Dark Day in the Desert

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:10 pm

Heh heh! nothing left here to do except a couple black powder coated pickup mounts for the 4003...and that's finally going to happen. Can't wait to drag this pair out to the Johnny Cash cover band gigs. Sorry....just giddy with excitement and had to show off the newly paired siblings.

cjj · Post by **cjj** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:22 pm

Nice!

paologregorio · Post by **paologregorio** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:26 pm

That is a strikinly attractive pair of basses!

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:30 pm

I have to thank Mr. Gilbert for his work on the 4004L. He does a spectacular sounding conversion to 5 strings. I have honestly never owned a bass with more punch in the forehead than that one.

windchimp · Post by **windchimp** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:40 pm

Lookin' good!

qwezirider wrote:I have to thank Mr. Gilbert for his work on the 4004L. He does a spectacular sounding conversion to 5 strings. I have honestly never owned a bass with more punch in the forehead than that one.

All blacked out...Stealth Punch!

cjj · Post by **cjj** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:17 pm

qwezirider wrote:I have to thank Mr. Gilbert for his work on the 4004L. He does a spectacular sounding conversion to 5 strings. I have honestly never owned a bass with more punch in the forehead than that one.

I keep thinking I want to do a 5 string conversion on my 4004Cjj, I like the looks of that one better than the "extra" tuner on the treble side. Does the tuner way out there in the end of the headstock have any problems? Still, I'm thinking to really do it right I'd need to replace the headstock wing, but that's MAJOR surgery...

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:54 pm

I don't see any structural problems under the paint at all. And I've been over this bass with a "fine tooth comb" (full of Zymol, of course

). I could go either way with the looks of the extra key location. I got used to the extra one on the treble side simply from owning a Rath done bass and my Monte that I did myself. And while I'm not completely there with where Mark places the key, it does look nice from a player's perspective seeing it out there on the bass side. Ultimately, I do like the idea of a replacement wing and bringing the shoulder of the head back about an inch or so, as Dane once showed me.

But the sound one this one....man, I don't want to touch a thing and jinx it.

cjj · Post by **cjj** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:25 am

Sorry to kind of hijack the thread towards 5 strings, but...
How do you find the spacing on the 5 string? I haven't really messed with too many 5ers, and no Rick 5's. It looks fairly tight up near the headstock, but probably OK. I suppose it's mostly just getting used to the different spacing...

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:05 am

Not hijacked at all....that's what I posted about, after all.

You're correct, it's all a matter of getting used to it. I bought my first Rathed 5er somewhere about 2.5 years ago. It felt odd for a while just because I had been using a Hearfield 5er since 1991. And that one's almost wide enough to have 6 on it as is. But I got used to it fairly quickly just by using it a lot. Then I swapped it back to CharlyG for his Monte 4004 and promptly made that one a 5er. So to me it's nothing at all on the spacing any more. Plenty of room in and around the strings to do what you like, especially on a 4004 compared to a 4003.

One of the niceties about a 5er is that you might find yourself not playing much around the nut anyhow. When you have that extra real estate a fourth below the E string, you might find a lot of work easier to do above the fifth fret, using the B string for much more than just rumbly low notes. So that would give you a little more space to work as opposed to the string closeness near the nut.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:29 pm

Very nice, Bruce! I especially love that 5 string Laredo!

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:54 am

Excellent photo, Bruce.

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:48 pm

Thank you, guys! Gotta love Zymol.

weemac · Post by **weemac** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:32 am

qwezirider wrote:One of the niceties about a 5er is that you might find yourself not playing much around the nut anyhow. When you have that extra real estate a fourth below the E string, you might find a lot of work easier to do above the fifth fret, using the B string for much more than just rumbly low notes. So that would give you a little more space to work as opposed to the string closeness near the nut.

Never really thought of that... you could really get more out of your "E flat" and "D" tunes!
When I used to play 5 string basses I simply tuned the "B" to an "A" I just found that it worked for me. If I went for a fiver now it would be a "C" on top..

BTY You sure know how to use a camera Bruce!

Eden.

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