Are Rickenbacker 12 String P/U's Same As In 6 String?

Does anyone know if there's a difference between the 12 and 6 string Rickenbacker pickups?

I bought an Agile electric 12 and hate the pickups, but if I could replace it with a set of Rick Hi-Gain's I'd be happy a camper.

For a 12 string, don't get Rick high gain pickups, get Rickenbacker toasters, the vintage wind ones which measure about 7.5K ohms. That's what gives you the Rickenbacker sound in a 12 string. To specifically answer your question, if you're using a particular type of Rick pickup (highgain, modern toaster with 11K wind, vintage toaster with 7.5K wind) there is no difference between the pickup you'd use in a 12 string versus a six string. But believe me, you want the vintage wind toasters. That gives you Beatles, Byrds, Tom Petty, etc. sounds from the 12-string. The high-gains will not give you that sound.

Also, for the authentic 60's jangle tone, a .0047 cap between the bridge pickup and volume knob is standard, and makes a significant improvement in tone.

... as will a compressor, metal fingerpicks and McGuinn's talent. :wink:

... as will a compressor, metal fingerpicks and McGuinn's talent. :wink:

A "Jangle Box" will send you into "Byrdland" and you will never play without it again.
Seroiusly,
Rob

It seems like the toasters are considerably harder to come by. I've only seen one set on eBay and the guy wants $199 per pickup, whereas the higains sell for around $75. Is the difference really worth it? I wouldn't mind ending up with more of a Smiths/R.E.M. tone rather than a Beatles/Byrds tone if that's what the difference between the pickups would equate to. If the higains would just sound terrible on a 12-string however, that would be worth knowing too.

A "Jangle Box" will send you into "Byrdland" and you will never play without it again.



J/B owner Steve seems to troll the Internet for any posts about his device so I'll just withold any comment except maybe to say - there are a lot of compressors on the market.

I have the Agile 12 string (the blue one with mirror pickguard), one of these days I'm going to put a coil tap switch on one or all of the pickups, that might get me closer to what I want to hear (without having to fight the fretboard on my Rick).

I have the Agile 12 string (the blue one with mirror pickguard), one of these days I'm going to put a coil tap switch on one or all of the pickups, that might get me closer to what I want to hear (without having to fight the fretboard on my Rick).

I've got the same one in black. What an awful pickguard. I ended up just removing it.

Let me know if you find a way to improve upon the tone any.

This might be a stupid question - but are any of the Rickenbacker pickups noiseless?

Howdy,

To answer the original poster's question: No; a Rickenbacker P/U is a Rickenbacker P/U. To answer the post above me about noiseless Rickenbacker P/Us, they make a direct drop-in replacement that is a humucking pickup. I think Rickenbacker guitars are fantastic; I just wish I could play thier 12-string guitars to my satsifaction! They sound great in the hands of others, LOL.

Eggman