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Phantombacker (AKA Ghost Bass Killa!)

#21
I ordered a Kent Armstrong toaster pickup for the neck position today:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I don't think they're listed on the KA site, but they have them showing as in stock at wdmusic.co.uk, so I made the order. Time will tell whether I'm getting one, or they just forgot to pull the listing. But for a toaster at the price of a Hi-Gain, I'll take a shot!
 
#22
ronaldpdbrandt said:
Thanks, guys! Here's a Photoshop mockup, as promised:

phanto-backer_zps7a0b8ae3.jpg


By the way, does anybody have a better name for this thing? Phantombacker, Phantobacker, Rickenphantom? Okay, that's all I got so far.
Click to expand...

Casperbacker
 
#26
There you go, daveman50! I wish I'd known about that one before I labored over my Photochopped rendition!

New items ordered: From basspartsresource.com, I picked up an aftermarket RIC bridge, vintage-style Grover tuners, mono jackplate, and some copper tape.

And a question for RIC nerds: If I want to wire this thing like a 4001S, 4001V63, etc., do I just do the standard 4003 wiring harness connected to a mono jack, or is there something else I need to do?
 
#29
Here's a notorious issue with the 4003 mono wiring. When the pickup selector is in the middle, the tone controls will interact in that they'll behave as if a capacitor twice as big was wired onto the controls, thus making the sound somewhat deeper (with a lower resonant frequency), and each tone control will affect both pickups.

Try it out as standard, you might like it.
If you want more flexibility and a brighter sound, you need isolating resistors between the volumes and the switch. You can pick any value from 94 kΩ to 220 kΩ - big values isolate more, but at the cost of output volume.
or maximum flexibility, you can have one of the pots be a push-pull that would engage and disengage the "treble pickup choke" capacitor, and another controlling the isolating resistors so you can get both interfering and non-interfering controls, as they don't sound alike.
 
#30
Stealth said:
If you want more flexibility and a brighter sound, you need isolating resistors between the volumes and the switch. You can pick any value from 94 kΩ to 220 kΩ - big values isolate more, but at the cost of output volume.
or maximum flexibility, you can have one of the pots be a push-pull that would engage and disengage the "treble pickup choke" capacitor, and another controlling the isolating resistors so you can get both interfering and non-interfering controls, as they don't sound alike.
Click to expand...

Um, did you just drop into another language?:confused: Sounds like I'll be doing the standard two-jack!
 
#31
Stealth, I just went back and reviewed what you wrote, and I'm still not sure what you meant.:help:

First, you said that yes, a regular Ric wiring harness with a mono jack will work.

Then, you said that there is a problem with the tone controls in mono, specifically this:
Stealth said:
When the pickup selector is in the middle, the tone controls will interact in that they'll behave as if a capacitor twice as big was wired onto the controls, thus making the sound somewhat deeper (with a lower resonant frequency), and each tone control will affect both pickups.
Click to expand...

So, are you saying that all 4003 basses have this problem when plugged into the mono jack, or does this problem only occur when you remove the stereo jack from the circuit?
 
#32
I'm sorry I complicated matters for you. :D

Pickups exhibit that "problem" when plugged into the mono jack and when you remove the stereo jack from the circuit. Those two cases are the same because an empty jack behaves as though it's not even there. I say "problem" under quotes because some people feel it's an issue and the bass is not that flexible, and others don' see it an an issue and just take it as it is.

For starters, if you want stereo, wire it as a regular Ric. If you want mono, ignore the stereo jack and just wire up the mono jack.
 
#39
I think I'll either go with Ronaldbrandter or AlaBasster...maybe...

Also, I need some help from someone in close proximity to a Rickenbacker for this next question: What is the outer diameter of the standard RIC knobs?

I found a close approximation in white, and they have them in 3/4" and 1" diameters, so I'm not sure which ones to get. They look like this:
Invalid Link Removed
 
#40
Okay, I got the answer (1"), so I ordered the white knobs shown above, a switchcraft mono jack, and a white cap for the pickup switch.

At this point, I think the only other things I need are a pickguard, a truss rod cover (which I'll have to make myself) and the bridge pickup surround.

The body is probably a few days away, but that neck is soooo far from being here right now!:bawl:
 

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