Stereo Rickenbacker

Seziertisch

Just a quick heads up for owners of Ricks with stereo outputs. Due to the wiring schematic necessary to allow a stereo output, the mono output jack is compromised.

Taking standard Gibson wiring in comparison, the pickups are wired:

Neck pup -> Volume and tone pots ->

---

3- way selector -> Output
Bridge pup -> Volume and tone pots ->

while for the Rick it is:

Neck ->

---

-> Neck vol, tone, "mixer" pots ->
............. 3-way ........................................... Stereo out ->Mono out
Bridge ->

---

-> Bridge vol and tone pots --- ->

This means that when you are plugged into the Gibson and you have, say, the neck pickup selected, the bridge pickup volume and tone pots are completely out of the circuit. When you plug into the mono out on the stereo Rick and you have the neck pickup selected the bridge volume and tone pots are also in the circuit (in parallel). In terms of the loading of the pickups and signal loss this is not so ideal.

To test this select the bridge pickup on your Rick. Then compare the sound when plugging into the mono output and the stereo output (through which you will be only able to hear the bridge pickup). When plugged into the stereo output the sound will be more present, open and responsive.

I would say that for anyone who owns a stereo Rick but who doesn't use the stereo out, they should consider rewiring the guitar with a more standard Gibson style wiring.

Dord

There are many things not ideal on Rickenbackers.... however try telling that to John Hall's fans.

Seziertisch

Like what?

- The tiny frets?
- The thick lacquer on the fret board?
- The poor accessibility of 6 of the tuners on their 12-strings?
- The fact that the strings make contact the the nameplate on the headstock on their 12-strings
- The two truss rods? (A challenge for even the most competent of luthiers to set up)
- The somewhat dodgy quality of the metal work? (I had an R tailpiece tear apart, quite literally)?
- The expense of aftermarket/replacement parts (since no Rick dealers in the US will sell to Europe. 150 Sterling for a Toaster pickup!)

... That said, nothing sounds quite like one, and they are the sound of so many classic guitar recordings.

Dord

Seziertisch wrote: »

Like what?

- The tiny frets?
- The thick lacquer on the fret board?
- The poor accessibility of 6 of the tuners on their 12-strings?
- The fact that the strings make contact the the nameplate on the headstock on their 12-strings
- The two truss rods? (A challenge for even the most competent of luthiers to set up)
- The somewhat dodgy quality of the metal work? (I had an R tailpiece tear apart, quite literally)?
- The expense of aftermarket/replacement parts (since no Rick dealers in the US will sell to Europe. 150 Sterling for a Toaster pickup!)

... That said, nothing sounds quite like one, and they are the sound of so many classic guitar recordings.

All of those and the fact that they're uncomfortable to play. I know people who have bought them but sold them after a while because they liked the sound but the pain wasn't worth it.

The bass bridges are prone to bending upwards off the body also. A friend of mine has one like that.

Seziertisch

For the Rick 12-strings you really need to have very precise fingering, a stray finger pad can easily mute the strings below. That said, unless you are Johnny Puddingfingers it is not impossible with a bit of practice. I would say that the precision fingering required for a violin or something would be much more challenging.

Also, in terms of really getting jangly arpeggios happening, I have found that you really need to play with upstrokes on the wound/unwound string pairs, hitting the lighter octave string first. Up and down just sounds completely different.

eoin5

My one has practically imploded

Seziertisch

eoin5 wrote: »

My one has practically imploded

?

eoin5

Its a 4003 and the neck is in a lot of bother, I had to keep adjusting it every few months until a trussrod broke. I replaced that then the second one broke. When I replaced the second one there was no adjusting it enough, the neck has warped so far that the normal simple trussrods arent enough. Id say it was temperature problems but that didnt affect any of the other instruments that much.

Its been lying against a wall face forward for a few months now to try to get the neck to straighten, if its not sorted by the summer it'll make a nice summer project. I miss playing it though, none of the other quirks really bothered me.

Seziertisch

Sorry to hear that. I'd be inclined to say that fixing it might be beyond the powers of us mere mortals. Searching out a good luthier might be the way to go.

