Electric Guitars

[teledweller]

Hey all, I'm finally working with a guy to build my first custom guitar. It's basically going to be a solid Walnut Tele (body, neck, and fretboard; all Walnut....awesome).

I'm going with either the Seymour Duncan Lil' 59 or Vintage Stack in the bridge, and I want to put a Rickenbacker type pickup in the neck position. And since I know nothing about Rickenbackers other than how they sound, I would love some advice on some pickups. They don't have to be vintage Ric's or even Ric's for that matter, but something with similar sonic properties.

Thanks!

[Roy]

can't help ya, but i think it's a great idea

[Mr_GoodBomb]

Fralins or Lollars might need to work, or even Duncan Rick replacements or GFS stuff, because you're gonna be hard-pressed to find real Rick pickups.

[teledweller]

Thanks.

Does anybody else feel inclined to help?

[Ute]

Real Ric pickups aren't all that hard to find. I see them on Ebay all the time. A few months ago, I picked up a pair of high gains for 100 bucks. You can buy them new for $75 from the Ric site. The more vintagey toasters are $150 apiece. They're both in stock, too, which isn't a common occurrence.

[teledweller]

Are toasters mini hums?

[Ute]

No, toasters are the jangly single coils from the Beatles era - not that the current ones are just like the vintage ones. What Ric sound are you talking about? Peter Buck? John Lennon? etc.

[Roy]

No, toasters are the jangly single coils from the Beatles era - not that the current ones are just like the vintage ones. What Ric sound are you talking about? Peter Buck? John Lennon? etc.

vintage ric pups are all over the place, specs wise.

http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/JHpickupanswers.html

[Ute]

vintage ric pups are all over the place, specs wise.

http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/JHpickupanswers.html

True. I don't know all that much about toasters. I just know I've heard some say that the modern ones aren't the same. I doubt I would be able to tell the difference.

[strtdv]

Check string spacing before you do it, I think Rics have narrow necks, so the pickups might have narrow string spacing accordingly.

[d_dave_c]

I think the hi-gains would be hard to duplicate - they use some rubberized ferrous alloy magnet that I'm not sure how you'd duplicate with another winder. Best bet is to buy one on ebay, or tell a winder what properties you're looking for.

[Wyatt]

I think the Hi-Gain would be a great Tele neck PU. Big and round sounding. The name is highly misleading, for output, I would say they are similar to P-90's. You can roll of the Tone control for a massive jazz tone. I like them even more that toaster tops. And they aren't that hard to find on eBay and are priced similar to getting any aftermarket PU (toaster tops are harder to come by, IIRC).

[Ute]

I think the Hi-Gain would be a great Tele neck PU. Big and round sounding. The name is highly misleading, for output, I would say they are similar to P-90's. You can roll of the Tone control for a massive jazz tone. I like them even more that toaster tops. And they aren't that hard to find on eBay and are priced similar to getting any aftermarket PU (toaster tops are harder to come by, IIRC).

I fully agree with this FWIW. If you are looking for Rickenbacker jangle, a neck position hi gain won't give it to you. You will get a nice full tone out of it, just don't expect to switch your tele to the neck and get instant 60's jangle. I think Hi-Gains and to a lesser extent mini humbuckers are fairly easy to find because a lot of Ric players want to replace them with toasters, which are only common on the more spendy models, and pretend to be a Beatle.

[teledweller]

What about a TV Jones?