Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

In your own words, can you explain why someone would choose hi-gains over toasters... or toasters over hi-gains? I'm curious to know whether its primarily a fashion thing (toasters looking so retro-cool, for example), or whether there are particular styles of music that one kind of pickup suits more than the other?

Toasters jangle. Its the cool clean sound...

Higains rock. Turn it up! Distort 'em!

The sound is night and day.

I really like the hi-gains for cleans - with some EQing you can get a real beefy tone, and retain some jangle. Haven;t tried toasters yet except on a 325c58

Rob: John is accurate in his description.

To add, sometimes it is not easy to differentiate between the hi-gain and the toaster. Jeff Bauer humbled yours truly in a recent test of different Rickenbackers and pickups on this forum.

I have been able to get the jangle from the hi-gains and others have made this same comment. If you want less feedback and a sound with more edge I would go with the high gain. If you are going with the early Beatle sound I would go with the toasters.

To me, the jangle is subjective in the sense that it is in the temporal lobes of the listener. To that end, it may be achieved with the use of wide range of pickups, amplifiers and guitars. For me, the toaster and the Rickenbacker produces the classic jangle.

I tend to think that soundclips sent over the internet (and even a lot of recordings) cannot authentically reproduce an instrument as it sounds "in the flesh." Are the differences between pickups (and guitars for that matter) more apparent in person than in clips?

One guitar forum had a guy posting a soundclip. He challenged the listeners (gear snobs, mostly) to identify the amp used for the recording. A lot of respondents guessed boutique amps. It turned out to be one of those Marshall battery-powered micro amps

I have gone back and forth with my 360/12. I have had the hi-gains in, then the toasters, then the hi-gains, then this past December, back to the toasters, and now I think I am finally back to hi gains to stay.

The toasters sound great with Pyramids, but I didn't like the feel of the flats. When I put roundwounds back on, I was missing the "body" of the tone that the hi-gains give. Now I am back to the hi-gains and rickenbacker strings.

The vintage pu's are great for giving you a certain sound, ala Beatles/Byrds. The hi-gains can get you 90% there, but also can give you this other richer quality which I love.

Plenty of jangle, but "oomph" too.

I've played the toasters, and they sound good, but I just fell in love with those Ric hi-gains right away. They can be downright nasty, in the best sense of the word. Amp up loud, guitar volumes pinned, and use a volume pedal to control the sound level. Love it - sometimes I leave it that way the whole night! Subtlety is SO overrated, LOL.

I use hi-gains because they came with the guitar that I bought! Hahahahaha!!

I just wanted a stock guitar (read: cheapest) and I think the hi-gains sound great. I have not yet tried toasters, but I didn't see the point in paying extra for something with lower output.

Where do the humbuckers fit in with these for example on a 650C? How are they similar, how are they different? How do they compare with the high gains and the toasters?

I've never heard a Ric with humbuckers, so I don't know. But I will say I miss my 330 with the hi-gains. I had a chance to trade it towards
a 360V64, so I jumped on it. I don't regret the trade overall, but my other Ric is a 325V63 - so I'm toasters all the way now.
I think it's best (if affordable) to have one of each, it rounds out your tonal possibilities.