Woo-Hoo! Rickenbacker pickup ring that looks good!

[Warpeg]

Alright, that title may not make a whole lot of sense. Here's the deal: Anyone who has ever owned or played a 4003 has some sort of opinion about leaving the bridge pickup cover on or off. Many do not like to leave the cover on. Others do like to keep the cover on. Some of us would like to leave the cover off, but find the sharp edges of the pickup ring to be rough on the fingers.

Many of us know about Pickguardian's (www.pickguardian.com) attempt to help us out. They make a pickup ring (RPUP) that replaces the factory ring, lays flat, and has no sharp edges. However, this ring is made of plexiglass and IMO/IME does not look "real" or aesthetically pleasing. I own the mirrored plexi-finish RPUP. It works great, but just doesn't look Ric-ish. Beyond that, its plastic material does not help cancel hum like the original metal pickup ring does.

Today, I have found a company that will build, what I believe, is the answer. Imagine the RPUP, but made of actual metal! Imagine that the edges can be rounded to the same specs as the factory Ric bridge. Well, Dave at Frets On The Net (www.fretsonthenet.com) is building me one. It will be in my possession in 3-4 weeks. Here's the best part, he's only charging $29.75 shipped! I asked for 1/4" polished solid aluminum (same exact "chrome" appearance as the Ric bridge, original pickup ring, etc.) as the material. If the image of this in my head is correct, this should look much more "factory" than the plexiglass Pickguardian version. Plus, I'll still have a huge hunk of metal to cancel hum.

Any thoughts?

 

[RickenBoogie]

Sounds great. But for once, after owning five Ric basses, I keep the cover on my only Ric bass now. Minor adjustment to playing style, and it looks soooooo much better. Congrats on your find. Pics when you get it in?

 

[Warpeg]

Yeah, I'll get some pics up when it comes in.

I've been playing with the cover on mine for the past several months. Though, I've kinda' gotten use to it, it stills limits what I can do with a 4003. I love the sound of a medium-heavy tortex pick over the bridge pickup of a Ric. It's one of my favorite sounds that have ever occurred on Earth. I like to slap in different positions, as well.

 

[Warpeg]

Here it is. It is flawless and compliments the natural look of the Rickenbacker 4003. It perfectly matches the Hipshot bridge that I put on mine.

This was the last leg of my 4003 overhaul project. It began with a complete shielding of the cavities and back of pickguard. The next part was installing the Bartolini Rickenbacker pickup set (6RT and 6RC). After that, I removed the bridge pickup's tone and volume pots, installed push/pull 500k pots, and wired for the vintage tone circuit and bridge pickup humbucker-to-single coil circuit. The Hipshot bridge was the next step.

Sorry about the picture quality--it's from a cell phone.

 

[Andy_colassal]

cool

 

[BASSKADET]

Here it is. It is flawless and compliments the natural look of the Rickenbacker 4003. It perfectly matches the Hipshot bridge that I put on mine.

This was the last leg of my 4003 overhaul project. It began with a complete shielding of the cavities and back of pickguard. The next part was installing the Bartolini Rickenbacker pickup set (6RT and 6RC). After that, I removed the bridge pickup's tone and volume pots, installed push/pull 500k pots, and wired for the vintage tone circuit and bridge pickup humbucker-to-single coil circuit. The Hipshot bridge was the next step.

Sorry about the picture quality--it's from a cell phone.

I bought one also. I haven't put it on yet though. I'm also changing the bridge to a hipshot. I hope this gets rid of ssome of the humm. I have an abnormal amount. And yes I killed every light and circuit except for the amp one. Tried three different amps , no change.

 

[BrentSimons]

Hey Basskadet,
Still having the hum issue huh? My Rick has been under the bed in it's case for a while. Sometimes I wonder why I still own it due to the hum/hiss. the only time I don't get the hum is when I'm playing through my Korg Pandora with batteries, so it has to be a grounding issue. Maybe we should get together sometime, record the hum and hiss from both of our Ricks and send the Mp3 file to Rickenbacker.
Take Care,
Brent

 

[BrentSimons]

Here it is. It is flawless and compliments the natural look of the Rickenbacker 4003. It perfectly matches the Hipshot bridge that I put on mine.

This was the last leg of my 4003 overhaul project. It began with a complete shielding of the cavities and back of pickguard. The next part was installing the Bartolini Rickenbacker pickup set (6RT and 6RC). After that, I removed the bridge pickup's tone and volume pots, installed push/pull 500k pots, and wired for the vintage tone circuit and bridge pickup humbucker-to-single coil circuit. The Hipshot bridge was the next step.

Sorry about the picture quality--it's from a cell phone.

How do you like the Bart pickups? How is the tone/noise compared to the stock ones?

Brent

 

[Navybass]

I still say that that's a problem Mr. Hall and Ric should address. For a $2000 bass, you'd think they could clean up the edges a bit.

BTW, that ring does look good.

 

[BASSKADET]

Hey Basskadet,
Still having the hum issue huh? My Rick has been under the bed in it's case for a while. Sometimes I wonder why I still own it due to the hum/hiss. the only time I don't get the hum is when I'm playing through my Korg Pandora with batteries, so it has to be a grounding issue. Maybe we should get together sometime, record the hum and hiss from both of our Ricks and send the Mp3 file to Rickenbacker.
Take Care,
Brent

Hey Brent,
Yes I still have the humm(Dyna Mo Humm). I have a better idea. I'll do a youtube video of the hum with tutorial and send it Rickenbacker

 

[SteveC]

I guess I'm in the minority. I like the stock Ric look. New bridge, new pups, new trim...I guess I liked my standard Ric - minus the bridge pickup cover of course.

 

[BASSKADET]

I guess I'm in the minority. I like the stock Ric look. New bridge, new pups, new trim...I guess I liked my standard Ric - minus the bridge pickup cover of course.

Any humm issues?
I think I'm going to start the Rickenbacker Humm Club

 

[RickenBoogie]

Warpeg, looks awesome, congrats.

 

[jkpi56]

where did you get the chrome plate from?

 

[Floyd Eye]

The stock Ric pickup cover doesn't do a thing to stop the hum. The standard response from JH is that ALL single coil pups are prone to hum.

 

[horsehead9]

Outdated response 8 years later I suppose, however I just purchased a 2018 Rick 4003s, I have been doing research on this and found out that Rickenbacker switched from metal to chrome coloured plastic pickup cover in the late 70's for the very reason of trying to reduce noise. So in this case you are actually replacing a plastic part with a metal one and likely contributing to more noise as a result.

 

[Warpeg]

Wow....you brought my 10-year old thread back from the dead.

 

[charlie monroe]

Wow....you brought my 10-year old thread back from the dead.

Wow... you're still an active member 10 years later

 

[Snakeman1066]

i prefer these...

http://www.tubeampology.com/

Chrome Plated Treble Bezel for Rickenbacker 4003

 

[Axstar]

I have been doing research on this and found out that Rickenbacker switched from metal to chrome coloured plastic pickup cover in the late 70's for the very reason of trying to reduce noise.

A grounded metal pickup cover won't produce noise. John Hall has claimed at times that the chrome'd plastic cover acts as a shield, but this is wishful thinking.

So in this case you are actually replacing a plastic part with a metal one and likely contributing to more noise as a result.

This shouldn't be an issue if the metal part is grounded, which it should be. It has a physical connection to the grounded baseplate of the stock Rickenbacker bridge pickup.