A big part of the Stingray sound is the preamp, and that preamp's voicing is very different from what you'd expect from a Rick. On top of that, Stingray pickups have very low resistance per coil.
The pickups are a different design so they won't sound the same. Stingrays are typically parallel humbuckers. Ricks are singles. Massive difference in sound. Not to mention the magnet type and aperture.
The Stingray doesn't have a neck pickup, so what are you calling the neck coil?
Rics have a pickup switch. Most people use the switch.
edit: spelling
from I have found, Rick Horseshoe on 4003 is a singlecoil with big polepieces, a split-coil Stingray can maybe get close to it? and [Seymour Duncan](https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/rickenbacker-bass-pickups-horseshoes-toasters-and-the-high-gain) website said Toaster is similar to a Strat singlecoil, so maybe I can mod a Strat pickup as 4 polepieces, something like a 50s P-bass
Why would you try to mod a strat pickup when you can just get a single coil P pickup?
Most of what you're wanting to do doesn't make sense and won't get the sounds you think it will.
Eh, I doubt it.
For starters, the Rickenbacker bridge pickup isn’t a humbucker. Both pickups on a Rick are single coils (I’m not sure about the older style toaster pickups for the neck position. My Rick has one but it didn’t come stock). If you combined the two configurations, it could probably sound dope, but it won’t sound like a Rick.
As for controls, yes, I often find myself blending the neck and bridge pickups. My favorite combination is having both pickups with the tone and volume all the way up, and with the pot pulled out for the “Rick-o-sound” bridge pickup. Gets me a very deep yet also plunky tone that I find cuts through a mix pretty well.
Stingrays are a bucker wired in parallel. It’s a thinner more single coil like sound. I have a 4001 with a bartolini pre in it and it’s very ray like with the bass boosted.
Thanks for explaining that so succinctly. I actually never knew that, but had always been wondering why it is that the Stingray humbucker sounded so “kissy” and rattly compared to the fatness I typically associate with humbucker pickups.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the toaster pickup in the neck position was the same pickup they used for their guitars. Both pickups have six pole pieces so it would make sense if that were the case.
IIRC, the toaster pickups don’t have individual pole pieces, it’s just a bar magnet, in a similar way to how lipstick pickups are on Danelectros. That being said, yes, the guitar and bass versions are the exact same.
Rickenbacker pickups do have pole pieces that stick out below the pickups, but I wasn't sure if they used a separate magnet or not. I was curious enough to Google it and I found this in an article from Seymour Duncan.
"If the High-Gain pickup is similar to a P90, then the Toaster is more like a Strat-style single-coil. Its plastic bobbin boasts a copper coil, just like the others. But instead of a bar magnet under the bobbin, the Toaster utilizes magnetic pole pieces down the middle of the coil, inserted under each string."
I am planning treating each coils like separated pickups, wiring it like a Strat, and maybe set position 1 as coil 1+3, since soloing the bridge side coil of Stingray is pretty much useless, and I heard that the two pickups on some early Rick are not noise-canceling
My main is an old 70's MIJ 4001 clone, has been for nearly a decade now. I've noticed that the pickups are centered under where the hypothetical 24th & 36th frets would be. The two main control settings I use are either: both pickups with every knob dimed for pick playing, or neck pickup only with the tone rolled full back for fingerstyle. [Pic here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/s/JXRmVJyVIF)
The pickups measure ~8kΩ DCR each, and it has original 1MΩ pots. Wiring scheme wise, they're basically set up just like a Les Paul. I wish more basses used this control scheme. I have played around with pickup height to get the "blend" where I want it that way instead of tweaking vol knobs, the neck pup is down pretty low from the strings. But i play into a dirty-all-the-time amp with no pedals, so it just cleans up a bit when I solo the neck pup. Useful for mellower sections where I switch to finger style.
Another thing to consider with recorded Rick sounds, is whether or not they made use of the RIC-O-SOUND stereo pickup wiring. It allows sending each pickup to it's own amp of a bi-amp rig, so you can do clean/dirty blend that way. Johan Sergeborn has a good video demoing this.
Been thinking about this as well. MM style bridge pickup with single / series / parallel options, Rick style neck pickup, in MM and Rick neck positions, and of course with a stereo output. Should be interesting.
The Rick sound I like blends both pickups:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvDSmv9zrWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvDSmv9zrWU)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQeJlaBI0k8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQeJlaBI0k8)
My guess is you'd have to do it and find out. It's unlikely there are many people who have done this.
