Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey everyone, I have recently purchased my first Rickenbacker so I am still learning everything about the mechanics of them (I'm a real techie type). Anyways, I've had my 4003 for about a month now and finally decided to take the bridge cover off. The first thing I noticed is the way that the Treble pickup is mounted onto the magnet- it's crooked. Keep in mind that this is a brand new bass. The pickup is tilted the opposite way that a strat single coil would be-the D string pole piece is closer to the nut and the E pole piece is closer to the bridge. I haven't seen any close up pictures of other 4003 pickups, but is this normal? It doesn't look to good, and I'm wondering if I should just get this covered by the warranty.

Hi, Michael.
The tilted treble pickup on your new 4003 can only mean one thing: sloppy work. Whoever installed it at the factory was either having a bad day or in a hurry. I'm not sure the warranty covers this particular issue on your 4003. I think that first you should try and see whether you can fix the problem: slightly loosen both crosshead screws on the underside of the pickup baseplate and try and move the pickup into the correct position. If this does not work, well, it can only mean that one or both screw holes on the bottom of the pickup bobbin are incorrectly located, in which case new ones are to be cut.
Let us know how it goes.
And welcome to the Forum.

My treble pickup is mounted exactly the same way as yours, Miketbass.

Mine's a bit crooked as well. The bobbin is glued onto the magnet that way.

heheheh ... put the ash tray/handrest on there and you won't notice it ...

Yeah, I had a 2002 4003 with the same thing, sounded great though, couldn't tell at all, was not a problem for me, I was a little surprised though.

Mine's a 2002 4003 also. It doesn't bother me at all. At least the toaster's straight.

I don't think the treble pickup on any of my Rick basses is perfectly straight, it never bothered me though.

I think a lot of them a slightly crooked ... like this one ...

Yeah, that's how mine is. I almost think they slant 'em on purpose.

The holes on the baseplate are oversized to allow some variation amd adjustment between pickup types. (Note in this photo also the spare holes at each end that fit a humbucker, toaster, or hi gain.) Given that the screws thread into plastic, they can become loose in which case the pickup and magnet can move a little.

Doesn't hurt a thing but if it offends you, loosen the screws, straighten them up, retighten with care not to strip it, until the next time you need to do this.

I really don't care if it isn't perfectly straight ... but I din't like the four pole thing ... so I converted it to a five pole setup and put it in a bass ... it works perfectly ... but I have a couple of extra holes ... no problem

Don't like the look of the crooked magnet?
No problem!

I just put a high gain bass PU cover on the treble PU bobbin. Perfect fit and it protects the pickup too.
Just don't forget to ground the cover.

Paul,
I've seen pictures of that bass before and wondered what was going on with the treble pickup...I thought you had removed the neck pickup and put it in the treble position and then put in a toaster in the neck position....now I know

BTW...your photography as ever is superb....ceratinly does your Rics justice.

Every newer one I've seen is exactly like that. The slight slant has to be intentional. Don't worry about it.