Where to get Greco Rickenbacker type pickups?

I'm thinking of adding a third pickup to my Greco RG Rickenbacker 360 copy.

The guitar originally had Greco's copys of Rickenbacker's High Gain type pickups but now it has non original Toaster style pickups.

Any one who knows where I can get/buy one Greco High Gain type pickup or some Greco Toaster style pickups?

Here's a picture of the original pickups:



Thank you,

Svempan

Good luck! The guitars are rare as hens teeth, so finding spares of anything is a nightmare. Buying the real thing would be an option, but again, good luck if you can find them. Rick dealers were sellig them for $150USD a pop, and they're all out of stock anyway.

But why add a third p/u - it won't look as good, I find it gets if the way of playing, and it greatly reduces the value of your once original guitar. Lastly, I've always found a third p/u adds little if anything in terms of sound.

Save up and buy a Rick 340 or 370 is another solution if you've got the cash or patience.

Thanks for your answer. You definitely have a good point in keeping the guitar original. I do consider that rather much.

I love original but I?m no original freak though, so if I really want three pickups, it will probably get it. In my opinion the money value of this guitar isn?t that much, so if it doesn?t increase very much in the future, that wouldn?t stop me? maybe? (But who knows wkat'll hapen to the value och Greco guitars?).

I do love playing guitar and I kind of like the sound. I will use it with the original pickups for a good while to see if I find it?s glory for what it is.

The reason I wanted a Rickenbacker style guitar, is because it was John Fogerty who inspired me to start playing guitar 30 years ago or so. His playing and sound on ?I Put A Spell On You?, ?Working man?, ?Walking On The water?, ?Born On The Bayou? and ?Good Golly Miss Molly? still turns me on. For what I know, those songs are made with his Rick 325, and I suppose all three pickups are on.

And what looks best, two or three pickups? That?s a matter of taste, isn?t it? :wink:

Not worth much?

Well, when these puppies sell second hand in Japan they go for about $600-$700USD, and when they come up on ebay the BINs tend to be $800-$1000USD + shipping and customs at the border. That's not bad money for your Greco!

You chopping it up to add a pick-up might cost you $200-$300 off that re-sale price, plus the costs of buying and installing the pickup (could be as much as another $200-$300). Now if you shop carefully and with patience, you might be able to pick up a Greco 325 three pick-up copy from Japan for about that combined sum.

I thought John Fogerty retro-fitted humbuckers in his Rick 325, so you still might have some work to do though!

BTW any chance of some more pictures of your Grick?

A lot of people think these guitars are better than the originals, and will go up in value. There is no way i would butcher it with a 3rd pickup. Just buy another one with 3 pickups, that would make more sense.

Mick

Simonovich said:

Not worth much?...

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Well... It depends how you see it... :wink:

A 325 is, by the way, out of the question, because of the short scale.

Simonovich said:

...I thought John Fogerty retro-fitted humbuckers in his Rick 325, so you still might have some work to do though!..

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Yeah! It had/has a humbucker in the bridge position. On films I've seen (and heard the sound) he has the switch in the middle position, which would be all three pickups, if it's wired original.

The sound of other guitars with three pickups, makes me think that he used all three. Of course the man himself and the Kustom amp makes a big part of the sound.

Look and listen for example here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAVhKjsImeI

This picture from that youtube link, showes his pickups and the switch:

Simonovich said:

...BTW any chance of some more pictures of your Grick?

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Theese pictures are with the non original Toaster Pickups. The original High Gain style pickups are now back in the guitar. The Toasters fit exactly in the same screw holes and everything.[/img]

leadguitar_323 said:

A lot of people think these guitars are better than the originals, and will go up in value...

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I have tried several Rickenbackers though the years, but no one really turned me on at all... This Grecobacker did/does! I really like it!

leadguitar_323 said:

...Just buy another one with 3 pickups, that would make more sense...

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Maybe you're right...

hi
i got a greco 320 model ..... the 325 has a tremolo .... i got 3 pickups and i dont like it .... ther is almost no differens in the sound off the pick ups ... and very hard to understand what the pots do to the sound (and it is all original ),,,,, so i would have liked a 2 pickup model .....
my normal user name is muccax but i can not get the account to work so i have made this one

all the best otto

That's a good clip and a nice looking fireglo guitar! I love the 21 fret look.

Are the tuners original? How did the toasters sound relative to the original pickups? Where did you buy it?

My one from Japan's sitting under the Christmas tree unopened - can't wait to get my hands on it!

To add in terms of the 3 versus 2 pickup issue, John Lennon I think cut the wire to the middle pickup on his Rick 325, a mod many owners of a 325 do to get the "sound". That tells you what he thought of the tonal value of the 3rd pickup!

santat said:

...i got 3 pickups and i dont like it .... ther is almost no differens in the sound off the pick ups ... and very hard to understand what the pots do to the sound (and it is all original ),,,,, so i would have liked a 2 pickup model...

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On one of my Strats I have a blend pot that gives the opportunity to use all pickup combinations, including all three. I also have a Gibson SG with three pickups and a blend pot so that all three pickups can be on at the sam time.

The sound of all three pickups togehter is special and different. As I see it, you have to search for and learn the way to use it.

I don't know how original Grecobackers with three pickups are wired. Rickenbackers have a few different ways. Generally it is:
1. Switch in its up/Bass position: Neck and midle pickup.
2. Switch in its middle position: All three pickups.
3. Switch in its down/Treble position: Bridge pickup only.