I know when I got my Rick set up, the guy who did it said he spent three hours adjusting and readjusting the neck just to get it right. He used to work in the Guild repair shop in New York as well, so it wasn't a lack of experience or know how that was the matter. I had been elsewhere beforehand and had been told that there was a slight upward bow to the neck from the 12th fret (which was causing buzzing on some frets) that nothing short of planing down the fingerboard would fix. My man sorted it without having to resort to such measures.

As for the temperature being the issue, maybe, but to cause what you have there would have to have been some fairly extreme temperature and humidity changes.

Dord

Seziertisch wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. I'd be inclined to say that fixing it might be beyond the powers of us mere mortals. Searching out a good luthier might be the way to go.

I know when I got my Rick set up, the guy who did it said he spent three hours adjusting and readjusting the neck just to get it right. He used to work in the Guild repair shop in New York as well, so it wasn't a lack of experience or know how that was the matter. I had been elsewhere beforehand and had been told that there was a slight upward bow to the neck from the 12th fret (which was causing buzzing on some frets) that nothing short of planing down the fingerboard would fix. My man sorted it without having to resort to such measures.

As for the temperature being the issue, maybe, but to cause what you have there would have to have been some fairly extreme temperature and humidity changes.

I don't think there would be any bother fixing it, just a matter of cost.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=371535

eoin5

Seziertisch wrote: »

As for the temperature being the issue, maybe, but to cause what you have there would have to have been some fairly extreme temperature and humidity changes.

It was either that or the rods lost tensile strength, theyre just a steel bar with nuts at both ends. When I get time I'll install two enormous byflex trussrods.

I donno about them being hard to set up though, the only thing youve to remember basswise is for the older models you have to prestraighten the neck by hand before you tighten on the nuts. Maybe the 12 string is more of a challenge.

Seziertisch

Supposedly getting similar pressure onto both rods and getting them to act in tandem on the neck is not so easy/requires a bit of experience.

Mark D

Ive a 2006 4003, and after minor adjustments, action, pups,truss rod it played fantastic, when adjusting the trust rods on this bass minimal adjustments should be made, then given 24hrs to settle in concert pitch also if you have adjusted this and then stick on heavier gauge strings there is going to be changes, it’s a hand made wooden instrument and like all will have some flaws, but this bass is a masterpiece. Its not everyone's cup of tea, it has its own sound and can fight back at you when you first playing due to its unique contours, so if your not up to it, go out and buy a fender jazz, as these were made in direct competition to the Rikky, and some way can replicate its unique sound. If you are a heavy player on atack with the strings, this is an instrument that is suited for you. As far as Im concerned it’s a top of the range instrument in every way..thats my 10 cents any way lol!

Dord

Mark D wrote: »

Ive a 2006 4003, and after minor adjustments, action, pups,truss rod it played fantastic, when adjusting the trust rods on this bass minimal adjustments should be made, then given 24hrs to settle in concert pitch also if you have adjusted this and then stick on heavier gauge strings there is going to be changes, it’s a hand made wooden instrument and like all will have some flaws, but this bass is a masterpiece. Its not everyone's cup of tea, it has its own sound and can fight back at you when you first playing due to its unique contours, so if your not up to it, go out and buy a fender jazz, as these were made in direct competition to the Rikky, and some way can replicate its unique sound. If you are a heavy player on atack with the strings, this is an instrument that is suited for you. As far as Im concerned it’s a top of the range instrument in every way..thats my 10 cents any way lol!

Not to be pedantic but... the Jazz bass came in 1960 and the 4001 followed in 1961.

The Rickenbacker flaws aren't construction flaws. It's obvious that they put a lot of work into the construction. They do look well made. The flaws are design flaws. That's a bigger problem IMO.

Patricide

Im very undecided on Rickenbackers. Played one 4001 bass in the shop and it was horrible, just sounded dead flat and didnt play much better than it sounded. Played another one since and i thought it had a GREAT sound out of it. Also played one of there guitars(not too sure what model exactly) and although it defiantly had its own unique sound I think its pigeonholed for certain types of music...i mean i could be wrong i only had a 10 minute spin off a guy in colleges but thats the way it seemed to me.