That’s what I said... a 481. Some genius decided at some point in its life to replace the pickups on my 481 (I did know this when I bought it, of course), and while they are quite fine pickups for any guitar, they are not the pickups that were designed for the guitar.

I’m going to ask this question, because this is the only place on earth to ask such a question. I know that the following answers are likely:

- Are you crazy? That guitar has been discontinued for nearly 40 years.

- Well, the 481 didn’t really have the classic Rickenbacker sound anyway, so what are you worried about? The original pickups weren’t that great.

So, that being understood, the question is, does anyone know where or how I can obtain original pickups for a 481, and if not, is there a particular brand of pickup which emulates the Rickenbacker sound to a reasonable degree? (Bartolini?)

Thanks for any help you might have. The guitar is solid as a rock, and sounds great, but just not like a Rickenbacker.

Have you asked this question on the RR forum?

Mindhive--you can buy replacement pickups directly from Rickenbacker (or through a Rickenbacker dealer). It sounds like what you need are the Toaster pickups. I have a mid-80s 330/12 which had high gain pickups on it. I replaced them with Toaster pickups several years ago and it sounds great--really has the Rickenbacker jangle I was looking for. Look at the Boutique here on the website and you should be able to find them pretty easily.

Clifton - the pickups on a 481 are completely different from either toasters or highgains. They share nothing in common: different footprint; different bobbins; different frames; different mounting hardware.