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New Joe Barden Rickenbacker Replacement Pickups!!
- Thread starter ric4682
- Start date
Super late to the party here. Oh well. Barden's description of the Ric pickups says they come with the mounting hardware. Anyone know what this means? Just the mounting screws? The chrome plates as well?
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To answer the above: the first incarnation of the company did go bankrupt. The current incarnation of the company is doing well. The exchange was refused because the installation instructions to use stock covers was not followed. You can't blame the company when a person deliberately disregards the installation instructions.
Since the Bardens do not have covers, you can get covers here:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Since the Bardens do not have covers, you can get covers here:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The defective Bardens were Strat pickups, so there is no cover that fits them. Joe Barden told me to my face (over the phone) that they were supposed to be wrapped in tape to protect the coils, but some got out unfinished so they were prone to come apart. He still refused to fix or replace them. I got stuck with three brand new defective pickups.
This was back in the 90's before he went out of business that first time. I'll bet he never thought that incident would still be coming back on him today. I'm also sure that's why he now has a customer service person to take care of....well...customer service. I'll never touch another Barden pickup as long as Joe is there though. He's a crook.
Check out the Treble Bezel. That was the only part that I needed to add when installing my set of Barden pickups.
I have been very pleased with all of the Barden sets that I've purchased over the past few years. I use them in my 4003, PSBVI and Jazzmaster. They sound great and are high quality.
Haven 't tried the bass pickups but have a Strat , Tele and a Les Paul Jr. with original production versions with no issues and great tone with zero noise .
So, I know it has been a long, long time, but anything to report on the pickups? Thanks.
I put some Seymour Duncan pickups on my Ric about 20 years ago. The neck pickup had a lot more gain than the stock one, but I thought it sounded sloppy. About 6 years ago I put the stock pickups back in and did the 4003 mod. That was a HUGE improvement. I'm happy with the sound now, but Id like something that is quieter (my Ric 370 12 string is very noisey too).
if you usually run both pickups together full-up, you can do the RW/RP mod to the bridge pickup and get hum-canceling.
essentially you're removing that block o' tar magnet from the bottom, flipping it over and gluing it back on, then reversing the two coil wires.
I wanted to use classic amplification pickups for my Hossenfeffer bass project. The Rickenbacker parts page lists the chrome surround for the bridge pickup for $36, but they told me Rick has stopped shipping ANY individual parts for the bridge pickup assembly. Now the only option if you want the chrome surround is to buy the whole pickup for $150, or $75-150 for just the chrome ring from jerks on ebay parting out brand new basses. Hard to stomach paying $75 for a piece of chromed sheet metal that probably costs less than $5 to manufacture. I read this as more market control by Rick. I' ll probably end up buying the stock hi-gains just to get all related parts.
The RRF forum is a superb technical resource, but they are fanatics and want to hear only echo chamber pronouncements of their opinions. At least John Hall doesn't post on there anymore, the level of sycophancy and sucking up to him was pretty creepy. Use it like the name suggests, a Resource, its not really a forum in the sense that dissenting opinions are valued or even tolerated.
The RRF forum is a superb technical resource, but they are fanatics and want to hear only echo chamber pronouncements of their opinions. At least John Hall doesn't post on there anymore, the level of sycophancy and sucking up to him was pretty creepy. Use it like the name suggests, a Resource, its not really a forum in the sense that dissenting opinions are valued or even tolerated.
I am a member of both the RIC and RR forums. I agree that everyone on RR does love their instruments, and are less tolerant of wholesale modifications, and, including me, downright reactive against copies and clones. But I have suggested wiring options and other modifications that have met with general approval. I have discussed personally on the forum with Mr. JH several issues of contention, with considered replies on both sides of the issue, and so long as the discussion is gentlemanly, it is appreciated.
And at one time or another, all of us have commented how we all want to see a better bridge on the basses, the option of "Toasterbuckers" pickups to cut hum and noise while retaining a reasonable facsimile of "vintage" tone, and wider necks all around on the 12-strings, just to name a few line items of dissent among the ranks.
And at one time or another, all of us have commented how we all want to see a better bridge on the basses, the option of "Toasterbuckers" pickups to cut hum and noise while retaining a reasonable facsimile of "vintage" tone, and wider necks all around on the 12-strings, just to name a few line items of dissent among the ranks.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I have done several pickup swaps on 4001, 4003, and 4004 basses.
I used to own a 1968 4001 with the steel horseshoe and toaster pickups. About 2002 I removed the original pickup and the .0047 capacitor and put in 2 4003 11k ohm high gains. That bass sounded the best it ever sounded. I replaced the original pickups when I sold it.
