i've been modding...

[conor.meara]

i finally changed the strings on my rick (yeah, since i got it. i like dead strings, so sue me) and while the strings were off i figured i'd fix the bridge mute in the bridge (there's a foam pad attached to a metal bar in the bridge that you can raise or lower via 2 screws with springs on them... mccartney's "rick sound" was by using that mute pretty high. mine had fallen in to the recess because the screws weren't attached.). when i get in there i realize that one of the springs is missing and both screws are just gone. which i'm not upset about because hey, i never used it anyway.

then i realized that

in that recess

i could fit



... a jbass pickup!


so i took the neck pickup out of my american jbass and put it in the bridge, wired it to the same pot as the back pickup so they act somewhat like a humbucker and i played it in band practice last night, the guys are blown away by the sound. the sound i can get from this thing is incredible. i thought the rick sounded amazing before this, and now it's just that much better... almost like if a rick went to the gym :D

and the best part is i didn't have to drill a goddamn thing. it's so subtle and hidden and can be taken out really easily if i were ever to seel it (though of course i wouldn't so i don't know why i'm mentioning that)

so now i'm gonna get a pickguard without the hole for the neck pickup for my jbass and wire in a dunlop crybaby autowah with the push on/off switch in the hole for the pot i took out. mostly because i can. hopefully it sounds cool :D

[Low Tone]

Why are you killing a Ric? :(

Nah... I'd like to hear what it sounds like with the J-pup in it.
Just out of morbid curiousity if nothing else.

[conor.meara]

Why are you killing a Ric? :(

Nah... I'd like to hear what it sounds like with the J-pup in it.
Just out of morbid curiousity if nothing else.

i'm not killing the rick!! that's why i put in that last little bit for all you purists :D

the foam mute was oxidized and hard and disgusting and missing the parts that make it work. so i took it out and there was a hole the size of a jbass pickup. i haven't made any modification to the body as far as making any holes or screwing anything else in etc it's literally just a jpup sitting in that recess perfectly and wired to the back pickup's pots.

[ahpook]

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/images/rickenbacker/4001c64/bridge.jpg


do you mean the whole mute section between the knurled knobs ?

[conor.meara]

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/images/rickenbacker/4001c64/bridge.jpg


do you mean the whole mute section between the knurled knobs ?

yea, basically. here's the best pic i could get before my camera died :(

[ahpook]

i see...

can't think it would sound that good on its own, but if the combo works !

[conor.meara]

i see...

can't think it would sound that good on its own, but if the combo works !

it really really sounds powerful. i'm not good about describing the subtleties of bass pickups and whatnot and i've never been very picky with pickups, but it's just such an amazing difference without losing the ricky edge. it just sounds more like playing through a 500w amp with a compressor than a 15w practice amp. and i just mean the sound of it and the power of it, disregarding loudness sort of. it's that kind of difference (but obvously not that extreme.)


...:confused: :wave: :P

[ahpook]

well, if it works !

[mnemosyne's lobotomy]

must see pics and clips

[MBIYF]

then i realized that

in that recess

i could fit



... a jbass pickup!

You reinvented the wheel. :)
Cliff Burton had that 25 years ago.

http://web.vrn.ru/vlad14/cliff9.jpg

I believe he had a Gibson Mud-Bucker in the neck position.

[cdb]

NO!!! jesus stop! too late...wah

[Jazz Ad]

Even better, Bartolini sells (used to sell ?) a pickup to fit this position.

[conor.meara]

Even better, Bartolini sells (used to sell ?) a pickup to fit this position.

ah but i already had an american jbass from which to rip a pickout out of :D

i'm so happy with this sound.

i'm gonna get a jbass pickguard with no pickup hole and rock the j as a backup with just the back pickup. i took apart a free dunlop crybaby guitar wah and wired it with the switch where the front pot was and the wah wheel pot where the blend pot was. i just have to get the guard, drill the holes a tiny bit bigger in the chromey control panel thing (which i can do at school on monday) and route a tiny bit more from the front pickup routing to fit the electronics and 9v perfectly. it's going to be pretty ridiculous. :badidea:

[mnemosyne's lobotomy]

NO!!! jesus stop! too late...wah

You crazy, I think it's a great idea, and you can put the mute on later if you really need to. He hasn't drilled or routed anything.

