Anyone have a diagram of the HB1's? Are the coils stacked? What type of magnet are they, bottom, blade or rod? What is their ohm rating?

There is this on the RIC website for starters:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19521-HB1%20Wiring.pdf

IIRC, the coils are side by side with two blades and a bar magnet in between them, and their nominal DCR seems to be around 15K Ω (as stock, wired in series).
Here is a photo of one coil:

Samarium Cobalt.

Somewhere, probably on the RIC factory forum, Mr. JH talks about some years ago he redesigned the base plate to the 4001 bridge pickup so that it can accommodate any of the RIC pickups as a simple bolt on modification.