Cap mod... again

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:01 am

"Is this meant to subtly suggest that a box of .0047's made their way to Rickland?"

They probably had a pallet of them left over!

Andy,

Nice collection you have there!

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:13 pm

It's funny, but I can easily get Geddy's sound on my 4003 (obviously no cap) by playing both pickups at once, dropping the neck pickup TONE down a bit so that it's less mid-y and growly, and then playing right over or next to the neck pickup. If you add really light overdrive with a pedal, it's even better. I've found so many different, awesome combinations with the pickup toggle and the tone and volume knobs. Rolling off the treble tone a bit makes a completely different sound from rolling off the treble volume the same amount, but both sound quite good. Same if you roll off the neck pickup a bit, or turn down the tone halfway. And, with DR Hi-Beams no less, if I play right up between the neck pickup and the neck with only the neck pickup and pull really hard, it sounds very much like an upright, albeit with lots of sustain. It's fun to experiment!

wints · Post by **wints** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:47 pm

Kevin,

Thanks...I had to go back and look what we were talking about!

ric620 · Post by **ric620** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:49 pm

Ok, so I'm thinking about putting a switchable cap mod into one of my 4003s.

I need to know the spec for the cap, and where it goes in the wiring.

TIA,

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 2:15 pm

.0047 and get one that sounds good as audio passes through it. It goes between the pickup selector switch and the wiper of the treble volume control (middle lug), replacing the wire that is there at the moment.

ric620 · Post by **ric620** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 2:55 pm

Not being an electronics head (I know how to do simple stuff), do you have a suggestion for exactly the capacitor I'm looking for?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:21 pm

www.rickenbacker.com/cart.asp?viewitem=07447&category=viewitem

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:22 pm

Can't get any more exact than that!

headbanger · Post by **headbanger** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:59 pm

I've done the cap mod to my 72 FL. It brought out all the tone. It turned a weak sounding pickup into a true tone monster. The 1999 I recently sold had a 71 harness without the cap & with highgains in it, when the buyer got it he couldn't stop raving about the sound (he also has a 68).
You see so many old Rick basses on ebay with changed bridge pickups because they thought it was the pickup that was at fault.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:17 pm

13 years ago I changed 2 bridge pickups (one I bought new from Rickenbacker, the other came off another early 70's 4001) because I thought it was the pickup. Then I sold that bass.

Is RIC bringing back the capacitor? I don't think so. My guess is that they will have a new wiring for the 4003, with vol/vol/tone/treble bleed pots, this time with the volume knobs on top

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:04 am

Interesting comment by JH dont you think??

ric620 · Post by **ric620** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:31 am

Thanks for the tip on where to get the cap. I just ordered a couple (along with a few miscellaneous things I needed).