Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I know the pole spacing is slightly narrower with neck pickups but if I install a bridge pickup in there will I really notice a difference? Anyone tried? thanks!

Go for it, I've done this before with no issues.

Usually this requires soldering a longer lead, but it works fine once installed.

Thanks Collin! Replacing the neck pickup in my beloved '88 610 with an 11.3K Ohms hi-gain bridge PU. Hoping it will be a better balance compared to the usual 14 or so ohm neck pickup rating from that era...

That's a great looking guitar. Really is.

I would do one thing to that guitar if it were mine. Paint a bridge cover black and put it on. The chrome bridge stands out like a sore thumb; you can't paint the bridge, but a bridge cover you can. You've already got black pickups and rings, black tuners, black R tailpiece...black bridge cover completes the color scheme. And then I suppose one should add the old style black knobs without the silver insert.

Tommy wrote:That's a great looking guitar. Really is.

I would do one thing to that guitar if it were mine. Paint a bridge cover black and put it on. The chrome bridge stands out like a sore thumb; you can't paint the bridge, but a bridge cover you can. You've already got black pickups and rings, black tuners, black R tailpiece...black bridge cover completes the color scheme. And then I suppose one should add the old style black knobs without the silver insert.

Thanks but unfortunately I can't stand playing with the bridge cover on!

danoadam wrote:
Thanks but unfortunately I can't stand playing with the bridge cover on!

Interesting. I always thought that the bridge cover is an essential piece of the Rickenbacker sound because it does not allow for muted strings. The Ric sound is jangle and arpeggios that ring out...that bridge cover forces one to play that way.

(Yes, I know you can still mute strings with the bridge cover on, but its design and placement really does make the guitar conducive to no muting. Rest picking hand on that cover and pick away for glorious chime and jangle.)

Tommy wrote:

danoadam wrote:
Thanks but unfortunately I can't stand playing with the bridge cover on!

Interesting. I always thought that the bridge cover is an essential piece of the Rickenbacker sound because it does not allow for muted strings. The Ric sound is jangle and arpeggios that ring out...that bridge cover forces one to play that way.

(Yes, I know you can still mute strings with the bridge cover on, but its design and placement really does make the guitar conducive to no muting. Rest picking hand on that cover and pick away for glorious chime and jangle.)

By that logic all the fender ashtrays on vintage strats, teles and their basses would be an essential part of the sound and I just don’t buy that, if it’s in the way of how you want to play I’d say get rid of it. My main guitar is a 66’ 335 that I took the bridge over off and then lost but I don’t lose sleep over it cause I don’t ever plan on putting it back on.

Wizz wrote:

Tommy wrote:

danoadam wrote:
By that logic all the fender ashtrays on vintage strats, teles and their basses would be an essential part of the sound and I just don’t buy that,...

No. How many people do you see actually play a Strat with a bridge cover on? Tele with ashtray on? P-Bass with whatever bridge cover they might have? No, those guitars invite muting. Over the years so many players do the muting thing on Fenders that Fenders no longer include bridge covers with Strats. My Strat never came with one. (And I wonder if ashtrays are included with new Teles?) Fenders encourage muting by not even including bridge covers. Rics want that bridge cover on there because it encourages chime and jangle.

The bridge cover is useless is just about any guitar, including Ricks. I have the cover removed on all of mine, and nearly every vintage Rick I've ever bought have not come with a bridge cover since people generally do not use them.

You're in the minority there, Tom!

collin wrote:The bridge cover is useless is just about any guitar, including Ricks. I have the cover removed on all of mine, and nearly every vintage Rick I've ever bought have not come with a bridge cover since people generally do not use them.

You're in the minority there, Tom!

Don't care if I am in the minority or not. That bridge cover on the Ric...first off, I didn't even know it was a bridge cover. I always saw it as something to rest the side of my hand on while I pick away and get crystal clear chime. I figured Ric put it there so we keep our hand off the strings. All other guitars I rest the side of my right hand upon the strings. Ric...that silvery thing screwed over the bridge is there to make sure we play the Ric with maximum jangle.
Hey, we all do what we want with our guitars. I am sure there's someone out there who plays a Ric through a high gain dual rectifier Mesa-Boogie.

Guitar designs are largely based on tradition, and prior to the Rock & Roll era in the mid-late 50s, players didn’t hand mute all that much. Often, guitar manufacturers didn’t realize this was how people often played guitar and covered the bridge (i.e. Fender, Rickenbacker) or installed assorted devices to provide string muting (Jazzmaster, Gretsch 6120 and others), when the problem was solved with a screwdriver in 20 seconds. Curiously Gibson never bothered with any of this, they just gifted us with the ToM bridge and called it a day.

Indeed, to each their own on how you’d like to enjoy your guitar, but most bridge covers go missing over time and it’s not a matter of coincidence!

I’ve always left them on, on Ricks. If not I’d gouge my right hand up on the saddles! And palm muting, not a problem.

kennyhowes wrote:I’ve always left them on, on Ricks. If not I’d gouge my right hand up on the saddles! And palm muting, not a problem.

Yeah, that's exactly the reason why I've left the bridge cover on my 660/12... It janglez and chimes real purty, but muting when necessary is never a problem...

danoadam wrote: Thanks but unfortunately I can't stand playing with the bridge cover on!

Amen to that. I've had like seven of them sitting in a drawer for years. Not sure how you guys can effectively mute with them still on.