Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I really love my CS4001, and I'm thinking about giving my 4003S a makeover. A couple of questions:
1. If I bought a toaster P/U cover, could I put it on top of the current P/U in the neck position? Are the pole pieces removeable? And, 2. does the vintage P/U plate for a horseshoe fit easily with the current P/U?

The button top pickups are what they are .The buttons / polepieces are holding the coil of wire in place ...if you remove the polepieces ,the coil collapses!!!!

Can you grind off the button tops to fit it into the toaster cover ?
NO!!! this will cause the coil wire to heat and break !Or come unsoldered from the beginning of the coil.So you end up with a bobbin that needs rewinding.

Can you just mount the button top /high gain pickup in a Toaster cover .....NO!

The horshoe pickup fits perfectly into any bass pickup frame .

That pickup also can not fit into a toaster cover.Only the toaster bobbin fits into the toaster cover .That is why it is a toaster pickup .

Toasters are toasters and Button /High Gains are button top /high gains .End of discussion .

This advice is about a decade away from being accurate. The button tops for many years have in fact been made with a bobbin which does not depend on the polepieces in any structural way. While I agree that grinding them while in the pickup might damage the coil windings, they theoretically could be removed during that process. I would also think the could be nipped off carefully and slowly filed off, as the bobbin would surely handle some heat. Mind you, I haven't tried this myself, but it probably could be done with some care and would therefore fit in a toaster top cover.

Mind you ,I suggested this as it was the correct answer for years .

I also suggest that it not be done by your average guy as it can kill the coil .

I also tried to persuade this person as this is generally something that does not need to be done and just because it could and only with a little luck .....it still is some thing that I would say not to try .
I have a box of dead pickups that players have tried experimenting with and failed ...My favorite failure is stopping microphonic squealing with Cyanoacrylate glue.
It does work ,but if the coil needs to be repaired due to the wire breaking ..it sure makes it tough to fix.

Get the toaster pickup ....it is a far better idea and it helps the economy

OK, so I'll probably get the toaster. What I'd like to do is get my 4003S to be more of a match (in terms of sound and cosmetics) to my CS4001. The neck pickup is in a different spot of course. Will I have to rout out a spot if I wish to move in a toaster to the same place as the CS4001? I'm curious if you think this is a waste of time and effort for the result as well!

YOu may very well have to enlarge the depth of the cavity ,not the space .
I believe there is a ledge in the route ...I can't remember exactly ...but that does ring a bell .

This is NOT a waste of time .

i have a 1977 4001 which i changed the button top neck pickup to the toaster pickup. since i wanted the look of the early 4001, i also changed to the pickguard which has the hole for the pickup 1/2 inch closer to the neck.when i went to assemble these new parts into the bass, i noticed that there was some wood that needed to be routed away, where the toaster pickup would rest. it isnt hard to do, and there isnt really very much wood that has to be removed. i am no expert luthier by any means, but the finished product looks great. dont forget, even if you dont do the neatest job, the pickguard covers this routing. it is just my opinion, but if you change from the button top neck pickup, you might want also want to change to the horseshoe bridge pickup, if you dont already have one. the two sound great together, and i still feel that this is the best sounding combination for the rick bass, although this is only by opinion. i love the sound of my 1977 4001 bass with the toaster pickup and horseshoe pickup. it is THE rickenbacker bass sound, in my opinion.

Rickbass - I understand that there is a significant volume difference between the toaster neck pickup and the horseshoe pickup. I've heard that the horseshoe is significantly louder than the 7.4k scatterwound toaster. How do you blend the sounds together?

sea green-- i can honestly tell you that, if there is a volume difference between the toaster pickup and the horseshoe, it is that the toaster is louder than the horseshoe, not the reverse. that is why several people have removed the one capacitor, as mentioned by others in the forum. this will make the horseshoe pickup louder, and more in balance, volume-wise, with the toaster. i have also done this, and am quite pleased with the results. i have found the neck pickup, whether a toaster or button top pickup, to be somewhat louder than the bridge pickup on the rick basses, when both pickups are turned up all the way. backing off of the volume on the neck pickup a bit usually balances them out. on the rick basses i have owned, a 1980 4003, 1977 4001, and 1997 4003, this was the case.

I think the toaster in the CS4001 is different. I find that the difference between the horseshoe and toaster in mine is perfect- the bridge pickup holds its own nicely.

The toaster in the 4001CS and 4001v63's, at least the newer ones with a scatterwound, are in fact this way. The horseshoe is much louder than the toaster. I in fact crank both volumes all the way to get a good balance between the two pickups. Other than that the horseshoe is much louder than the toaster. I do not know if this is good or bad. I like the tone of the scatter-toaster, but it has low output...