Toaster Pickup differences

[akpasta]

Hello all,

I’ve got three rickenbacker guitars and they all sound quite different. I decided to test the pickup resistance using a multimeter. My method was to measure from a cable at the output jack, with pickups in the guitar and the knobs up all the way (careful to ensure the blend knob was correctly set while testing the neck pickup )

Ps I run all my guitars through a jangle box nano.

1981 360/12 with “toaster” pickups. This is my favorite. This is the one with the byrdsy chime. Sure enough both pickups register 7.2k. No clue where these pickups came from, but this guitar had a custom 12 saddle bridge installed in the 80s so I’m gonna guess maybe they replaced the pickups too? Wherever they came from they have the vintage sound.

1999 360/12v64 with “toaster” pickups. Although it has toasters they don’t sound the same. They’re warmer and don’t have as much sustain. Both pickups register 11k! That must be the reason for the different sound?

1989 330/6. Ok this isn’t a 12 string but I wanted to mention it because I have a question about this one too. It’s got hi gains. They’re ok. They break up with the amount of compression I like to use so I’m not super into them. The weird thing. The neck pickup measures 11k but the bridge pickup measures 8k. Is that normal?

My questions are:

Where can I find proper 7.2k toasters? I’d really like to try them in my 1999 360/12v64.

I’m wondering about the 330/6. Are toasters and hi gains different aside from their resistance? What would folks recommend for the 330 to open it up to some more jangle with lower output pickups? Should I try 7.2k toasters in that one too? My other thought was to put 7.2k toasters in my 1999 12 and swap the 11k toasters into my 330.

Anyways thanks for any tips/info you may have.

[jdogric12]

On the '81, those are probably "scatterwound" reissue toasters, which they started making in '99. How long have you had it? Does the neck pickup have short poles, or long like the bridge pickup?

On the V64, pickups won't have anything to do with sustain, that's all the guitar's wood and construction. Those are pre-99 "hot toasters" which many don't like, but some people LOVE! Let me know if you change them out please

On the 6er with hi gains, I think the difference in reading is normal but I'm not sure. I know it was that way in the early 80's... not sure if that continued as late as '89... well, I think hi gains changed in the early 90's now that I think about it, so yeah that might be totally normal.

You can get the "scatterwound" 7.4k toaster reissues from RIC or from a RIC dealer. Not hard to find, unless stock levels are currently low and I'm just unaware.

Trying 7.4's in the 6er will make a much bigger difference than going from hg's to 11k's will.

[akpasta]

On the '81, those are probably "scatterwound" reissue toasters, which they started making in '99. How long have you had it? Does the neck pickup have short poles, or long like the bridge pickup?

On the V64, pickups won't have anything to do with sustain, that's all the guitar's wood and construction. Those are pre-99 "hot toasters" which many don't like, but some people LOVE! Let me know if you change them out please

On the 6er with hi gains, I think the difference in reading is normal but I'm not sure. I know it was that way in the early 80's... not sure if that continued as late as '89... well, I think hi gains changed in the early 90's now that I think about it, so yeah that might be totally normal.

You can get the "scatterwound" 7.4k toaster reissues from RIC or from a RIC dealer. Not hard to find, unless stock levels are currently low and I'm just unaware.

Trying 7.4's in the 6er will make a much bigger difference than going from hg's to 11k's will.

Thanks for the advice. Regarding the 1981 360/12 I’ve had it since 2018. Person I bought it from had it for over a decade and didn’t change anything. The bridge was installed in the 1980s and I’m gonna guess the pickups might have been swapped then too. Did any 1981 ricks come with toasters?? I’d have to pull the pickups out to know for sure. I’ll do that the next time I change the strings.

Regarding sustain on the “hot” toasters I’m referring to the sustain you get with heavy compression. The chime. That’s not there with these. It is a hollower body so there is an acoustic difference but I’m not sure that’s it esp now that I know the pickups are so different.

I’ll look around for the 7.4 reissues and thanks for the tip on the 6er

[akpasta]

Would this be the pickup? http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/Pickup ... p_504.html

[jdogric12]

bingo

[ChuckEds]

Just checked the high gains in my 2012 330/6 and they're both 11k. I'm not sure if that's typical, but it sounds great, clear and bright!

[raketenmann]

Hey there
I can't really help with your questions about the pickups, neither am I an electrician, but I am pretty sure that your way of measuring the resistance is not accurate. Why? All the pots in the guitar do have a resistance, even when totally open, they provide a load. As far as I know, a 330 pot (as mostly used in Ricky's) provide a 330kOhm load when totally open. This is the reason single coil and humbucking guitars often use different pots. (500k on Humbuckers, 250k on Single Coils).

A difference in your neck and bridge resistance could be because of the addiitonal load of the blend pot - but somehow weird that with the same measuring method you get other results on a different guitar.

AFAIK, on ricks generally both PU's do have about the same resistance. On most other guitars, the neck pu is wound less and therefore has less output to compensate with bigger string excursion. Well' Rickenbacker went the other direction and put in the blend control to compensate for that.

Just for example about the load question: My HiGains just sounded very muddy and midrangy, so I disconnected both tone pots and the blend pot and the guitar is much brighter now. If one doesn't want to get rid of the tone pots: There are no-load-pots out there that sound as if there's no load when fully open.

You asked about the differenc in toaster and HiGains in generall. AFAIK there are other differences: Toasters do use Alnico 5 magnets, 6 rods, one for every string, HiGains use ceramic bar magnets. That is a big difference in construction - and makes the HiGains definitely an inferior construction...

[iiipopes]

Just checked the high gains in my 2012 330/6 and they're both 11k. I'm not sure if that's typical, but it sounds great, clear and bright!

Yes, that is typical if they have the allen key adjustible pole pieces.

[RicUpNorth]

If you ever are looking to sell those 89 hi-gains hit me up. I’d love them to replace the modern ones in my 620.