I don't know much about Rick pick-ups....
What years was the toaster neck pick-up used???
Right now I have a Seymour Duncan in the neck position and it is lame...My original 1974 bridge pick-up smokes it....
I would like to put in a original pick-up, what choices do I have????
Also..I noticed that some Ricks have lower rear pick-up covers...whats up with that??
I just noticed my rear pick-up cover is chrome plastic... Is that correct???

Chris

The toasters were used in the neck position in the 60's and early 70's.

Lower rear pickup cover? Don't know what you're referring to. Do you mean that they're missing on a lot of them? That's cause many people take them off.

Not sure when the covers started being plastic.

Haven't the non-horseshoe ones always been plastic?

I noticed a Rick 4001 that had a pickup cover that was shorter, closer to the strings...I did see it in a music store... It looked original and worn, and is about half the height of a normal cover....It looked cool and also more usable in terms of acting as a finger rest when playing...
I need some input on neck pick-ups.... I love the look of the toaster pick-up in the neck....
Can someone comment on the comparison between the "new" toaster pickups vs the Seymour Duncan neck pick-up....

Thanks
Chris

There are different ways of mounting the cover. It can move with the height adjustment of the pup or be fixed in place, & at different heights.
There are metal covers out there, but no one on either forum seems to have one! Most are plastic with sheilding under the chrome, apparently. Also, most get lost somehow. I still have the one that came with my '76, but the '77 & '81 had none when I got them. When mine was off, I kept it in the case. Pretty careless of a lot of people to lose so many of them!

You can buy a new toaster pickup from several dealers including RIC, I'd highly recommend you do that vs. buying a used one. The older bridge pickup covers were thinner and a little shorter, but most like you are seeing the difference in the adjusted height of the pickup.

Thanks for the info...
I just ordered a new RICK "vintage" toaster pickup for my 4001 neck position.....
I also ordered a set of Rick strings .045-.105 ....
Can't wait to get this stuff installed....
This 4001 sounds soo good acoustically with no amp and it is LOUD... I walk around my apt playing the bass acoustically and sounds awsome.... Just played TAXMAN lastnight plugged into the old SVT head ..I have Beatles on Reel-to-Reel playing on my Studer 1/4" machine that I play along with :)
I am sorry to say this...but I have not picked up any of my P-Bass's since this 4001 arrived....In fact they haven't even crossed my mind till now....
Chris

That's no reason to be sorry! ;^)

Since I put a vintage on my 4003 and unwound the bridge to 7.8K, I have not picked up my J/P-Bass copy either. Too much tone character now! I also got the 500K pot/switch and .0047uF cap from RIC and installed that also, and usually prefer the cap in. Because of that, I wired it so the cap is in circuit when the switch is down.