Rickenbacker 370 mod suggestions?

Octavio · August 2023

Lucky enough to have both a 370 and a 330. I initially had the 370 and was satisfied, but then a 330 became available from a band I really like.

Anyway, although both feel different to play they do a similar thing. Both have hi-gain pickups.

I'm going to mod the 370 as the 330 should remain untouched. The 370 has 3 pickups. Toasters are not really my thing and the hi-gains give me enough 'jangle' if I'm after it.

Has anyone tried the HB1 humbucker? Would 3 humbuckers be overkill? I don't have a guitar with humbuckers and I'd like to move towards a Les Paul Custom direction, although I'm aware I'll never get there. Could end up with something unique. Any other mod suggestions appreciated or anything interesting you've seen elsewhere. Ideally reversible later if needed.

oh_pollo · August 2023

I always thought that the fifth knob on a Rickenbacker would be more useful it was a bass contour control like Reverend guitars have so that's the mod I would make. Installing 3 xHB1's is going to be pricey...if you an find them, Maybe sell/swap the 370 and get a Les Paul Custom?

Octavio · August 2023

oh_pollo said:

I always thought that the fifth knob on a Rickenbacker would be more useful it was a bass contour control like Reverend guitars have so that's the mod I would make. Installing 3 xHB1's is going to be pricey...if you an find them, Maybe sell/swap the 370 and get a Les Paul Custom?

I've seen some change it to a push-pull or even replace it with a switch. Although that was usually to affect a bridge toaster.

I could sell it yes, but they don't sell 370s anymore and it's a handsome beast! If I sold I'd immediately regret, and I can't afford a Les Paul as I spent all my money on Ric's

chrisj1602 · August 2023

The Creamery make various flavours of Ric replacement pickups, could be worth a look.

ICBM · August 2023

I’ve had all three types of Rick pickups on the same guitar. The HBs are not actually that much different in output or tone from the High-Gains, other than not humming - unless you wire them in parallel, and then they’re more like Toasters but without the sparkle. Honestly, I would try Toasters - if you can find one, a 12K in the bridge and 7Ks for the other two. Mount them on the foam rings not the grommets, it makes a surprisingly large difference to the sound!

Wiring the bridge pickup tone control as a bass-cut using the ‘vintage cap’ value (.0047uF) is very useful if you don’t normally use the tone control on the bridge. I would also wire the 5th knob as a blend between the middle and neck pickups.

Octavio · August 2023

ICBM said:

I’ve had all three types of Rick pickups on the same guitar. The HBs are not actually that much different in output or tone from the High-Gains, other than not humming - unless you wire them in parallel, and then they’re more like Toasters but without the sparkle. Honestly, I would try Toasters - if you can find one, a 12K in the bridge and 7Ks for the other two. Mount them on the foam rings not the grommets, it makes a surprisingly large difference to the sound!

Wiring the bridge pickup tone control as a bass-cut using the ‘vintage cap’ value (.0047uF) is very useful if you don’t normally use the tone control on the bridge. I would also wire the 5th knob as a blend between the middle and neck pickups.

I’ve seen the ‘vintage cap’ done in an alternative way which is quite interesting. If a balanced pickup set is bought from the likes of The Creamery, then the problem the blend control was created for no longer exists. The bridge pickup will naturally be hotter. Many people use a push pull pot on the volume to engage the cap to get that vintage thin sound. I do use the bridge tone control a lot and as I’m not a big push-pull fan, an option could be to replace the blend control knob with a switch. Although the 370 has the stereo output option so that quirky flexibility would be lost. I also like your idea of the blend control knob blending the middle and neck pickups, as the middle is hardwired to the neck on a 370.

Interestingly in the middle position with the cap engaged it sounds thicker as it takes some of the bridge signal away with the neck/middle pickups being more dominant. Still, using vintage correct toasters to beef up a Rickenbacker towards LP territory, leaves me a bit sceptical. Maybe it’s an impossible task, but there has to be a genius wiring diagram to make it the most flexible guitar on the planet

ICBM · August 2023

Octavio said:

Many people use a push pull pot on the volume to engage the cap to get that vintage thin sound. I do use the bridge tone control a lot and as I’m not a big push-pull fan, an option could be to replace the blend control knob with a switch.

It would be better to wire the 5th knob as the bass-cut - a switch between 'vintage cap' and modern is too drastic, the best sounds are in the middle of the range in my experience.

Octavio said:

Still, using vintage correct toasters to beef up a Rickenbacker towards LP territory, leaves me a bit sceptical. Maybe it’s an impossible task, but there has to be a genius wiring diagram to make it the most flexible guitar on the planet

You will never get a 370 to sound like a Custom no matter what you do - it's not the pickups, it's the whole attack/sustain curve and the 'thump' from the LP body not the 'clack' from the Rick that's different.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Rickenbacker 370 mod suggestions?

Comments