[conor.meara]

You crazy, I think it's a great idea, and you can put the mute on later if you really need to. He hasn't drilled or routed anything.

it's pretty perfect like that... nothing that i couldn't undo really easily and i knew that before doing it. the only thing i did do (and not even to the bass) was i had to cut about a quarter inch of plastic off each side of the j pickup. but if i put it back in the plastic casing and back into a jazz bass at anytime it wont make a shit of difference.

[cdb]

But it's a RIC, it's not like its an SX or a Fender... ok... I'm better now... as long as the router wasn't used... deep breaths...

[citizenralph]

Very cool Conor. And it dosen't change the look at all. It be nice to have some independant control of the new pup though.

[mnemosyne's lobotomy]

Indeed. Would be nice to have some ability to switch it on or off or roll it in or out.
Still, frickin' great mod.

[conor.meara]

Indeed. Would be nice to have some ability to switch it on or off or roll it in or out.
Still, frickin' great mod.

yeah, i was thinking that but i really didn't want to drill anything else. i was thinking push pots but i woulda had to go out and get em first and i did this the day of band practice (i don't have an amp up here and i didn't bring my soldering gun.. i just prayed that it wouldn't sound horrible :D)

do you think the push pots would change what it sounds like? because the back 2 are acting like one pickup wired to the same gain and tone, which is basically the sound of an overfed bastard son of a jazz pickup and a rick bridge pup. so i've still got the 3 way selector switch and a 2 tone knobs plus 2 volumes to blend em more... would it affect the sound a whole lot if they were three separate pickups? because if not, then yeah i might go for push pots just to have some extra tonal options. god knows i don't need i t though :D

[mnemosyne's lobotomy]

yeah, i was thinking that but i really didn't want to drill anything else. i was thinking push pots but i woulda had to go out and get em first and i did this the day of band practice (i don't have an amp up here and i didn't bring my soldering gun.. i just prayed that it wouldn't sound horrible :D)

do you think the push pots would change what it sounds like? because the back 2 are acting like one pickup wired to the same gain and tone, which is basically the sound of an overfed bastard son of a jazz pickup and a rick bridge pup. so i've still got the 3 way selector switch and a 2 tone knobs plus 2 volumes to blend em more... would it affect the sound a whole lot if they were three separate pickups? because if not, then yeah i might go for push pots just to have some extra tonal options. god knows i don't need i t though :D

well, from my limited knowledge of how this shit works, it would affect it. Changing the pots changes the resistance which will affect the tone that is transferred from the pickup. Also, the more I think about it, the more I kinda dig the idea of a giant humbucker integrating the string length between the jazz and the rick bridge pickup. It's kinda the same idea as the mod that people do to jazz basses to put the pups in serial.

someone around here surely knows more about this than i do, though.

[beam]

i'm so happy with this sound.



And that's all that matters :cool:

[Croissant Seven]

Isn't it great when you're looking at something, and that 10,000 watt halogen bulb comes on in your head?:D
A euphoric revelation...
C7

[NotFSI]

well, from my limited knowledge of how this shit works, it would affect it. Changing the pots changes the resistance which will affect the tone that is transferred from the pickup. Also, the more I think about it, the more I kinda dig the idea of a giant humbucker integrating the string length between the jazz and the rick bridge pickup. It's kinda the same idea as the mod that people do to jazz basses to put the pups in serial.

someone around here surely knows more about this than i do, though.

No, changing the pot value won't affect the frequency of the roll-off...just the amount that potentially (ho ho) gets shunted to earth.

[lug]

The answer is stacked volume and tone controls on the rear pups. How did you get the wiring to the control cavity?

[conor.meara]

The answer is stacked volume and tone controls on the rear pups. How did you get the wiring to the control cavity?

the grounding was soldered to the bottom of the bridge mute

[bassesofalessergod]

the mute is the best part of a ric!

[mlwarriner]

but does it still sound like a ric?

[oldivor]

but does it still sound like a ric?

:smack:

[Tommy Gunz]

The mute on my ric is practically useless too. May be I'll give that a try as well, I have a set a DiMarzio ultra jazz just sitting around.