Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker

[OgWelchy]

Hey all, i have a 4003 Ricky, considering changing the bridge pup over to a jazz hot stack. We all know Cliff did this back in the day. I spent about an hour searching the forum for someone who might have done it more recently and had no luck. Has anyone made that mod to their Ricky? any newer photos I can use for reference? How hard was the process (seeing the normal mounts aren't really made for that pickup with this bass). How do you feel the sound is compared to stock electronics? I'm aware of the rickenbacker specific tail pickup that seymour duncan makes but the tone profile is flat compared to the mildly scooped profile of the hot stack (referenced from SD's website). Thank you all in advance

 

[lowendblues]

Can I ask why? Are you looking for something different tone wise?, are you having a hum problem? Classic amplification makes some nice Rickenbacker replacement pickups, as well as Joe Barden. the SD replacement will definitely change the tone.

 

[OgWelchy]

Can I ask why? Are you looking for something different tone wise?, are you having a hum problem? Classic amplification makes some nice Rickenbacker replacement pickups, as well as Joe Barden. the SD replacement will definitely change the tone.

Partly considering this change d/t me being in a Metallica tribute band, I figure if it was good enough for Cliff then it would probably do well for my application. Tone wise i like it, wish it was a little beefier without the hum (it is pretty bad, can't plug in and do a direct recording because of it)

 

[superdick2112]

Not only will the SDs change the tone, the Cliff Burton tone can be achieved with EQ adjustments, signal processing and playing technique.
No need to de-value your Ric, unless you simply must have a Cliff Burton Replica Bass.
If so, make sure it has the Cliff-approved Burgundy finish.

As for pickup options, lowendblues recommendations are spot-on.

 

[OgWelchy]

how do the Joe Bardens compare? would it solve my dilemma?

 

[superdick2112]

Partly considering this change d/t me being in a Metallica tribute band, I figure if it was good enough for Cliff then it would probably do well for my application. Tone wise i like it, wish it was a little beefier without the hum (it is pretty bad, can't plug in and do a direct recording because of it)

The Barden pickups will kill that hum.

 

[OgWelchy]

awesome, thanks for the info.

 

[lowendblues]

Here you go.

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[OgWelchy]

ok, just ordered the JBE's. Never spent this much on a set of pickups. My wife literally asked me "Is that bass going to be like a BMW that's going to cost a bunch of money every time you need work done to it?"

thank you all again for your input. i'll let you know how it turns out

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Nordstrand is about to release a Ric neck replacement pickup. It's a split coil with the angled pole setup, and according to Adrian (Nord staffer who plays a Ric) it completely slays.

 

[Craig4003]

I have the JBE humbuckers in my 4003. I'm totally happy with them. It still sounds like a Ric, but without the hum!

 

[superdick2112]

As long as you're on a spending spree to get closer to the Burton tone, you should order one of these...

Morley PFW Cliff Burton Tribute Series Power Fuzz Wah

 

[OgWelchy]

hmmmm......

well at least i know what I'm getting is tried and true at this point. I am interested in hearing that Nord though. Maybe if i pick up a 4001s in the future..

 

[OgWelchy]

As long as you're on a spending spree to get closer to the Burton tone, you should order one of these...

Morley PFW Cliff Burton Tribute Series Power Fuzz Wah

that was like the first thing i got lol. with that said, i wasn't really too impressed with the fuzz that was built into the wah. I'm running an EH Deluxe Big Muff in my chain before the pedal and I've been able to dial in a fuzz tone that absolutely slays

 

[Skybone]

Could have just tried a Noise Gate to kill the hum.

Does it also mean you're going to put a Motherbucker in the neck position?

 

[OgWelchy]

I probably could have gotten another pedal/rack mount to get a noise gate but the allure of the JBE's seemed too nice after reading all the reviews on other threads

 

[Craig4003]

Could have just tried a Noise Gate to kill the hum.

I tried a good noise gate (TC Electronics Sentry multi-band gate). It helps, but not enough when you're in a really bad hum-prone environment. You get nice silence when you're not playing, but when you play, you can still hear the hum under the music.

I think I remember hearing somewhere that Electro-Harmonix has a pedal that tries to remove just the hum (not like a noise gate, more like doing a frequency analysis and subtracting 60-cycle hum) without affecting your tone (much). That sounds like an interesting idea, but just not having any hum in the first place seems preferable.

 

[Skybone]

You could always try the RWRP mod on the neck pickup.

There's a thread on how to do it on here somewhere.

 

[kulit17]

i took out a set of SD pickups from a 74' 4001 a couple months ago and bought a set of Ric pickups: 73 toast and 74 bridge pickup.... i wasn't too keen on the SD sound.

if you did want to experiment with them - i'll sell em to you relatively cheap if you're interested. just PM me.

 

[Craig4003]

You could always try the RWRP mod on the neck pickup.

There's a thread on how to do it on here somewhere.

That will help when both pickups are on at the same volume level, but will do nothing with any other settings. If the OP is the kind of guy who plays with both pickups on 10 at all times, it might work well for him. Me, I usually run one pickup or the other, hardly ever both together, so RWRP wouldn't do me any good.