Question for the 4004Cii/5 owners

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sun May 01, 2005 12:33 pm

My trans red is a June 2004, mapleglo is a March 2004

gshadoan · Post by **gshadoan** » Sun May 01, 2005 1:42 pm

As far as I know, they just ordered it, but who knows. Soon as I get it, I will post some pics.

Greg

gshadoan · Post by **gshadoan** » Sun May 01, 2005 1:44 pm

So anyway back to my original question, what do these things work like, so those of you who have them, do they have any weridness in the way they sound. BTW it plays great.. just sounds like ***.

Greg

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Sun May 01, 2005 2:24 pm

Joey, does the red one sound any different than the mapleglo one?

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Mon May 02, 2005 12:39 pm

If anyone here has a pair of pickups like the ones on the new 5-string that they'd like to sell, drop me a line.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:17 pm

Erik, the red one sounds thicker than the mapleglo, especially because of the neck pickup location. With a pick and no overdrive, the neck pickup sounds very similar to the sound of the bass guitar on the Black Label Society song "Crazy or High" (I think you listen to that kind if music). The bridge pickup in the red one gives a nice punchy sound.
The mapleglo gets a cool Jazz bass like growl (better than a Jazz bass) from the bridge pickup being closer to the bridge.
Both basses can produce the classic Rick bass sound.

Greg, what didn't you like about the sound of the 4004/5Cii you are buying? What kind of amp / speaker cab setup did you try it through?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:41 pm

James Lomenzo plays Warwicks, A Buzzard and I think a Thumb. So you're saying that the 4004/5Cii sounds like a Warwick?

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:56 pm

The the bass track on the song "Crazy Or High" was played by Mike Inez, former Ozzy Osborne and Alice in Chains bassist. To me, it sounds like the acoustic bass guitar he used for AIC Unplugged and the Jar Of Flies album.

James Lomenzo does play bass on six other songs of that album and you can definitely hear the difference between his bass guitar and that of Mike Inez.

...and I never played a Warwick that I liked the shape of it's neck, and many I wasn't digging the sound of either.

gshadoan · Post by **gshadoan** » Tue May 03, 2005 10:14 am

Greg, what didn't you like about the sound of the 4004/5Cii you are buying? What kind of amp / speaker cab setup did you try it through?

The amp is a POS, so all hope is not lost as to the sound in general, also the strings are factory and are going to get changed as soon as it gets home. The main problem I have is that the low B is at least 3db quieter than the rest of the strings. The guitar tech at the store had the pickups adjusted up SOOOOO high the strings hit them no matter what I did. First thing I did at the store was to adjust them down ALLOT. I need to finish that job as well. I wish they had just left them alone, but it seems that ALL guitar techs think they know best and abitraliy adjust RIC's from the factory.. GRRRR. So mainly the one problem is what I am worried about. I will be using it through an Ampeg B2R, and either A.4X10+1X18, or an B.SVT cab. I leave the 4X10+1X18 in the rehersal studio, and use the SVT for gigs. Use the B2R always.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue May 03, 2005 11:23 am

I believe the 4004CII5 uses hb2 pickups ... the same ones used in 90's 2000 basses ... on my 2020-5 bass I found that a 2 3/8" +/- bridge spacing covered the pickups quite nicely ... also raising the pickups as high as possible helps as well ...

here's some pics of my 2020-5 bass with the hb-2 pickups and the Kahler adjustable 5 string bridge ...

to here this bass go this link ...

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/pink-s.mp3

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:41 pm

I see a neck and headstock but I can't see the body!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:44 pm

I thought that was just a giant bass. Did you ever play with Eddy Van Halen Jeff?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:23 pm

nope never played with Eddie VH ... just Eddie wannabes ... I am not really a huge Van Halen fan ... that music is not very interesting for a bass player ... all I usually hear is guitar, vocals, drums, and a little bass ... but I really like the look of that stripe design ... it was a little plain before I striped it ...

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:25 pm

Are you going to bring that to the Confluence? That would be cool!

dr_rickenstein · Post by **dr_rickenstein** » Wed May 04, 2005 7:04 am

Ok, I'm back! Sorry for not posting right away when I got my 4004/5 Cii TB but I had to get away for a few days. Anyway, both the Cheyenne TB and the Laredo FG arrived together so you can imagine I was like a little kid at xmas! I'd never played a 4004 before so I'm having lots of fun with them right now. They are very light (they certainly weight less than the 4003FL and the 4001C64S)and the necks do lend themselves for fast and smooth playing. The set up was real nice for both basses so I haven't done a thing to them yet.
As for the low B on the Cheyenne, it is indeed a lot more quiet than the rest of the strings. I have to hit it quite harder or to actually bend it downwards towards the pickup to get a good sound out of it. I will try rising the pick up as high as possible according to what Jeff Rath said above to see if the low B can sound the same volume as the rest of the strings. That was the only dissapointment as it kinda defeats the idea of a 5 stringer! Hopefully I will be able to solve this.
Well, here are some pics of the basses: