Reversing the Reverse Polarity on a J to make a Ric.
 

Hey people (I used to say guys, but I'm told it's not PC),
I was reading today (or YouTubing) that the difference in tone to Ricks and Fender Js is that the two pickups of the J bass have a reverse polarity. It cuts out the noise, but a lot of the "chunk" also. So, the Ricks sound can be attributed to the fact that its two pickups have the same polarity.
The question I have is this- can I get a second neck pickup and put it in the bridge pickup position on my J, effectively reversing the reverse polarity?
That would save me a crap ton of money that don't have at the moment...
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Joe L.

You can just swap one pickup's hot and ground wires, but it still won't sound like a ric. The key is in the pup position: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcTOnIfmOY

nope, not even close.

that the J's pickups are RW/RP from each other and the ric's aren't has no effect at all on the sound. it only removes the hum.

What Walter said.

Since the two Jazz pickups have reversed magnets, they are also the same polarity.

Ricks have totally different pickups. They are also just different sounding basses and have a slightly shorter scale length than a Fender.

A Jazz will never sound like a Ric .... you just need a Ric, :smug:
and I want one as well, to go along with my P and J basses...

now if you were to put those jazz pickups in the same locations as on a ric, you'd go a long way towards that sound. (i think at least one TB'er has done that.)

No truth to that at all. On my 4003 Ric, I did a RWRP mod to the bridge pup (reversed wiring and flipped the magnet). The hum was cancelled, but the tone stayed exactly the same as before the mod.

Don't believe everything you see on YouTube. Or read either. Check the source it's coming from. :D

Interestingly my Ibanez sounds a lot like a Rick lately.

Dave Meros of Spock's Beard had a ric with pup pairs in both the Ric and Jazz positions (4 pups total) that he could select between. It certainly worked for him.

Dave Meros:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyp_KpBbuKc

(video is mirror imaged)

I love the sound of that bass.

What you have to understand is that RWRP winding is specifically meant to NOT affect the tone. If you flip the magnets, -or- swap the polarity, the pickups will be out of phase, but if you do both, the signal is the same whether the pickups are RWRP or not. What RWRP winding does is allow any hum to be out of phase while the signal is in phase.

I HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE ALL LEFT-HANDED! :eek:


:D

Pic of his original 4 pup ric (I think)

I'd love to know how that is wired up.. sweet!

subliminal typo is subliminal :hyper:

a lot of those sources should be "chucked", as in "thrown away".

Damn auto spell correct! Maybe it was Chuck Norris. He has a Rickenbacker in his beard.

Buy a set of toaster pickups, fit one around the 24th fret position, and one around the 3rd fret position up from the bridge and you will be a teeny tiny closer to sounding like a Rick.

Guys is now considered a gender neutral expression when used to address a mixed or unknown group. Enjoy.