Ryder EM4

[Mandobar]

I live about 30 minutes from Steve's shop. I'd been looking for another emando for a while and Steve had this lying around, and while I thought I wanted a 5 string again, this is perfect for what I was looking for. Have not taken it to a gig yet, but am looking forward to in the near future. Steve also showed me some things he is working on. I have a feeling I will be going back to Portland soon.



the weird reflection on the pickguard is from the light over the table.

Actually this is an EM24, not an EM4

[lenf12]

Lovely!! Great color and 2 pups. Very, very nice. (sigh...)

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Mandobar]

I believe he winds those himself.

[lenf12]

I believe so. After seeing your EM24, I checked out his website. Refinishing, rewinding vintage pups, etc. Beautiful emandos for sure. He's got something special going on there.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Mandobar]

I may go back and order a 5 string. I really liked the EM45 he showed me. It is his demonstrator and try as I might it wasn't leaving the shop. LOL!

[Tom Wright]

If you do order a 45, go for the stacked single-coil pickups. I also recommend particular locations that emulate Fender setup. Bridge pickup should be 1.5" away from bridge (centerline of poles), and neck pickup as close to fingerboard end as possible.

Pickup location has huge effect, and the best spots were worked out a long time ago. The measurements I suggest are from a Stratocaster, although I switched (eventually) from the angled treble pickup to straight. On my mando the E was too pinched in tone with the angled setup.

[Mandobar]

Did you have a Ryder?

[Tom Wright]

Here's mine:



Recorded clips at my Soundcloud, look for this avatar:



(From the first iteration, angled treble pickup.)

[Mandobar]

I have not noticed any weakness in the tone, so I think for now, I will leave it alone.

If I were to get a 5 string, I'd probably go with humbuckers.

[Tom Wright]

I have not noticed any weakness in the tone, so I think for now, I will leave it alone.

If I were to get a 5 string, I'd probably go with humbuckers.

The stacked single-coils are excellent at hum rejection, and give the clear tone I like, and if you boost them with appropriate overdrive they will do what side-by-side humbuckers will do.

[lenf12]

My understanding of Ryder's pickups is that the stacked single coils are in fact humbuckers in that each half of the stack is wound in opposite directions. The clear tone is due to the single pole magnets "reading" a much narrower portion of the string signal. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the dual pole humbuckers but the single pole HB's are a very attractive option.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Mandobar]

Steve does a nice job with these.

[geoffreymbrown]

I really like my em24. It's supposedly 2002 vintage, but when I bought it last year off of reverb the slots in the nut were way too high -- as if it had never been properly setup which made me wonder if it had ever actually been used. With a small amount of setup work, it's been a delight.

Geoffrey

[Mandobar]

I noticed that about the nut on mine, but only on the E string, which makes me wonder about what Tom was saying about sounding thin. It's off for a set up next week.