Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I thought the output was noticeably higher. Overall, the bass sounded beefier, bassier. Not necessarily what everyone is looking for in a Ric. I thought the neck pickup sounded better on its own than it ever has. I'll keep it, for now.

Got out my 1979 4001MG.

Opened it up and found that I had used two 30mmx10mmx2mm magnets.

With those magnets, the neck pickup measured about 40mT, as did the bridge pickup. With the magnets removed, the neck measured around 40mT.

I installed a 60mmx10mmx3mm magnet, and the flux went up to 55mT ...

Had my 2016 4003W out, so I decided to dig out my teslameter and make a couple of measurements.

Stock, the neck pickup measured 11mT and the bridge pickup 22mT.

With the neo magnets in place, the neck pickup measured 22mT. That was with two 30mmx10mmx2mm magnets. That's hardly too high. My 60s ...

What type of magnet did you use? Alnico II, 5, ?

Neodymium.


This is a really cool idea, I think. Any drawbacks, once adjustments are made?


Not that I've noticed. At least one person found that he had to adjust his action, as the stronger magnet pulled his strings down! I haven't had any ...

Update, five years later.

I didn't realize that I never came back with my results.

Worked a treat on the '70 4001 Mapleglo. I later switched to a 60mm x 10mm x 3mm, which I like even better.

On the 2016 4003W, the lead comes out of the center of the pickup, so I used 30mm x 10mm x 2mm magnets ...

A short facebook vid from Friday.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Ep4u7PU4H/


Great band, And your AC sounds amazing. Both Your playing, and the bass tone!
It has that lovely “Rick meets J bass” sound I love, especially on Moondance. So nice to hear one of these basses outside the usual ...

A short facebook vid from Friday.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Ep4u7PU4H/

Could be. I don't think we actually answered your question: yes, red is hot, black and clear tie the coils together for humbucking operation and blue with shield is ground. Have you tried taking the black and clear loose from each other to measure to see if one coil or the other will work. Granted ...

I measured mine some years ago. Each coil was around 7.5Kohms, 15K for the humbucker wired in series. Except for the coil that was open!

teeder wrote: Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:14 am

jayfbv wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 4:35 pm My 4001S has some features that people seem to like. It also has some mods due to missing parts and dead tuners:

What's the story with that bass?
It doesn't look very "4001S" from here.

Looks kinda Rickenfaker, dunnit?

What is it about your 4004 that's not up to snuff for you?


The neck, mainly. It just feels fat to me. But it is beautiful. Transgreen, so I break it out for St Patrick's Day gigs.


Don't you play it a X-mas Mass? :shock:

The neck on the '04 Cii was on the plump side, the other three ...

jps wrote: Wed Sep 10, 2025 2:57 pm

Isaac wrote: Wed Sep 10, 2025 1:14 pm I have only one. It's just not my favorite bass. Probably the most beautiful, though.

What is it about your 4004 that's not up to snuff for you?

The neck, mainly. It just feels fat to me. But it is beautiful. Transgreen, so I break it out for St Patrick's Day gigs.

This thread got very 4004 oriented fast! 🤘🏼
I tried to take up the sluggish 4004 sales by purchasing 7 of them between 2007-2020.😅


Sadly :( , I am way behind you with having acquired only four 4004 basses, between '04 and '15. :(


I have only one. It's just not my favorite bass. Probably ...

The bass forum at Harmony Central used to be a great community, until it died. Now, talkbass appears to be the only place to be.

jps wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 10:44 amThere was a time when I loved going way up the fingerboard, but these days I haven't done too much of that.

Jeff-1200_46.jpg

I still do. In my surf band I have a lead section that starts on the high D. I get above the 12th fret on a couple of other tunes.