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How much for bridge pick up surround for rickenbacker?


teaser360
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Try contacting Rickenbacker's UK distributor, Rosetti, for spares: [url="http://www.rosetti.co.uk/spares.html"]spares - rosetti.co.uk [/url]

I've not had much dealings with them, but they've been very helpful when I have. I know they've been helpful (and reasonably priced) with spares for someone else recently.

Edited by jonsmith
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[quote name='jonsmith' post='530757' date='Jul 2 2009, 04:03 PM']Try contacting Rickenbacker's UK distributor, Rosetti, for spares: [url="http://www.rosetti.co.uk/spares.html"]spares - rosetti.co.uk [/url]

I've not had much dealings with them, but they've been very helpful when I have. I know they've been helpful (and reasonably priced) with spares for someone else recently.[/quote]

+1

They sent me out a bridge surround (inc screws etc) and the horseshoe cover for about £45. It arrived in 2 days and was roughly £150 cheaper than any of the Ric Specialist websites were selling the same gear for.

Highly recommended

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[quote name='teaser360' post='530775' date='Jul 2 2009, 04:25 PM']does around £25 seconhand sound reasable or too much?[/quote]

I would say that sounds pretty good. A new one from some of the Ric specialists will cost 3-4 times that amount, Rosetti may be cheaper still for a brand new one.

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Get a [url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html"]Pickguardian[/url] or buy a bit of perspex sheet for a couple of quid & make your own:

[attachment=28142:r_bugring.jpg] [attachment=28143:f_bugring.jpg]

The silver one has a piece of card cut to shape & sandwiched behind it & the other is spraypainted on the back, like vintage Rick scratchplates used to be.

The advantage is not having that horrible sharp metal hole to cut your thumb on. I've never understood why RIC (or some enterprising aftermarket company) don't make a replacement surround that fits the pickup like this, since the huge majority of Rick players bin the handrest.

Jon.

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='530821' date='Jul 2 2009, 05:15 PM']Get a [url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html"]Pickguardian[/url] or buy a bit of perspex sheet for a couple of quid & make your own:

[attachment=28142:r_bugring.jpg] [attachment=28143:f_bugring.jpg]

The silver one has a piece of card cut to shape & sandwiched behind it & the other is spraypainted on the back, like vintage Rick scratchplates used to be.

The advantage is not having that horrible sharp metal hole to cut your thumb on. I've never understood why RIC (or some enterprising aftermarket company) don't make a replacement surround that fits the pickup like this, since the huge majority of Rick players bin the handrest.

Jon.[/quote]
Thanks Jon,
I was thinking the same thing myself, ive got myself a rockinbetter on the way and im going to rick it like Ians, not sure what pick ups im using yet, im going to put a hipshot bridge on it. Ive found someone close to who deals with hipshot, £105 new. i was looking at the pickguardian website and it has the templates on there so i will make some out of cardboard first and see where we go from there, it would be intresting to see a pickguardian though! in the flesh, that way i can see how they mount on a real ric. On the subject of pick ups the rockinbetter is fitted with 2 toaster style, what would you suggest to replace them? have a look at the customised ric in the picture! Recent Rickenbacker® 4003F with vintage 60's style guard and double toaster pickups. Vintage neck pickup position, neck to bridge pickup pickguard coverage and evenly-aligned knob placement. the bridge pick up would have to be moved towards the neck position, how much i dont know, might start practicing with the router ? lol when i pick up the rockinbetter i will post pics as we go along and put the pics on the rickenfackers page on facebook. watch this space!
thanks for your help in advance
tony
by the time ive finished it it may be more expensive than a real ric lol

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I considered buying that very same fretless bass that's in the photograph a couple of years ago when it came up for sale. It had a Hipshot bridge in it at one point and appeared in Hipshot photographs. Unfortunately a recent GAS attack had left me with insufficient funds to do it.

The Pickguardian solution fits easily on the Rickenbacker, using existing screw holes and pickup height is still adjustable with the large screws, providing the rest of the pickup mounting (springs etc.) is retained. Not sure how those screw holes would line up on a faker - although I'm sure Bassassin could confirm. I'm sure Pickguardian would do one with the screwholes in custom positions if needed.

Edited by jonsmith
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[quote name='teaser360' post='531391' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:03 AM']Thanks Jon,
I was thinking the same thing myself, ive got myself a rockinbetter on the way and im going to rick it like Ians, not sure what pick ups im using yet, im going to put a hipshot bridge on it. Ive found someone close to who deals with hipshot, £105 new. i was looking at the pickguardian website and it has the templates on there so i will make some out of cardboard first and see where we go from there, it would be intresting to see a pickguardian though! in the flesh, that way i can see how they mount on a real ric. On the subject of pick ups the rockinbetter is fitted with 2 toaster style, what would you suggest to replace them? have a look at the customised ric in the picture! Recent Rickenbacker® 4003F with vintage 60's style guard and double toaster pickups. Vintage neck pickup position, neck to bridge pickup pickguard coverage and evenly-aligned knob placement. the bridge pick up would have to be moved towards the neck position, how much i dont know, might start practicing with the router ? lol when i pick up the rockinbetter i will post pics as we go along and put the pics on the rickenfackers page on facebook. watch this space!
thanks for your help in advance
tony
by the time ive finished it it may be more expensive than a real ric lol[/quote]
You'll be able to pick up a Hipshot for a fair bit less than that if you import from the US:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Hipshot-bass-bridge-fits-Rickenbacker-bass_W0QQitemZ260391767398"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Hipshot-bass-bri...emZ260391767398[/url]