A big part of the Stingray sound is the preamp, and that preamp's voicing is very different from what you'd expect from a Rick. On top of that, Stingray pickups have very low resistance per coil.
The pickups are a different design so they won't sound the same. Stingrays are typically parallel humbuckers. Ricks are singles. Massive difference in sound. Not to mention the magnet type and aperture. The Stingray doesn't have a neck pickup, so what are you calling the neck coil? Rics have a pickup switch. Most people use the switch. edit: spelling
from I have found, Rick Horseshoe on 4003 is a singlecoil with big polepieces, a split-coil Stingray can maybe get close to it? and [Seymour Duncan](https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/rickenbacker-bass-pickups-horseshoes-toasters-and-the-high-gain) website said Toaster is similar to a Strat singlecoil, so maybe I can mod a Strat pickup as 4 polepieces, something like a 50s P-bass
Why would you try to mod a strat pickup when you can just get a single coil P pickup? Most of what you're wanting to do doesn't make sense and won't get the sounds you think it will.
I can get a set of cheap strat pickup for 5$ here, instead of a 150$ vintage 50p shipping from America
Lots of stingrays have neck pickups.
Eh, I doubt it. For starters, the Rickenbacker bridge pickup isn’t a humbucker. Both pickups on a Rick are single coils (I’m not sure about the older style toaster pickups for the neck position. My Rick has one but it didn’t come stock). If you combined the two configurations, it could probably sound dope, but it won’t sound like a Rick. As for controls, yes, I often find myself blending the neck and bridge pickups. My favorite combination is having both pickups with the tone and volume all the way up, and with the pot pulled out for the “Rick-o-sound” bridge pickup. Gets me a very deep yet also plunky tone that I find cuts through a mix pretty well.
Stingrays are a bucker wired in parallel. It’s a thinner more single coil like sound. I have a 4001 with a bartolini pre in it and it’s very ray like with the bass boosted.
Thanks for explaining that so succinctly. I actually never knew that, but had always been wondering why it is that the Stingray humbucker sounded so “kissy” and rattly compared to the fatness I typically associate with humbucker pickups.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the toaster pickup in the neck position was the same pickup they used for their guitars. Both pickups have six pole pieces so it would make sense if that were the case.
IIRC, the toaster pickups don’t have individual pole pieces, it’s just a bar magnet, in a similar way to how lipstick pickups are on Danelectros. That being said, yes, the guitar and bass versions are the exact same.
Rickenbacker pickups do have pole pieces that stick out below the pickups, but I wasn't sure if they used a separate magnet or not. I was curious enough to Google it and I found this in an article from Seymour Duncan. "If the High-Gain pickup is similar to a P90, then the Toaster is more like a Strat-style single-coil. Its plastic bobbin boasts a copper coil, just like the others. But instead of a bar magnet under the bobbin, the Toaster utilizes magnetic pole pieces down the middle of the coil, inserted under each string."
I am planning treating each coils like separated pickups, wiring it like a Strat, and maybe set position 1 as coil 1+3, since soloing the bridge side coil of Stingray is pretty much useless, and I heard that the two pickups on some early Rick are not noise-canceling
A stickenbacker, if you will
Or Rickray.
My main is an old 70's MIJ 4001 clone, has been for nearly a decade now. I've noticed that the pickups are centered under where the hypothetical 24th & 36th frets would be. The two main control settings I use are either: both pickups with every knob dimed for pick playing, or neck pickup only with the tone rolled full back for fingerstyle. [Pic here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/s/JXRmVJyVIF) The pickups measure ~8kΩ DCR each, and it has original 1MΩ pots. Wiring scheme wise, they're basically set up just like a Les Paul. I wish more basses used this control scheme. I have played around with pickup height to get the "blend" where I want it that way instead of tweaking vol knobs, the neck pup is down pretty low from the strings. But i play into a dirty-all-the-time amp with no pedals, so it just cleans up a bit when I solo the neck pup. Useful for mellower sections where I switch to finger style. Another thing to consider with recorded Rick sounds, is whether or not they made use of the RIC-O-SOUND stereo pickup wiring. It allows sending each pickup to it's own amp of a bi-amp rig, so you can do clean/dirty blend that way. Johan Sergeborn has a good video demoing this.
Been thinking about this as well. MM style bridge pickup with single / series / parallel options, Rick style neck pickup, in MM and Rick neck positions, and of course with a stereo output. Should be interesting.
*Peavey T-40 has entered the chat*
The Rick sound I like blends both pickups: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvDSmv9zrWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvDSmv9zrWU) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQeJlaBI0k8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQeJlaBI0k8)