Friends, I have a tough decision to make. I’m finding the pickup cover on my trusty 4003 to be increasingly awkward. I know that McCartney and Lemmy were both able to play with the cover on, but I’m thinking life would just be simpler without it. This is a tough choice because for me the pickup cover is a a big part of the Rickenbacker look (and feel), however there are some really nice bezels out there …
Sooooo help me decide! Note - if I get it done, I’ll probably try to find someone who doesn’t have two left hands like me
Yes! Get rid of that heap of plastic
No, you fool! How could you consider such a thing?
I’m not sure if I’m fender biased but it would look awesome with a solid pickguard over everything. If not, the split up covers look great too. I’m not sure about the remove the cover and put on another cover option but if you want to keep it as stock looking as possible that’s probably what you want.
I just see thin stamped sheet metal and start questioning when I got my last tetanus shot.
Good point - I can always put it back if I don’t like it I guess… @Al1885
True - although the pickup cover forces me to play at the near the top of the neck… also I have to kind of play “down” on top of the strings from the top of the cover…
You know, I think I’m going to try without the cover and see how it feels
Ah! Make sense. The angle of attack is steeper than without cover. I wish Rickie would have slim aftermarket covers like Jazz bass. I got this from Atelier. Functional (as in looks) and very comfortable to play.
I might be the only person that thinks this so grain of salt etc, but pickup covers look universally dumb to me, get in the way, do nothing positive at all, and add weight for no reason. Trash them all.
Just my humble opinion, I also don’t like the chrome ashtray and pickup cover on the fender precisions , it somehow looks out of proportion, also not a big fan of chrome in general
Just my 0,02 € and YMMV and so on.
Wow those alperious covers are some real artworks!
I like the ones on your first link. Very neat look. Maybe you could try removing the cover and adding one of those bezels, and see if the bass feels better to you ? You can always go back and put the cover again later, if needed
Thanks guys! I reckon I’m going to remove the cover and see how it feels - hey, I can always put it back on again if I miss it?
They do look really nice @terb - I’m wondering if the chrome will go with the pickguard (more golden - to go with the maple) but it’ll match the bridge.
I might see if Alperious can produce a bezel that matches the pickguard but from what I remember he’s pretty busy and it may take a few weeks. But OMG they do look really sweet @qenden
Yeah I like the look @howard but this particular guard really is a pain. It also gets in the way of palm muting so you have to mute with your fretting hand. A slimmer guard like on @Al1885 's Jazz would be way more practical but it would have to be a custom job…
A little undecided. Definitely found myself playing towards the neck and often resting my palm on the cover. Wasn’t too fussed as its a different sound to my Fender. I replaced it with a bezel recently as I needed to dig in a bit more with a pick towards the bridge. Then I found my pick sometimes catches the top of the bezel playing the E string. I do also like the industrial look of the horseshoe cover. Ultimately it’s a personal choice.
Ha you must be really hammering that E string! Agreed the horseshoe cover looks really nice on the older basses (4001s?) - it’s a shame they didn’t keep it for the 4003s
Well I’ve taken off the cover and it definitely feels easier to play. I also don’t miss all the malarkey trying to thread the strings though the pickup cover! I’m getting lot of humming but I think that’s just the Rick being a Rick.
Nice! The cheap plastic pickguard, truss rod(s) cover and pickup cover were really the only things I was disappointed with, @MikeC . It’s not a cheap bass, and the plastic gear just came across as a bit tacky…
