Converting a 4 string into an 8 string

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:56 pm

Hang on guys. My 4003S/8 CS project should be back from my luthiers by tomorrow night. I don't care what anyone says about not lengthening the headstock. If you don't want some of the strings binding on other string posts on their way to the nut, you'll need to lengthen it. Mine is being stretched by about 1 1/2" and will be a stylized version of the "potato headstock" found on Squire's old 4008. I'll let numerous pics tell the modifications when I post them. Then it'll be of to Pat Wilkins for a refin in SquireGlo.

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:13 pm

Dane, I for one will be interested in how well this works. Please post pictures and sound samples. Are you widening the neck? I wonder if a 5 string could be converted into an 8?

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:56 pm

The necks on RIC's 4003's and 4003s/8's were the same so there'll be no need for widening it. Therefore I would imagine that a 4003s/5 could be converted also but those are rare enough that I'd just start with a 4003. I would think that a 4004cii5 would be a good candidate for 10-string conversion due to it's wider neck.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 3:40 pm

the 4004cii5 would make a good 5-2-6 project ... or 10 string project ... but they are even more rare than a 4002 ...

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 4:22 pm

Oooooh! I'd love to see a 5-2-6 . . . I always wondered what a standard 6-string (BEADGC) Ric would look like . . .

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 4:27 pm

a little like this ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/4005.htm

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 4:43 pm

Here's a few sound samples of my 4003S/8:

8 Echo Dr. (excerpt)
basking in the jetglo
blizzard of oxbow (excerpt)

And here's the headstock:

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:53 pm

looks good!

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:17 pm

Hey Jared, does yours have silver lettering?

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:54 pm

cheapskate painted it gold

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 12:41 am

Harry,

nice recordings. I love the drums on track 1 + 2, great sound and great playing. This of course applies to the bass, too.

Gruesse, Pablo

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:05 pm

Thanks Pablo - my good friend Greg DeGuglielmo played the drums on those - he is an incredibly musical drummer. Also, the drums were recorded to 1/2" tape, which gives them a nice warm sound.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:25 am

Okay, the "Echo Dr." or whatever it is, has to be one of the coolest things I've ever heard. Bass is perfect, drums are perfect, mix is perfect . . . is that just a demo, or is that the final version of it? It's so cool!

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:45 pm

Bobcat - thanks so much for the overwhelmingly kind comment. This is the second part - there's a first part as well. I'm going to submit the whole thing for the Rickenbacker CD thing.

Of course, I hear things that I would love to have done better. I was really tired and kind of depressed when we recorded it, plus we had limited time. But overall I like the way it came out.

My whole point in posting these was to show some of the things an 8-string bass can do. You can approach it like a regular bass or let it take you into different areas where you might not go with a 4-string...

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:46 pm

Harry, I appreciate you posting these. The mix again was just perfect to me, everything up front, balanced, and clear. Your inventiveness is a nice bonus. Rather than just hearing the sounds, we can hear the possibilities. Nice.