rickenbacker pickups

william · Post by **william** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:07 am

are they surface mount, or is there routing involved? is it feasable that i could mount one to my telecaster's neck position without routing?

i post this in projects because if it is, then i will. thanks!

EDIT: did a little more digging, looks like they are. i might do this! it would give me a more usable and interesting neck position, thats for sure. anyone ever seen this done?

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:21 am

SOME of them have polepieces protruding through the bottom, but I emphasize SOME as the design has changed a few times.

Personally, I don't think Ric pups sound that great in the neck position.

william · Post by **william** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:26 am

DuoSonicBoy wrote:SOME of them have polepieces protruding through the bottom, but I emphasize SOME as the design has changed a few times.

Personally, I don't think Ric pups sound that great in the neck position.

interesting. ive always liked all the positions, especially the middle, but i like the neck alot. what ive always been unimpressed with is the feel of the neck of rics. but my tele has an incredible neck, so im kinda going for a best of both worlds kind of deal. plus the neck pickup is kinda weak, and i dont like the look of open coil tele neck pup options.

its hard to find info on these pups, i guess rickenbacker players kinda leave their guitars alone...

william · Post by **william** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:37 am

ok so here's one example:

im thinking that the polepieces can fit into the current rout for the stock tele pickup, and the plate can mount to the surrounding body. does that make sense?

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:03 am

Yeah I think that'd work, only thing I'd worry about it whether there's enough space between the strings and body for the pickup to fit 'cause on my Ric there's a huge gap for them. Is it a toaster pickup you're wanting to use?

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:59 pm

I've thought about building a Rickentele for a long time.... Thinline Tele body & neck, split-level pickguard, toasters, Ric knobs & wiring, Bigsby.... Who knows though, it might just be a novelty and that's all. Like BobAC says, my Rickenbacker has a lot more string-to-body clearance than Fenders. Everything stands pretty high up off the body.

william · Post by **william** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:44 am

BobArsecake wrote:Yeah I think that'd work, only thing I'd worry about it whether there's enough space between the strings and body for the pickup to fit 'cause on my Ric there's a huge gap for them. Is it a toaster pickup you're wanting to use?

i thought of this too...

i will be routing the pickguard around the pickup, so the pickup will be mounted straight to the body, so theres a little more leeway there. still, i do wonder.

might not work at all, i guess. damn.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:05 am

On my 360, there's about 13/16" between the body and the strings to provide room for the pickups. In addition to the height of the pickup itself, there's also a 1/4" layer of foam between the pickup and the body. I don't see how there could be room on a tele body.

I've never taken mine apart, but if you check out the factory tour on the Rickenbacker site you can see that the bodies are routed to accommodate the posts and wiring.

william · Post by **william** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:31 am

jeff wrote:On my 360, there's about 13/16" between the body and the strings to provide room for the pickups. In addition to the height of the pickup itself, there's also a 1/4" layer of foam between the pickup and the body. I don't see how there could be room on a tele body.

I've never taken mine apart, but if you check out the factory tour on the Rickenbacker site you can see that the bodies are routed to accommodate the posts and wiring.

i imagine i could leave the foam out of the equation. or replace it with a thinner something or other.

i could shim the neck some, at the heel of the neck, so that i can raise the bridge saddles and make a bit more room. although that would be less effective at the neck position.

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:06 pm

any good? link

custom body, but looks like there's a massive recessed area by the neck pickup in order to fit it in...

william · Post by **william** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:58 pm

thats nice but it would look 1000% better with a pickguard. and a rickenbacker finish (if the center were just clear instead of yellow, itd be about there.)

has anyone ever shimmed both the neck and the bridge of a guitar? like, a 4mm slab of wood under the neck, and a similar one under the entire bridge assembly. that would change the feel of the guitar completely.

probably not worth it, but ive never thought about it before. i probably wouldve taken that rout rather than the routing... rout.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:45 pm

Oh, I know that guy. He used to pewst on Reranchez.

Ty · Post by Ty » Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:38 pm

telebacker?