Anatomy Of A Rickenbacker Bass Part 6

[johnallg]

Excellent info!

I have a 4000 bass from 1974, I love how it sounds. Is the high gain PU in that bass a typical one for that period, or did 4000 basses get a modified PU? Thanks.

If it is the original one, it should be the same as a 4001 would use. It should measure around 8k dc resistance.

[RobRick]

Excellent info!

I have a 4000 bass from 1974, I love how it sounds. Is the high gain PU in that bass a typical one for that period, or did 4000 basses get a modified PU? Thanks.

If it is the original one, it should be the same as a 4001 would use. It should measure around 8k dc resistance.

Thanks! Yes, it is original, a few years back I almost replced it with something new, thanffully my guitar tech friend said "No way! Keep it original!" which I did. I love how it sounds.

[johnallg]

Rob, I am a lover of the 70s higains too. Rock on!

[RobRick]

I also love the sound of the PUs on my 4001C64 and 4001C64S, great sounding basses. I couldn't be more happy with my trio of Rick basses.

[iiipopes]

Well, hello folks. I know I only come here occasionally, but to follow up on the 4002 comments earlier, many years ago the RIC website actually had a drawing of a 4002 pickup on it for a short while. Indeed, they are split coil humbuckers, with one coil for GD and the other for AE.

One overlooked aspect of tone on a bass is pickup placement. A 4001/3 simply will not ever sound like a 4002, even if you use 4002 pickups and circuits, because of the different overtone structure of the sampling point of the string. A 4002 sounds like a J-bass with attitude because of the pickup placement. See this article:

http://www.till.com/articles/PickupResponse/index.html

Moreover, with the individual coils more "circular," there is a different resistance to inductance characteristic as compared to an oblong coil as on toasters, high gains, and HB-1's & -2's. So yes, the clarity associated with a P-bass is there, not because of magnets or windings, but because of the coil shape affecting the resistance and inductance characteristics. But because of the body construction, it is clarity with character and drive, not just vanilla ice cream.

Finally, my 4002 was wired like the factory schematic as set forth on the RIC website, and I was able to consult it to learn the finer points. After many years, I finally wanted to get the rest of the low end out of it, so I did get a RIC push-pull and put in a bypass to the .01 to the mid pickup. As Cassius pointed out, I gained improved versatility of the pickup in spades. So much so I'm considering doing another one to the bridge pickup to switch between the stock .01, which cuts at @ 150 or 160 Hz, and the 4001/3 .0047, which cuts at @ 330 Hz.

A lot of bass amplifiers in the late '70's and early '80's had different cabinet proportions and porting (if any) than now, combined with then-new stiffer cones to handle more wattage. All these factors changed the "Q" or amp/speaker resonance, and usually created a "hump" in the amp's signature at @ 150 Hz. So it makes sense why RIC chose the .01 at that time instead of the .0047 for the 4002. But now with twenty more years of speaker and amp technology, those values really don't make sense anymore, especially since 150 or 160 Hz is now the crossover frequency for a lot of bi-amp rigs. With the crossover and the .01 onboard cap, this creates an audible "hole" that I could hear out front.

Another item I could hear, which I expounded on at length on a thread over at RIC, is the fact that you can never have two completely identical pickups or capacitors due to manufacturing tolerances. So with both pickups on, and the coils being different and the capacitors interacting so that the hinge frequency was just slightly different from front to rear, I could always hear phasing when playing onstage with both pickups on. Now that I've bypassed the mid pickup .01 cap, I don't hear that phasing anymore with both pickups on. Pop the cap back in the circuit with a pull, and it comes back.

And since my body chemistry eats nickel, for years I have used GHS Progressives 45-60-80-105 that I purchase as singles instead of a complete set to approximate the gauges and feel of an original RIC set. They are the only strings that combine consistency, long life, tone, and especially the E string doesn't go "thunk" after just one set. I haven't adjusted my bridge in, well, years if not decades.

Now, if RIC would only reissue the 4002, but with the circuit mods as I've done, slant frets, the original smaller headstock, lose the XLR....

[sledz]

Hiho.
I've got 4003, it's serial number suggest it's 1988. Pickups, especially bridge pickup looks weird to me and, to be honest poor, and I don't know if they're original. What do you think?
Harness is OK I guess (except neck volume pot). Tone pots were 500kohm in 1988, weren't they?
Thanks.

[antipodean]

Hiho.
I've got 4003, it's serial number suggest it's 1988. Pickups, especially bridge pickup looks weird to me and, to be honest poor, and I don't know if they're original. What do you think?
Harness is OK I guess (except neck volume pot). Tone pots were 500kohm in 1988, weren't they?
Thanks.

The bridge pickup looks original, but the copper foil shielding in the pickup and control cavities was added by past owner.

[johnallg]

What Evan said. Original pickups.

[sledz]

Thanks, guys. Actually, my friend made shielding for me.
I don't like both pickup together. Will it make big difference if I move neck pickup 1/2" closer to the fretboard, would it mix better with bridge pickup (with .0047 cap?) Also I don't know what bridge tone push-pull pot use, 250 or 500, coz there is no value stamped.

[johnallg]

Thanks, guys. Actually, my friend made shielding for me.
I don't like both pickup together. Will it make big difference if I move neck pickup 1/2" closer to the fretboard, would it mix better with bridge pickup (with .0047 cap?) Also I don't know what bridge tone push-pull pot use, 250 or 500, coz there is no value stamped.

Moving to the 1/2" will weaken the area a little, make the pickup a tad darker. The tone push pull would be 500k.

[sledz]

Thanks, guys. Actually, my friend made shielding for me.
I don't like both pickup together. Will it make big difference if I move neck pickup 1/2" closer to the fretboard, would it mix better with bridge pickup (with .0047 cap?) Also I don't know what bridge tone push-pull pot use, 250 or 500, coz there is no value stamped.

Moving to the 1/2" will weaken the area a little, make the pickup a tad darker. The tone push pull would be 500k.

Many thanks.
It needs a lot of work, new frets and neck straightening, but will rock at last... I hope.

[henry5]

Thanks, Ted.

Here's another from '71.

That looks familiar Kevin.