Replaced my 4003's neck high gain with a toaster...

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 1:01 pm

Great pic!

Dang, I never get sick of looking at Ric basses!

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 1:06 pm

Paul, when are we going to see a 21-fret 4001 right next to 'Annie'? Hopefully very soon.
One thing I'd dearly like to know (but maybe I should open a new thread for us to discuss it) is whether Fireglo and Mapleglo were the only finishes the 21-fret 4001s came in or not. Can anyone shed some light on this?

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 12:24 am

Peter,
Thank you for your help and nice words!

Sergio,
Yes, hopefully.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 2:59 am

Let's have another look at Paul's toaster.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun May 11, 2003 5:26 am

Paul: You got me thinking about your modification.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun May 11, 2003 6:49 am

The toaster looks cool with the black pickguard of your silver '88 4003, Peter.
I see that the original neck pickup cover is fitted to the treble pickup and a black set like that is attractive.

How do you like the sound of the toaster on your bass?

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun May 11, 2003 6:55 am

Here's Dan Bradfield's '79 4001 WTH with the same mod.
Yes, that's chrome plated pickguard on Dan's baby.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun May 11, 2003 7:25 am

Paul: The sound of the toaster is terrific. It allows for a much greater range of tones which is the reason for my modification. A much more vintage sound from a 4003 and well worth the effort. I have been wanting to try this for some time. Dan Bradfield's 4001 is great looking.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun May 11, 2003 7:37 am

A much greater range of tones, indeed. Not to mention the good look.
Your Silver 4003's picture gave me a good idea of how the black treble pickup assembly of my Shadow will look like when a black neck cover is fitted. Better start looking for one...

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun May 11, 2003 11:56 am

Hmmm... Talk about a Rickenbacker beauty pageant. Paul's, Peter's and Dan's Ricks are absolutely gorgeous. Great pics, too.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun May 11, 2003 2:26 pm

Sergio: Thanks. Here is one additional look at my 4003.

herbsman · Post by **herbsman** » Wed May 14, 2003 9:31 am

Hello.. who's Dan Bradfield ? and any idea where you can get the chrome pickguards from..I have been looking for ages and can't find any except in a chromed plastic... I hate plastic and was very upset to find that the bridge pickup cover was made of plastic.. I have banned plastic from Tinabell ..my bass and she loves me for it more.. I would gladly have paid a little more to have a metal pickup cover on my bass when I bought it...

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Wed May 14, 2003 10:22 am

Hi Antony,
Dan is one of our RIC bass loving brothers here.
He told me it was "mirror-plated pickguard".
I think it's a well made chrome-plated plastic pickguard, a little like the 4001/4003 basses' treble pickup cover.
You'll have to wait for him to show up and reveal the details.

About the early (pre-'70?)all-metal handrests, here's Mr. Hall's posting here in the "Checkered Fretless" thread:

John Hall (Johnhall)
Senior Member
Username: Johnhall
Post Number: 160
Registered: 01-2003
Posted From: 206.111.230.146
Posted on Wednesday, May 07, 2003 - 07:25 pm:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The very earliest covers were metal and I bet it's more like only 0.1% of units produced were delivered with metal covers. The plastic cover, which is first copper plated and then nickel-chrome plated, has the advantage of not interfering with the magnetic field while at the same time shielding out electrostatic noise as you might get from flourescent lights or computer monitors. However, it's not as good as steel for shielding electromagnetic noise such as you might get from a amp transformer in proximity to the pickup.
-------------------------------------------------

dano · Post by **dano** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:42 pm

Hello,

Nice Job Peter! I originally planned to dress my white 4001 in black also. I found the mirror plated pickguard at www.basspartsresource.com and wanted to accent the rest of the chrome on the bass. The picture really doesn't do it justice. This is not plastic. It is acrillic(Mylar I think) and is very durable but the holes did not line up so I had to drill (eeeekkkk). Not a problem for me because I have all the original parts and I will NEVER sell this bass! So you might want to take that into concideration if you plan on buying one. It did cover everything and looks great.
Interesting thread Paul. I always thought the horseshoe pickup originally started out as metal and then came the very short lived metal handrest followed by the "plastic" (sorry Mr. Hall I hate using that term). But I had read somewhere recently that when the reissue horseshoe came out it started out as metal (mid or late eighties I think). If this theory is true, 0.1% is all that was produced.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Wed May 14, 2003 1:03 pm

All horseshoe pickups are metal, whether vintage or reissue. Horseshoe pickups and ones with handrests are different animals.

Uh, when did acrylic and mylar stop being plastics?