I had a 1973 4001 that I got off of ebay that somebody have rewired in a bad way. So I rewired it like a 90s 4003 will all 250k ohm pots and left in the original 8k ohm high gain pickups and no .0047 capacitor. It became my favorite gigging and recording bass.
I had a friend who got a 76 4001 that the electronics had been poorly rewired, and the neck pickup was nearly dead. I rewired it like a 90s 4003 with all 250k ohm pots and put in a neck toaster. OMG ... that bass was a total tone monster.
I had a 74 4001 that I put in the Seymour Duncan Ric replacement pickups. The SD pickups weren't bad but they lacked a Ric tone.
I also tried putting Ric HB-1 humbuckers in a 4003 bass. They worked pretty well. They are hotter and thicker sounding.
Like a stated before the Joe Bardens have a Rickish tone and are humbuckers.
I haven't tried the Classic Amplification Ric replacement pickups, but I have heard they make good clones of Ric pckups that have the Ric tone.
The old 60s basses had weaker pickups that were prone to degauss, The 70s high gains were hotter but not hot by today's standards. Toasters are scatterwound and give you a smooth bottom and slightly scoop mids. The 4003 high gains are a little hotter and thicker, they are usually wound to 11k ohm but some were overwound a little more. The hb-1 is a 15k ohm series humbucker, it can also be wired as a 4k ohm parallel humbucke or an 8k ohm singlecoil. The hb-2 were 2 kinds of pickups. In the 80s these were single coils about 8k ohm and they were pretty much the same pickup used in the 3000 and 3001 basses. In the 90s the hb-2 had the same insides as the hb-1. The re-issue horseshoe pickups have non-magnetic shoes and are a single coil pickup wound to about 11k ohms.
I used to own a 1968 4001 with the steel horseshoe and toaster pickups. About 2002 I removed the original pickup and the .0047 capacitor and put in 2 4003 11k ohm high gains. That bass sounded the best it ever sounded. I replaced the original pickups when I sold it.
I had a 1973 4001 that I got off of ebay that somebody have rewired in a bad way. So I rewired it like a 90s 4003 will all 250k ohm pots and left in the original 8k ohm high gain pickups and no .0047 capacitor. It became my favorite gigging and recording bass.
I had a friend who got a 76 4001 that the electronics had been poorly rewired, and the neck pickup was nearly dead. I rewired it like a 90s 4003 with all 250k ohm pots and put in a neck toaster. OMG ... that bass was a total tone monster.
I had a 74 4001 that I put in the Seymour Duncan Ric replacement pickups. The SD pickups weren't bad but they lacked a Ric tone.
I also tried putting Ric HB-1 humbuckers in a 4003 bass. They worked pretty well. They are hotter and thicker sounding.
Like a stated before the Joe Bardens have a Rickish tone and are humbuckers.
I haven't tried the Classic Amplification Ric replacement pickups, but I have heard they make good clones of Ric pckups that have the Ric tone.
The old 60s basses had weaker pickups that were prone to degauss, The 70s high gains were hotter but not hot by today's standards. Toasters are scatterwound and give you a smooth bottom and slightly scoop mids. The 4003 high gains are a little hotter and thicker, they are usually wound to 11k ohm but some were overwound a little more. The hb-1 is a 15k ohm series humbucker, it can also be wired as a 4k ohm parallel humbucke or an 8k ohm singlecoil. The hb-2 were 2 kinds of pickups. In the 80s these were single coils about 8k ohm and they were pretty much the same pickup used in the 3000 and 3001 basses. In the 90s the hb-2 had the same insides as the hb-1. The re-issue horseshoe pickups have non-magnetic shoes and are a single coil pickup wound to about 11k ohms.
Curious if you ever did try the bart split coil pickup, put a spilt coil Aria MBIII in my Greco RB800 Sounds amazing but want to put it back in my Aria Pro II
This would be a possible source for Rick-style bridge pickup components @Gilmourisgod
Rickenbacker style 4-string bass Pickup – Roswell Pickups
Rickenbacker style 4-string bass Pickup – Roswell Pickups
Those look a lot like the Ric style pups Retrovibe UK sells, though i dont think ive seen a review. It might be worth it just to get the chrome bridge surround. Ric used to sell the surround separately, now its all or nothing including the pickup for $175. I managed to scrounge up 3 used Hi-gains for my Lemmy 4004LK build (proceeding glacially), so I'm good for now, but I'll bookmark the link. Thanks @SulzerType2
