Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

is there going to be a bigh difference moving the toaster back a half an inch on a more recent 4001?
will a vintage p-guard fit a newer one?

The toaster and high gain pickups are interchangeable without modification on most Ric basses ... 1960's 4001's may need slight mods ...

The toaster and high gain are pretty much the same size and shape ...

i thought that at one point, the high gains were moved about 1/2 inch further away from the neck.
i read on a post that the toasters seem to work best in their original position?
is there any truth to that?

From what I've read, the neck pickup was moved to help do away with some of the dead spots on the neck. I could be wrong. The move was made a few years after they had started using high gains. We'll have to wait for someone who has a toaster in the "new" position to see if they think it affects the sound. Both my 4001 and 4003 have high gains, but the 4001 pup is in the old position closer to the neck. If it were me, I'd try the toaster in the same spot as the current one before doing any routing. You might like it.

it's strange that you say that. immediately i noticed that along with the volume drop that i expected, it seemed as though there was a "dead" area around the 6th fret. the notes were not exactly dead, there was just another volume drop in that area (acoustically, the notes were not dead, but when i plugged in, the area around the 6th fret just got quieter.)
beats me!!

Alex,

I recommend routing out the cavity. I had a toaster in my 4003 in the 1" position and hated it. The hi-gains, by virtue of their name, can function farther away from the neck. The toaster pickup needs to be closer to the neck to fully benefit from string vibration. After minor routing and a new guard, I had the sound I wanted. Also, I notice that I have done less work maintaining the neck after the routing. This may be my imagination but taking out just enough wood seemed to make it a better bass all around. Just my opinion...

The hole on most 4003/4001 basses is big enough to put the pickup in the 1" or 1/2" location ...

what about shielding? does anyone have any opinions on it?

I usually put metal foil on the back side of a Ric pickguard ...

It is a good idea to sheild the cavity as well ... but I only did that to one of my Rics ...

If you do put foil on the back of the pickguard, take off the ground leads going from pot to pot, otherwise it will be quite counterproductive.

Better yet, install the foil so as to not allow the pot mount to touch it except at only one pot, so as to have a ground connection at one place only.

Finally, a thin piece of mu-metal works better than all the foil in the world in this application.

Jeff,

If I remember correctly, I could not fit my toaster into the .5" position prior to routing out the cavity. The six pole piece bump into the edge of the cavity. Maybe that was just how my bass was, 1996 4003. I wouldn't put it past Rickenbacker for changing the average dimensions of the cavity route over time. My 4001v63 is way different than my 4003. Who knows?...

My old '73 4001 had the high gain in the spot closer to the neck, and it sounded good there. The funny thing was that it looked like the wire channel going to the control cavity was cut using a drill press as there were lots of little holes in a row rather than a smooth cut like a router would do. I've since sold that Ric and got one with the toaster and it sounds better.

The Rics in the 70's had a lot of drilled holes sometimes instead of routing ...

I think those were done with a Forstner bit, my '73 was made that way too.

The drilled route is a major feature on '70s 4001"s that distinquish from other eras, IMHO.

My '72 has 10 drills.



I humbly think all 4003 basses, and even 4001 basses from after mid-'73 to '75 all have to have the bass PU cavity routed in order to move the pickup 1/2" closer to the neck.