4003S/5

weemac · Post by **weemac** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:55 am

Iv'e got a chance at getting a NOS Jetglow 4003S/5
I have not played it yet, but just want to get an opinion on the tone of these things (mainly the B string) It has a Highgain in the bridge and the toaster in the neck. (dont know if it is a scatterwound or a hotwind)
any 4003S/5 owners to share their views?

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 1:56 am

I had one and found it to sound very much like a MIA Fender Precision. It's not your regular RIC 4001 sounding bass IMO.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:26 am

I have 2 4003s5 basses ... I currently own like 13 basses ... and have sold 5 or so in the last couple of years and I play out about once a week. I have been playing since '68 ... I have played most styles ... I use my thumb, fingers, picks ... I can do the McCartney style, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, John Entwhistle, etc...

Sooo with all of the experience ... I must say my 4003s5 basses are hands down the best basses I own better than jazz basses, p-basses, 4004's, 2030's, 4001's, and better than the new 35 inch scale emg active basses ... better than warwicks.

My 1989 is a little brighter ... the bridge pickup is voiced not as thick as the newer 4003s5 basses. My 1990 is voiced a little deeper ... the 1990 is an excellent finger playing bass ... I do the Geddy / Entwhistle hammer on typwritter attack method ... awesome sound ... the 1989 is a really good pick playing bass ... on both of these basses I removed the mute pad and put a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pound jazz neck pickup in its place. I wire it in with the neck pickup volume control ... I run the neck vol a 7 the neck tone at 6 the bridge vol at 10 and vary the bridge to from 5 to 10 ... also the 1989 I put a 6 pole guitar high gain in the neck slot in place of the toaster to give it a little more bottom. Also the body on the 1990 is a little bigger and heavier than the 1989 ... the necks on both are awesome ... and the frets are in good shape as well ...

Also the bridge design of the 4003s5 allows easier hand muting then a regular 4001/4003 bass.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:47 am

I have an '02, and have been having a challenge getting it to settle into a mix when recording DI, where that hasn't been an issue with my other Rics. I detune, so the B with stock strings is a bit on the flappy side, and not as well defined as my active basses. The tone is very round, without a lot of midrange punch. It is quite comfortable to play, but does have narrow string spacing for a five, which I prefer.

As you can see from Jeff's pic, there are advantages and disadvantage to the way they handled the bridge, which is a bit of a cobble job. Yes, muting is easier, but it would have been better to run the stigs straight back, rather than angling them, but that would have meant a new die for the bridge assembly.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:48 am

You have to back off the neck pickup on the 4003s5 to get a good tone ... otherwise there will be too much low end on the low B ... the bridge pickup gives you a lot of mid punch ...

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:18 am

I use only the bridge pickup (neck is pretty much mud in my mixes), and it does not have the same punch or tone that any of my other Rics do. Maybe it's just "special," like its factory finish.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:41 am

maybe something is wrong ... because both of my 4003s5 basses have thunderous bridge pickups with lots of attack and they have that unmistakeable Rickenbacker sound ...

Maybe you have a wiring problem or something ...

Now remember a 4003 is thicker sounding than a 4001 ... so what other rics are you comparing the tone to?

Jeff are you anywhere near Michigan? If you are you can come by and play my 4003s5 basses and compare them to yours ...

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 1:48 pm

While I wouldn't say it doesn't sound like a Ric, it definitly has its own tonal range, and is not nearly as present or honky as my other Rics, including a '74 4001 (modded with a switchable cap for the 4003 low end), a CS, the '98 4003 I traded away or my 4003S/8.

I'm WAY far away from Michigan, or I'd welcome the opportunity to visit the halls of Rath.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 3:07 pm

My 1990 4003s5 is thicker sounding ... first the body has a little more mass then the bridge pickup has more windings that makes it thicker sounding ... but it still has a lot of treble bite ... but I also put a jazz bass pickup where the mute was ... this adds a little bite as well ...

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 8:00 pm

Hey Jeff...Wouldn't it be great if someone would tool up to make 4003/5 bridges out of chrome plated,solid brass!...Just a thought...he he..

weemac · Post by **weemac** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 12:02 am

Thanks guys!
The only mod I might do to this thing is remove the mute (which I use only on my 64 4001s)and fit a bartolini 6xv pickup (designed to go in the mute position) and wire it in stereo so the regular pickups go into one amp and the mute goes into a bright amp via a volume pedal. I had this setup on my 92 4003 (which I will trade in if I do this deal) and it sounded quite interesting
Iv'e become a firm believer in not doing unreverseable mods to guitars and so I dont want to tinker too much.
I figured the 4003s/5 would be kind of dark sounding, that doesnt worry me so long as the string to string ballance is good.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 4:59 am

I wouldn't worry Eden, as long as ou're not one of the wide string spacing fans, you should be quite happy with the bass.

weemac · Post by **weemac** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 12:24 am

Well.... I have loads of different guitars, I'm kind of use to adjusting to suit different types.
However I do have a Hohner B2V (Offical Steinberger Copy) And it has narrow string spacing,it plays great.
I must say my only concern with any new Ric is if the neck is straight, I hate to say it but there is a scarey amount of recent rics in the land of Oz that have dud necks.
So if the neck checks out and they give me a good trade for my 92 4003 I'll go for it!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:43 am

This is just my opinion based on an observation, but I don't think the necks are bad, just that they seem to be in a hurry to ship them out, and don't wait until the neck is settled before shipping them, then they sit in stores and just get worse (if that is what you are talking about). I bought one a few years ago that had been sitting for a while and there was a big bow in the neck and it came out after adjusting the neck a few times.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 1:48 pm

My 4003s5 sat in a basement unadjusted and unplayed ... until I got it off of ebay ... it has just about the best neck that I have ever played on any bass ... in fact I have never played a ric with a bad neck ... although I played one in Mars Music that had really high action ... but a couple of adjustments and it would be fine ...