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Active Rickenbacker?

Warpeg

Warpeg

Jun 20, 2005
5,428
12,494
Ohio
#1
This may be considered blasphemy to some (sorry), but I wonder if anyone knows of any active pickups and/or preamps for Rickenbackers? I started out playing passive basses for about ten years. However, I've been playing nothing by active basses for the past six years. A new 4003 just arrived today--I like it quite a bit, but wished it had the capability of having less noise/higher output/more complex EQing. Maybe I'm just too used to the active sound. :confused:
 
#2
Hiya,

My main bass for about 2-3 years was a '79 4001.
This was during my funk/metal, Mr.Bungle-type days...

That poor bass, at the worst, had (all at once):

-Series/parallel switch (both pickups in s/p)
-Badass II bridge
-Warwick-style angled tuners

and...

27-volt active EMG preamp with sweepable mids and
active/passive switch.

This was a fun one - because the Ric is so thin, there is
NO room inside for a battery (or 3 ;) ). Also, I didn't want
to take off the huge 1 pc. pickguard to change the batteries.

The solution - I never used the "ric-o-sound" stereo jack,
so I rewired it as a "power-in" jack. Built an outboard
battery box, tied it to my strap, and used a patch cord
to connect to the bass, and it was good to go.

The bass really never wanted to sound like anything but
a Ric, which was not what I was going for at the time.
However, the EQ did give me some nice options, and I
was glad to have them...you really can get a good slap
sound from those things if you work a bit at it.

(Note - the BadAss bridge was a BIG upgrade...I don't
know if the current bridges are any better than the old
ones, but I'd recommend the upgrade as a first option
if you think the bass needs it).

Looking back - it would have been easier and more flexible
to get an outboard EQ/preamp like the Fodera, Aguilar,
Tech 21 Bass driver, etc. Pretty much the same effect,
but less hassle.

Peace!
Martin
 
#3
WOW! Don't suppose you have any pics of that beast? That could quite possibly be the most "upgraded" or "unique" bass I've ever heard of. 27volts?! I didn't know any preamps were able to go up that high. That preamp must have enough power to shock and kill a baby dolphin (don't ask) :eek: . I may take your advice on the new bridge. After examining the bass today, I noticed that the treble side of the bride is as low as it can go. However, the D and G strings both need to be about 2/64" lower. Perhaps a different bridge will go down a smidge lower.
 
#4
Reviving this thread because I was doing some mind numbing thing at work today and I started wondering if anyone has put a Spector haz preamp or clone line an SNC in a Rickenbacker.
 

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