I've been reading today about potential muddy sounding neck pickups on 24 fret guitars with 24 3/4 scale lengths. How does RIC approach this subject.
Mo

I don't think Ric neck pickups, at least high-gains, are exactly "clear." I've always used mine for E-bow and Frippian parts. That's just me, though.

There are some opinions out there that 24-fret Ricks have the neck pickup in the wrong place compared to the models with fewer (21) frets, which would have the neck pickup a bit further away from the bridge pickup. Those with that opinion say the sound from that pickup is compromised as it's not right under the 24-fret harmonic. I am not sure I agree - the modern Ricks have had 24 frets for years, and the neck pickup on my 360 sounds great. Interested to know if JH has ever weighed in on the issue.

You show your intelligence by not agreeing!

It should be obvious that locating the pickup under an open string harmonic point only affects open string notes. Just as soon as you fret, the harmonic moves to another spot entirely. Whether that open string harmonic affect is desirable is simply a matter of personal taste; some feel the fundamental is compromised while other like to hear more of the octave overtones.

One thing is for sure- no matter where the pickup is placed, it's bound to emphasize some kind of harmonic on some notes or strings, so the best rule of thumb is to simply place it where it sounds best.

With 24 frets, the neck pickup is closer to the bridge than on guitars with 21 or 22 frets, and therefore there should be more clarity and less "hollowness."

I do agree that there were certain years where the highgain neck pickups were wound to @ 14kohms' worth of wire, which would cause the tone to be a little thicker, even mellow, but never muddy. This may be what is being referred to in the original post.