The mysterious fifth pot/knob, "blend control", is a second volume control for the neck-middle pickup combination. For what I understand this pot has been wired in two different ways during the years.

Some Rickenbackers had a capacitor in series with the bridge pickup. This makes the sound of the bridge pickup alone very bright and thin, and when used togehter with the other pickup/pickups, the sound is like if the pickups are out of phase. I don't really know, but I don't think that 320's and 325's has this capacitor, though.

I thought I read somewhere that Fogerty used a 3/4 scale guitar in his early days? Lennon did too, I think. When I saw Fogerty a year or so ago, he mainly played a Les Paul.

I agree with the other posters, those Gricks are likely to increase in value as they are relatively rare. Messing around with a vintage guitar is nearly always a bad idea.

Mike

Simonovich said:

...I love the 21 fret look.

Are the tuners original? How did the toasters sound relative to the original pickups? Where did you buy it?

To add in terms of the 3 versus 2 pickup issue, John Lennon I think cut the wire to the middle pickup on his Rick 325, a mod many owners of a 325 do to get the "sound". That tells you what he thought of the tonal value of the 3rd pickup!

Click to expand...

Yeah! I don't like the 24 fret look at all. 21 frets and the "Old Style" body (square body edges and binding on on both back and front) was very important when looking for a Rickenbacker style guitar.

Simonovich said:

...Are the tuners original? How did the toasters sound relative to the original pickups? Where did you buy it?

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I certanly think that they are original. 'Made in Japan' is stamped on the backs and there are no signs of any other tuners.

I bought the Toasters here in Sweden (don't know where they really are made). They had ceramic magnets like the High Gains. I used the bobin, coil, bottom plate and Toaster cover to made new pickups with six AlNiCo 5 magnets. The construction is now very much like original Rickenbacker Toasters.

The sound of my Toasters are weaker, a little brighter and more jangle than the original Greco High Gain style pickups. Apart from the rather big difference in output, the difference in sound is not as big as I had thought. As always(!) the guitar itself probably makes much (most?) of the sound.

Simonovich said:

...To add in terms of the 3 versus 2 pickup issue, John Lennon I think cut the wire to the middle pickup on his Rick 325, a mod many owners of a 325 do to get the "sound". That tells you what he thought of the tonal value of the 3rd pickup!

Click to expand...

You are probably right. The sound of three pickups together is special...

As I said, I have other guitars where I can use all three pickups together. With all three pickups I think I come closest to the John Fogerty sound in the clip above and on the songs I listed. Therefore I guess that's how his 325 is. But as I see it, it's not totally out of question that it could be other combinations.

stratman323 said:

I thought I read somewhere that Fogerty used a 3/4 scale guitar in his early days? Lennon did too, I think. When I saw Fogerty a year or so ago, he mainly played a Les Paul...

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For what I know he used his Rickenbacker 325 on the whole first CCR record.

On the 'Bayou Country' album he use the 325 and a Gibson ES-175 (tuned down a whole step to D). 'Born On The Bayou' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly' is the Rick 325. 'Bootleg' and 'Proud Mary' is the ES-175.

Somtime after that, he began using Les Pauls and later in CCR years it was two different Les Pauls. One (the one with Bigsby) shortened to a 3/4 guitar for regular tuning and the black Custom for the tuned down songs.

The 'Willy Ande The Poorboys' album has some really great Les Pauls sonds, according to my opinion.

stratman323 said:

...I agree with the other posters, those Gricks are likely to increase in value as they are relatively rare. Messing around with a vintage guitar is nearly always a bad idea...

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I think that depends on how you see it...

If I will really will love the guitar with three pickups and will use it with great delight for many years, I don't see any problem at all to alter it from original. That is, even if it's value in original shape will be doubled in, for example, ten years. The love and delight has a BIG, BIG value for me.

But if it's value in original shape will increase, let's say ten times in ten years, maybe(!) I will regret if I alter it from original (if the value of the altered guitar then would be ten times lower than if it was original).

BUT!!! Money value isn't everything. The joy of playing a loved instrument is a BIG value! At least as I see it!

hi
i have messed up many guitars before but i think it is better to do only small mods ..... like .....now i only change the picks up ..... or you can put in a switch so you can get that out off phase sound ..... my rg 750 got 3 pick up ....and on the greco the pickup are not as close as on a real ric ..... mine is from 86 with out vibrato ......but i can see the late one with vibrato the pickups are closer together .... like on a real ric
http://www.aquamusic.jp/product/30
try this link ...
this is mine guitar
it was lost for 2 month in japan .... but they found it
all the best
otto

muccaz said:

...i have messed up many guitars before but i think it is better to do only small mods...

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What a small mod is, is also a question of how you see it, isn't it? :wink:

Because there are original guitars that have three pickups, I think mounting a third pickup on a Rickenbacker or Grecobacker is a fair (small?) mod, if nicely done. If using original pickups I think it's even better. That's the reason for my initial question.

But don't worry. I will not rout my Grecobacker and mount a third pickup now. I will play it for a good while with two pickups. I love playing this guitar and maybe I will be totally satisfied also with its sound and look, just like it is now.

I enjoy the discussion here and I think it has helped me in my thoughts about the third pickup question. Thank you!