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Rickenbacker crooked pick ups
- Thread starter bassline52
- Start date
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
My Ric's treble pickup looked a little crooked when I pulled the cover, but it looked much better when I put a pickup surround on the bass. The crooked looking pickup bugged me, but it looks fine with the surround. I don't know if it really was crooked or if it just looked that way. The way the pickup sits in the funky stamped sheet metal ring makes the pickup look pretty odd all around. The surround makes it look 100% better.
My new 4003W has a crooked bridge pickup too. It also has gorgeous wood grain, plays and sounds killer and took 8 months to get after I ordered it. It sucks that they let it leave the factory that way but it's not worth returning. I tried both the cove and deluxe treble bezels and wasn't into them so the cover is going back on. It looks way cooler with the cover anyway.
I ordered an extra pick guard and a walnut thumb rest that I'm gonna epoxy to it between the pups instead.
My Fender American Standard P had an issue with the input jack but I loved the bass otherwise so I had it fixed and have no regrets.
I'm not the kind of guy who would throw a supermodel out of bed for having ugly toes.
I ordered an extra pick guard and a walnut thumb rest that I'm gonna epoxy to it between the pups instead.
My Fender American Standard P had an issue with the input jack but I loved the bass otherwise so I had it fixed and have no regrets.
I'm not the kind of guy who would throw a supermodel out of bed for having ugly toes.
The dreaded car analogy again.
But if the battery was mounted crooked, you'd be pretty pissed even though it doesn't affect performance.
Partially correct.
RWRP = Reverse Wiring, Reverse Polarity.
One can do it on the bridge pup as you don't have to remove the pickguard. Flip the bar magnet, top to bottom. IOW, the side that faced the maple cavity bottom now faces the coil. (Mark it before you start so you know what factory position is.) Then unsolder and reverse where the wires connect to the coil. (Perhaps take a pic before you start so you have a reference point for that as well.)
Last edited:
scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
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I did mine myself. I am experienced with electronics, soldering and general guitar repair.
Pickup leads are fragile things & it is possible to damage one when flipping the magnet. If you're not confident with your small electronics skills, I'd have a guitar repairman do the job for you!
It's super simple & only took me 15 or so minutes to complete, but care needs to be taken. I actually RWRP'ed my neck pickup as it was easier to get to.
Pickup leads are fragile things & it is possible to damage one when flipping the magnet. If you're not confident with your small electronics skills, I'd have a guitar repairman do the job for you!
It's super simple & only took me 15 or so minutes to complete, but care needs to be taken. I actually RWRP'ed my neck pickup as it was easier to get to.
Sorry to be rude, but your complacency is pathetic. I LOVE RiC, I consider the 4003 and 660 some of the most beautiful guitar designs ever, but I won't skimp on quality inspection just because I think they're sexy.
This is like the people who preordered the PS4, got ones with broken USB ports and tried to defend Sony with the "high demand warranting lower QC" excuse. This is the kind of anti-consumer attitude from unpaid shills with Stockholm syndrome that will keep perpetuating corporations to get greedier whilst their signature products go to s*t.
It's nice, but you pay the premium for the details. The pickups, the bridge pickup cover, the bridge itself, the checkerboard binding, IMO, don't look as refined. The bridge pickup's wires in particular are somewhat crude; It's a good effort, but not quite the real deal.
I think that is what Aston Martin calls a "B surface": Something the end consumer will not see or touch so its appearance is irrelevant as long as it performs within specs.
But you exposed the part.
But you exposed the part.
Well... I think a clearer analogy would be: I buy a new car, remove the hood, and discover that the engine has been crammed into the bay at an angle. And in that circumstance, I'd expect the dealer/manufacturer to at least humor my inquiry as to how a car rolled through QC with an engine hanging to one side. I'd be pretty cheesed off if I was told, "yeah, some of them just end up like that." Strictly speaking, it might not affect the car's functionality (at least initially), but it's hardly a confidence builder, is it?
Except that even this analogy is letting Rickenbacker off the hook. Because a car is infinitely more complex than a bass guitar, and it wouldn't take much for Rickenbacker or its dealer to make things right.
I say all of this as someone who's never owned a Ric, but has always admired their basses and the company's ability to ignore trends. There's just no excuse for shabby customer service, though.
I don't think that analogy works because it strongly implies that it affects performance. In this case, the sole purpose of the pickup is to pick up the movement of the string. and since it is hidden behind a plate, its position and angle only matter insomuch as how they affect the sound. And the OP said the pickup gave the bass killer sound. So it's all good.
Now wouldn't that be funny if the angled pup produced some unique special tone that a straight one did not. 
We'll be seeing all these 'angled' bezel kits from tubeampology now.
We'll be seeing all these 'angled' bezel kits from tubeampology now.
