4000 metamorphosis

[gareth]

So here's my 4000 right after I got it. Completely standard.

4000

The sound is good, but the pickup is a little low in output, so on with a RIC horseshoe.

Now it's way too aggressive ! Only one thing for it.....

4001S

Just the addition of a classic toaster, 4003 electrics with a push/pull pot and it's perfect. Got all the bits to change it back too.

[rokkitt]

very very nice........



did you just get it, like this week?


or did you have it for a while


al

[wints]

I'd have thought a one p/u RI HS would have sounded really good, and possibly slightly different with a set neck.

Kinda like a P bass with a different timbre...

[woodyng]

i ,too, was interested in dropping a ri horsey in my 74 4000,although the stock pickup is plenty loud and aggro-sounding....i am afeard to do any routing into the neck joint area to install a 2nd pickup,tho. before i did that,i would probably just sell it and look for a v63/4003s....

[gareth]

Firstly, I didn't do any routing at all on the bass. If that has been the case, I wouldn't have touched it. When I removed the pickguard, it was already routed by the factory. In fact, it had "4001S" written inside the cavity. I believe that this is not uncommon. I've had the bass about three years and made the changes over that time. I used the original bridge pickup to restore a '75 4001 that's being repaired right now, and I thought the RIC horseshoe would be a great replacement. That horseshoe though, was ridiculously hot, and really need some balance to it to get the bass to shine. All I needed to upgrade it was really a toaster, pickguard and some new electrics. All of the parts are new RIC, and I kept all the old parts. It can go back to a 4000 anytime. It's a very cool sounding bass now, so much so, that when I went into the studio last month with that one, my 4001 and the 4004LK, I ended up using it on all the tracks on the album.

[aceonbass]

I would have done the same thing. 4000's just look wierd with the big empty guard. I would have had a 4001 guard made from a tracing of the original though as the late model guard with the hump is kinda off balance looking. Did you have to drill any holes to mount it?

[jps]

Nice job, Gareth! Why did you choose the 1" spacing for the neck PU? You could have had a pickguard made by Pickguardian for it instead of going with the standard modern spacing.

[woodyng]

gar-is your 4000 a set-neck or neck through?

[teeder]

Nice one, Gareth!
I have the same project going on now!

[gareth]

Nice job, Gareth! Why did you choose the 1" spacing for the neck PU? You could have had a pickguard made by Pickguardian for it instead of going with the standard modern spacing.

Basically, I had a spare pickguard for a 4001 with that spacing lying around, so I just used that one, as it seemed to fit into the routing that was already present. I used new 4003 electrics because I figured that as all the pickups were modern RIC, I wouldn't match them with older 4001 wiring. The new push/pull pot is very effective. There's a huge difference in sound between it being in and out.

[gareth]

gar-is your 4000 a set-neck or neck through?

Set neck. The whole bass is much lighter than both of my 4001's.

[woodyng]

nothing should surprise me when it comes to these instruments,but yet i am surprised there was already a routing there,at least for the set-neck model....i have a 74 model/setneck, and there is no routing.....must have been a "friday" bass.... ......anyhoo,nice one!

[gareth]

nothing should surprise me when it comes to these instruments,but yet i am surprised there was already a routing there,at least for the set-neck model....i have a 74 model/setneck, and there is no routing.....must have been a "friday" bass.... ......anyhoo,nice one!

Apparently, the earlier ones didn't have the routing. My 4000 is an '83 model, so it's one of the last ones. A lot, if not all, of the later ones had the routing done at the factory. Mine even has "4001S" written inside the routing cavity. I expect that it was just easier for RIC to tool up to make one sort of body for the 4000 and 4001S models. Paul W had a '74 4000 at his place when mine was there, and it was unrouted if memory serves. Also, the heel of the neck and the join at the body were quite different. I suspect that the 4000 morphed slowly over the years until it was essentially a single pickup 4001 by the time it was discontinued.

[teeder]

Mine is routed.


Does anyone know why this one is marked "4000-C"?

[sloop_john_b]

Does anyone know why this one is marked "4000-C"?

Ah, you must have a C series prototype.