Rickenbacker pickups.

[Richi]

Alrighty so I had an idea. I want to put the bridge pickup from a Ric in my bass. It's made from 2 different basses, Jim Deacon body(P/J pickups currently) and a Westone neck. Don't ask me about model numbers. The thing's ancient.

So aye, the point. How easy is it to come by one of these pickups and how likely is it to work well? Price doesn't really bother me, it's not something I want urgently.

[Skit]

From my experience, Ric pickups dont sound that great when stuck into other basses.

As for the pickups themselves, check out eBay :thumb:

[BrodieBear]

i could very well be entirely wrong, but doesn't some of that ric sound come from the more complicated wiring? i've seen ric's with two outputs, but is that only some?

sorry i can't really help, but i must say, sounds like an awesome idea to me if it'll work.

[bottlerocket]

The Ric sound is much more than simply the pickups. Ignoring the fact it's a Ric and is constructed in a certain way, almost all types of basses differ in sound greatly...and that doesn't even depend on pickups.

BODYWOOD LOL

According to Leo Fender, the bodywood contributes to about 40% of the tone; the other 60% is a combination of pickups, strings, bridge, technique, etc.

Ric tone mainly comes from the wiring.

[ChimPz]

Ric tone mainly comes from the wiring.
Listen to this man, he knows his stuff.

Basically, you can replace your bridge pup with a Ric's, but it'll never sound like the real thing. If Ric tone is what you're looking for, get a Ric. They're relatively expensive, but worth it.

On the other hand, if you want to create your own, unique sound by using a Ric pup, feel free to do so. You never know what might come out of it. After all, Billy Sheehan combined a Precision pup with the big humbucker from a Gibson EB bass (i think, don't know the exact setup) and quite some people on here like his tone.

[Richi]

I'm not going for an exact Ric sound, just something that's slightly similar. The bass is amazing, such a nice tone. I don't really want to deviate from it too much but it's in dire need of an upgrade of some sort.

I may just be tackling this myself. Primarily to avoid costs but also just for the sheer satisfaction of doing it myself.

Obviously, when/if it ever happens, I'll keep you lot updated on the progress:)

[DBoons Ghost]

I promise you you're not going to get anywhere close.

I would save myself the headache. If it's a similar tone you want, look at some decent Bartolinis.

[Richi]

Well the current bridge pickup is completely knackered. On a good day, it's about 1/4 the volume of the neck pickup. Plus it tends to cut out quite randomly. Bit annoying. Either way, it's getting replaced at some point. I'll try the Ric pickup, if I don't like it, I'll sell it and try and find something else. Thanks for the advice though.

[Singh]

Well the current bridge pickup is completely knackered. On a good day, it's about 1/4 the volume of the neck pickup. Plus it tends to cut out quite randomly. Bit annoying. Either way, it's getting replaced at some point. I'll try the Ric pickup, if I don't like it, I'll sell it and try and find something else. Thanks for the advice though.
I believe you have to do some routing.

[Richi]

Aye true, but the bass looks like a monster anyway so all it'll do is just add to the image:p