Simple question then: If you bought a brand new Lexus luxury car (Ric bass), and the chrome bumper (Pickup ring, bridge, or pickup itself) was crooked, would you be cool with it? Some people don't care what something looks like, as long as it works, so why bother with a Lexus (Ric) when you can buy a Kia (Squier)? if you went to the Lexus dealer (Ric), and they said "there is no problem, it's just the angle you are looking at it", or, when presented with photographic evidence to the contrary, they said "fine, ship it back to Michigan at your own expense, and we will decide if we feel like fixing it, and we will also charge you to ship it back", would you be cool with that?
Putting aside whether or not my analogy implied that performance was affected, the OP bought an instrument and was disappointed by two things: the workmanship of the bass and the dealer's response to his disappointment. In my opinion, his frustration regarding the dealer's customer service is perfectly valid. The fact that an important component was installed sloppily makes his concern legitimate, regardless of whether that component is covered up with a piece of chrome. Even more so considering the anecdotal evidence that I've yet to meet a Ric player who keeps the PU cover on, and that a quick image search shows virtually every on-stage performer using a Ric with the cover removed. So to suggest that he "modded" this bass and therefore has to be happy with sloppy assembly and nonexistent customer service seems a little harsh. He removed a trim piece that a measurable (if not overwhelming) number of Ric owners also remove, a practice of which the company and dealers must surely be aware.
And I do think my analogy is reasonable. The OP removed a trim piece and found a sloppily installed part. That's not the same as saying that he doesn't like how the part was installed, just as it's not the same to buy a car and simply dislike the look of your engine with the hood removed.
Regarding the OP's observation that his bass sounds good: can you be sure it wouldn't sound even better with the pickup installed properly?
Again, I have no dog in this fight. I'm just frustrated when a company and its dealer don't do everything they can to make a customer happy with his purchase, especially when the item is expensive.
Here you go:
[Rickenbacker 4003] RWRP Bridge Pickup Mod Tutorial | TalkBass.com
it may look a little daunting at first, but ot's really quite simple and hard to gorf up.
Very handy if you like to run your pickups at even volume levels often, or even just occasionally, it's reversible and takes away none of the tone.
I have done this to all three of my 2 pickup Ricks, including my 4080.
Also, you'd think that they would program the CNC machines to drill the mounting holes so that there would be none of this nonsense.
Maybe the machines (or programmers) aren't quite up to the task all of the time.
I can't think of any other logical reason for mis-aligned parts.
Again, not an issue that would turn me off an otherwise great sounding and playing bass (as described by the OP).
Just minor stuff that would get fixed in due course, but really shouldn't be there to begin with.
And if we're comparing a new Rick to a Squier VM Jazz (and others), my Jazz (bought new) needs some pretty extensive fretwork (levelling and trimming of fret ends) to be gig worthy, while my (also bought new)
Peavey BXP had outstanding fretwork right out of the box.
The Peavey and the Jazz are both Indonesian crafted basses.
My 4003 needed a slight levelling of 2 frets.
Maybe the machines (or programmers) aren't quite up to the task all of the time.
I can't think of any other logical reason for mis-aligned parts.
Again, not an issue that would turn me off an otherwise great sounding and playing bass (as described by the OP).
Just minor stuff that would get fixed in due course, but really shouldn't be there to begin with.
And if we're comparing a new Rick to a Squier VM Jazz (and others), my Jazz (bought new) needs some pretty extensive fretwork (levelling and trimming of fret ends) to be gig worthy, while my (also bought new)
Peavey BXP had outstanding fretwork right out of the box.
The Peavey and the Jazz are both Indonesian crafted basses.
My 4003 needed a slight levelling of 2 frets.
If the OP's RIC was a signature model, this site would blow up!
Always loved the way RIC's look and they sound great. I had four, 3 4003's and a 4004L, all had issues. On one 4003, the trussrod ends were actually sunk into the neck so you couldn't get the wrench in to turn it. The other two had paint issues bubbling around the bridge and body edges. The 4004L was a LE Snowglo model. Very awesome bass but the paint was literally flaking off of it. I contacted RIC first, who said to send it back to them at my cost. They would look at it and determine if the paint was any fault of mine, repaint it if warranted and then send it back to me at my cost. Luckily, the dealer took it back no questions asked. I would still love to own a RIC but buying one scares the crap out of me. Even if they are okay upon initial inspection, the warranty and customer service is awful if you encounter a problem later on.
Always loved the way RIC's look and they sound great. I had four, 3 4003's and a 4004L, all had issues. On one 4003, the trussrod ends were actually sunk into the neck so you couldn't get the wrench in to turn it. The other two had paint issues bubbling around the bridge and body edges. The 4004L was a LE Snowglo model. Very awesome bass but the paint was literally flaking off of it. I contacted RIC first, who said to send it back to them at my cost. They would look at it and determine if the paint was any fault of mine, repaint it if warranted and then send it back to me at my cost. Luckily, the dealer took it back no questions asked. I would still love to own a RIC but buying one scares the crap out of me. Even if they are okay upon initial inspection, the warranty and customer service is awful if you encounter a problem later on.
No worse than the constant complaining by the same people about the same issues when everyone knows nothing is going to change.
Just waiting for the whiner who went to NAMM and got dissed by John Hall so he went home and sold all his Rics.
