That cap mod--pls clarify

dg27 · Post by **dg27** » Thu May 29, 2003 2:02 pm

In April, several folks gave me advice regarding that cap mod for 70s 4001s, which involves removing one [or two?] of the caps. Doing so apparently fattens up the low end. Today I finally had a chance to take it to a tech [Matt Brewster @ 30th St Guitars]. He removed the pickguard so we could have a look. This was the first time I'd seen the setup.

He said it looked like the thing to do was to remove the cap between the bridge pickup and the VOL control.Is this the right one to remove? [I thought it was tone cap.]

I just did a search on this forum back from when I posted [04/21] and came up with what appears to be two different answers [see below].

He's going to work on this tomorrow so if someone who's familiar with it could confirm whether it's the tone cap [.047] or volume cap [.0047] or both that should be removed, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[from April]:
"The simplest way to make it sound fuller is to take out the .047 capaciter ... that capaciter cuts all of the bass response from the bridge pickup. I removed the stereo jack and the .047 capaciter. I sold it to my good friend and he loves it that way."

"Replacing the .0047 mfd cap with a straight wire will surely bring back the low frequencies of the treble pickup."

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu May 29, 2003 3:45 pm

David,
By "the cap between the bridge pickup and the VOL control", I believe Matt meant the little .0047 mfd cap between the toggle switch and the treble pickup's volume pot. Yes, that's the one.

Don't remove the .047 tone caps.

Below is a picture of my '72 4001 FL's wiring. The 2 rectangular ones are the .047 tone caps. The smaller one between them, is the .oo47 cap.

Hope I helped.

dg27 · Post by **dg27** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:01 pm

Paul:

That's exactly the info I needed. And yes, it was the small one [the .0047 cap] that Matt said he'd remove. [I was confused because I wasn't expecting to see three caps and a number of people referred to as a "tone cap" mod.]

Thanks for clarifying!

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:08 pm

No problem, David.
By the way, do your .047 tone caps look like the ones above or more like the ones in the picture below (my '86 4003 Shadow):

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:10 pm

Remember to replace the .0047 cap with a piece of wire, not just remove the cap or you will get no sound from the treble pickup.

dg27 · Post by **dg27** » Thu May 29, 2003 11:07 pm

Paul: They look like the 4001 photo [yellow]. Is this significant?

Jeffrey: Thanks for pointing that out.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu May 29, 2003 11:32 pm

Not really, David.
I was just wondering about different parts and suppliers in different times since the tone Caps in my 3 RIC basses are all differnt...I'm a Cat that get killed by another C...

(Well, the orange '86 Spraque brand ones above look better in my eyes.)

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Fri May 30, 2003 2:49 am

Humphh... Treble-pass capacitor removal madness revisited.
David:
doesn't the 4001/4003 neck pickup provide more than enough bottom end? What was that? The bridge pickup doesn't deliver as much poke with the cap in-line therewith? Well then, get a hotter pickup. Where? I'm willing to make you one for free, and I promise you it will be hot and balanced with the existing bass (neck) pickup on your Rick. Feel like giving it try?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri May 30, 2003 3:35 am

the .0047 capaciter on the bridge pickup is an anachronism ... a relic from a bygone era ... in the days when bass players had to play through 50 watt tube amps and insuffiecnt speakers ... it was really hard to get treble, bass, and volume out of the same rig at the same time ... so Rickenbacker addressed this problem with the capaciter and ric-o-sound.

But with the modern amps you don't need stuff like that to get a good sound ... I had a '73 4001 wired with 2 high gain pickups and no capaciter and no stereo ... it had a lot of bass and a lot of treble .... no need for capaciters or stereo .... it kicked a$$ ...

I know a lot of players like the old setup ... flat wounds, capaciters, ric-o-sound, etc ... I play modern music and want a modern sound

dg27 · Post by **dg27** » Fri May 30, 2003 9:02 am

Sergio: Thanks for the most generous offer. Unfortunately, my tech informed me this morning that my neck pickup is absolutely dead. And [horrors] I've told him to go ahead and replace both pickups with Seymour Duncans, which is a brand I trust deeply since I've got various SDs in two of my Fenders. I know they're apparently not that popular around here. But I do want to get this bass back to where I want to use it regularly.

I find Jeff's comment interesting and I'm curious about the modern equipment issue. I use a [nearly vintage] 100W MusicMan tube head that I love and have had for many years [>20]. I use Mesa/Boogie 1X15+mid and 2X10+mid cabs. Frankly, my Rick always had too much mid & high end for my tastes and not enough bottom [or power], but like Jeff have a certain sound that I want. Have no idea what to expect.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri May 30, 2003 9:45 am

I love Seymour Duncan pickups ... but the SD's for Rickenbacker SUCK TOTALLY!!!! ... put in Ric Replacement pickups .... From Ric you have toasters, horseshoes, high gains, and you have humbuckers ... all of these sound good ...

I have some of those tone sucking seymour duncan humbuckers for Rickenbacker ... no personality at all ... a real bland bass sound ...

I use a lot of Seymour Duncan pickups on my fender style basses ... especially the quarter pound pickups for p and jazz ... excellent ...

I would recommend 2 4003 high gains, or try to get 2 old 4001 high gains ... you can also get a prewired toggle, volume, and tone controls ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri May 30, 2003 9:47 am

Get an ampeg b2r head ... it should do well with your cabs ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri May 30, 2003 10:08 am

you can get replacement high gains from this web page ...

http://www.the-music-connection.com/ricpart.htm

install these without the .0047 capaciter and it will have a nice modern sound ... this will give you lots of bass, a good mid punch, and plenty of treble bite ...

Yes you do need the tone capaciter left in ...

If you want to use Seymour duncan pickups ... a quarter pound jazz pickup will fit nicely where your bridge pickup is ... it will sound good but won't look as nice ...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri May 30, 2003 11:15 am

Hi Dave,
I don't remove the cap, I just put a couple of strands of copper wire from lamp cord over it and soldier both ends, there is no voltage or amperage in there to speak of so you can get away with using very thin wire. This makes a huge difference in the sound, gives the old Rics a much fuller sound, with the cap in if you back off the bass pickup's volume you end up with a really thin trebly sound which is nice for certain kinds of music, but with the cap bypassed with wire you get a nice thick sound that cuts through the guitars and drums without the rumble you get from too much bass pickup, it is a much more audible sound in the crucial lower mid range where you need it. With the cap in there is a hole in the sound in the lower mids from the 4001's, bridging the cap gives 4001's (and early 4003's) much more punch. And if you bridge it as opposed to removing it, all you have to do is remove the strands of wire to put it back in original condition.
Also if your bass has too much mid and treble for you, try lowering the treble pickup, you can get a much bassier sound with the treble pickup lowered. Rics are great instruments, you can tailor the sound to your liking by experimenting with the pickup heights, strings, etc. The new high gains are great pickups by the way, I wouldn't put anything but Ric pickups in any Ric I own. Any Ric I've heard with other brand pickups never sounded as good to me as with the originals.

dg27 · Post by **dg27** » Fri May 30, 2003 1:55 pm

Thanks to all for the advice--food for thought, for sure.