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A P-bass-Ric Rewire?!?

#22
walterw said:
OK, the stereo output thing is beating a dark horse of another color!

it's kind of a novelty, not all that useful. in mono, it makes no difference to the sound, other than making for a slightly more dodgy connection.

the only part of that circuit that really changes the sound is the in-line .0047μF cap choking the bridge pickup.
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Can't decide if I agree with this.

Modern technology will let you split your signal and mix a processed version with an unprocessed version, but the neck pickup on a Rick sounds quite different to the bridge pickup, even without the capacitor. I can see where using the neck pickup for solid lows and putting edge on the bridge pickup, even sending them through different amps, might give a different sound even in mono. That being said, I've never done it, I split the signal electronically when I want two sounds to mix. Simpler, less error prone.
 
#23
Thanks for a very direct answer, fingerbun. basically what my issue is-
I'm a p guy. love it forever, all that. I definatly dont want to take it out. but i also really enjoy that bite that a bridge ric pup gives. so really, how much farther away can i put the ric pup from it's standard position (and yes, the polepeices of the ric pup would be at the exact rearmost edge of the p pup) , with the consideration that just squeezing it in right below the p isn't gonna do what i want, with regards to new tone. I was thinking somewhere around 2.5 to 3 inches from the center of the bridge.
 
#25
Rthm said:
Thanks for a very direct answer, fingerbun. basically what my issue is-
I'm a p guy. love it forever, all that. I definatly dont want to take it out. but i also really enjoy that bite that a bridge ric pup gives. so really, how much farther away can i put the ric pup from it's standard position (and yes, the polepeices of the ric pup would be at the exact rearmost edge of the p pup) , with the consideration that just squeezing it in right below the p isn't gonna do what i want, with regards to new tone. I was thinking somewhere around 2.5 to 3 inches from the center of the bridge.
Click to expand...

I am no expert on pickups or their placement. I can't answer your question.

Trying to think laterally, the P pickup being split is quite a wide pickup, and the P sound is so common that variations of P pickup will probably be easier to find than variations of Rick pickup. Are you able to find a P-sounding pickup that uses less space, and would that get you to where the Rick pickup could be in the right position?
 
#26
fingerbun said:
Can't decide if I agree with this.

Modern technology will let you split your signal and mix a processed version with an unprocessed version, but the neck pickup on a Rick sounds quite different to the bridge pickup, even without the capacitor.
Click to expand...
what i meant was that the only part of the circuit, as in caps and pots and such, that's doing anything special to the sound is the in-line cap.

the rest is entirely the pickups themselves and (very important) where they're mounted.
 
#27
walterw said:
what i meant was that the only part of the circuit, as in caps and pots and such, that's doing anything special to the sound is the in-line cap.

the rest is entirely the pickups themselves and (very important) where they're mounted.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with that.

I'm a weird beast, a died-in-the-wool Rick fan who doesn't like Geddy Lee or Chris Squires. My opinions are not necessarily typical.
 
#28
actually, what I was trying to say is this (sorry if im being unclear)-
I dont want to take the current pickup out of my bass...using the tonal qualities of a Ric bridge pup as an example (and yes, I do know that it's not the only factor) Im wondering where people feel a good placement of a single coil would be.
The main problem is that im unable to put the ric pup where it usually is because of where the p pup is....so I was wondering what people thought about the amount of distance towards the bridge I could move it.

I hope I'm conveying what I'm asking....sorry if theres been some confusion.
 
#29
Rthm said:
actually, what I was trying to say is this (sorry if im being unclear)-
I dont want to take the current pickup out of my bass...using the tonal qualities of a Ric bridge pup as an example (and yes, I do know that it's not the only factor) Im wondering where people feel a good placement of a single coil would be.
The main problem is that im unable to put the ric pup where it usually is because of where the p pup is....so I was wondering what people thought about the amount of distance towards the bridge I could move it.

I hope I'm conveying what I'm asking....sorry if theres been some confusion.
Click to expand...

I think I understood you. And I think I don't know the answer :)
 
#30
Ah, an honest response. how refreshing.

in all seriousness, tho, thanks for your info.

Now....If anyone's done something like this, it's the time to step forward. And show us some great pics.
 
#31
I did something like this with my Peavey P-bass copy.

But I didn't put the Ric pickup in as an addition to the P-pickup. I took the P-pickup out completely.

I routed more space for the Ric pickup, continuing the hole left by the lower half of the P-pickup.

It does sound somewhat similar to my Rickenbacker now, though not exactly alike.

Of course, the downside is that the bass is absolutely hideous now, but oh well.

DSC00050.jpg
 

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