Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mark: I am gong to replace the high gain pickups on my 350 with the scatter wound pickups. Any wise words that you wish to offer? I am unsure of whether to use the pads under the new pickups, as I have them now under my high gains, or whether I should go with the rubber grommets? What would you advise?

Peter,
Let me jump in ahead of Mark, though we might agree on this one;I would use the grommets in a minute, if only because they give a more "vintage" look.Besides, if this is the guitar I did the gold guard for, Definitely go with grommets.

I was certainly thinking along the grommet lines Don.

I guess I'd be putting the 4n7 (0.0047uF) high pass capacitor in position for the bridge pickup Peter. You could try leaving the middle pickup disconnected, but I recall you have a preference for wiring the mixer control as the middle pickup volume. That's not a bad thing, but I've always had a concern about there not being any tone control on the middle pickup when it's connected this way. How do you find it?

Glen: With the wiring that I have, I will be able to turn off the middle pickup. There is no proble with the tone control at all. I am always able to set the tone for the middle pickup through the amplifier and then use the tone control for the bridge and neck pickups. I can see no disadvantage to this wiring scheme other than it is a modification.

Peter,

Though there might be those who would
argue with me on this... I would use
grommets over the pads any day. I have
Ricks here with both, and as far as I'm
concerned, there IS a difference. I will
mirror what Don said.

---MT

A note on the pads....you may have a black ,unremovable dyed in the finish area border where the pad once was ....grommets will NOT cover it.It may be possible to use some diluted Turtle wax to scub the area ,then polish it ...but I have not had too much luck with removing this colorant....

perhaps JH has a "in House" Factory 'secret' he would like to let us all in on?

Mark: Do you have anything else to say about replacing the high gains with scatter wounds?

Peter, Just Do It! You'll like your guitar a Lot more.A classic aesthetic design,now with classic tone.[not to mention Hip gold trim!!]

AGREED BIG TIME !!!!!!!!!!

Peter,

The guitar that you have is a real beauty,but the tone is just not what you are wanting,correct?

To get 'that sound' you need the toasters.

That crispness is the 1/4 lbs magnets that are vertical in the bobbin.It makes for a tight field of sound .The high gains are nice pickups ,but they have a widder and more midrange tone as the magnet is on the bottom of the coil .It works harder to 'see' the strings.The toaster is right up against the strings and 'sees' the string very well.
Think of this magnet placement as glasses with magnification capabilities.The closer ,the more clear it is.The farther away ,the darker /less distinct it is.

Go toaster ,you won't regret it.

Get three .

Thanks Mark. I replaced the high gains with toasters today. The sound is sweet and the change was well worth it. Thanks for the encouragement.

Here is a photo of the most recent changes.

Those toasters just have the look don't they. That's the bonus you get with that sweet sound. I'm just trying to recall whether you already had the gold pickguard Peter. Whatever the case it looks just right, especially with the burns repro knobs. How about yellowing the switchtip to give the late 50's look. I recall they said coffee did quite a good job of it. I guess you have a gold trussrod cover to match, but how about the tailpiece? If you don't mind drilling you could try a B5 but I have another strange idea. I'm wondering how functional the repro kauffman's are going to be. Also whether they will fit onto the same end hook as the 'R' and 'trapeze'. It would really give it the full late 50's look. Until then I'd be thinking trapeze.

After about a week with the newly installed toasters I have to say that this was a terrific modification to my 350. In what may be an amusing antecdote for some, perhaps not bassists, the bass player that I jam with had to ask for the first time if I would please turn my guitar down. He was used to the 350 of old and when I unleased the full potential of this new puppy it cut throught his cochlear membrane like a hot knife through butter. OK so it was a little loud. The presence of this toaster sound, however, was more amazing than I ever expected. Go figure.