Are you going to fit the Rick-style surround just as an aesthetic touch or will you be mounting the pickup the same way as a Rick's? There's a massive cavity under a Rick's surround which your bass won't have, so be prepared for some routing! I really don't know about pickups - there are Seymour-Dunk & Bart replacement sets or if money (and waiting!)'s no object, you could have real Rick ones. Apart from the occasional JapCrap copy set that comes up on Ebay, I don't know if there are any others.

What are the existing ones like? I think the Toaster in the bridge pos looks quite cool in the pic.

[quote name='jonsmith' post='531592' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:29 PM']The Pickguardian solution fits easily on the Rickenbacker, using existing screw holes and pickup height is still adjustable with the large screws, providing the rest of the pickup mounting (springs etc.) is retained. Not sure how those screw holes would line up on a faker - although I'm sure Bassassin could confirm. I'm sure Pickguardian would do one with the screwholes in custom positions if needed.[/quote]
The old Jap copies weren't even consistent with each other, never mind Rickenbackers! You can't use a Pickguardian on one without re-drilling the bass and modifying the pickup aperture on the surround - which was why I ended up making my own.

The Rockinbetter copy doesn't have a "proper" surround, the bridge pickup's mounted in a conventional small route, under what looks like a Precision type cover. You'd either have to do a lot of excavation to mount a Rick bridge pickup, or just use the surround as an aesthetic embellishment. Either way new holes will have to be drilled.

J.

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='531771' date='Jul 3 2009, 03:20 PM']You'll be able to pick up a Hipshot for a fair bit less than that if you import from the US:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Hipshot-bass-bridge-fits-Rickenbacker-bass_W0QQitemZ260391767398"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Hipshot-bass-bri...emZ260391767398[/url]

Are you going to fit the Rick-style surround just as an aesthetic touch or will you be mounting the pickup the same way as a Rick's? There's a massive cavity under a Rick's surround which your bass won't have, so be prepared for some routing! I really don't know about pickups - there are Seymour-Dunk & Bart replacement sets or if money (and waiting!)'s no object, you could have real Rick ones. Apart from the occasional JapCrap copy set that comes up on Ebay, I don't know if there are any others.

What are the existing ones like? I think the Toaster in the bridge pos looks quite cool in the pic.


The old Jap copies weren't even consistent with each other, never mind Rickenbackers! You can't use a Pickguardian on one without re-drilling the bass and modifying the pickup aperture on the surround - which was why I ended up making my own.

The Rockinbetter copy doesn't have a "proper" surround, the bridge pickup's mounted in a conventional small route, under what looks like a Precision type cover. You'd either have to do a lot of excavation to mount a Rick bridge pickup, or just use the surround as an aesthetic embellishment. Either way new holes will have to be drilled.

J.[/quote]
Jon, fitting of the pick up surround is just an aesthetic thing, just to make it look more like a real ric, the pick ups will want changing as im sure the string spacing is different, Ian fitted a ric bridge to his rockinbetter (see picture) and found the E string was very quiet, so he fitted ric ups, as you can see from the photo the bridge pick up is a hell of alot lower than a real ric, rockinbetter electrics arnt the best but on the std set up there not bad, so ive been told. i dont mind what pick ups go in,but they have to match the string spacing of the hipshot bridge, i will end up making my own pick up cover, its not rocket science. I dont mind routing a bit of the bass, ive got a really crap p bass body here to practice on. i wont make any decisions until ive picked up the bass on thursday or friday.

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The good thing about the Hipshot (well, [i]one[/i] of the good things!) is that it has adjustable string spacing. Looking at mine, it allows about 2mm in either direction which will probably be enough to let you set it up the same as the original.

Rockinbetters look like they have a conventional neck taper, rather than the near-parallel necks of real Ricks & vintage copies, so it would probably be better off with a wider spaced bridge, to stop it feeling cramped & odd up the dusty end. I suppose you'll have to wait & see.

J.

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thanks for the link to the hip shot jon only just spotted it, i didnt relise they where adjustable on the string spacing, do they come with full instructions on how to adjust them? cos if they do i may not change the pick ups just rout the hole for the bridge pick up and move it towards the neck and fill the gap with a homemade pick guardian.

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I bought mine used so I don't know if they're supplied with instructions - however string spacing's really easy to adjust. The string sits on an insert in the saddle which is held in place with an allen screw - simply loosen the screw, move string/insert to desired place & tighten again - doesn't affect intonation or any other adjustment.

J.

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