Recommendations for 4003 project

[ianmatth]

I think the bass looks much better now, I took off the clear bridge pickup cover piece (increases playability as well because I can use the bridge pickup as a thumb rest now) and put on a real Rickenbacker TRC. The lettering on the TRC is even silver so it matches the hardware, wonder how much the bass I took it off of went down in value now.

[jps]

The lettering on the TRC is even silver so it matches the hardware, wonder how much the bass I took it off of went down in value now.

It's not worth anything now so please send it to Labwork and I will glad dispose of it for you to prevent you you from any further embarrassment.

[rickaddict]

Good job resurrecting a Rick carcass, Ian. And good job modding it to get what you want with the electronics too. If you're gonna mod, it's good that you found a carcass to mod.

And about the TRC...The RIC one looks much nicer IMO. By the time you add up all the time spent talking about, writing about, thinking about, arguing about, and explaining the homemade TRC (time is money), not to mention the money spent on the sticker, and the money spent to get your luthier to make the TRC, I think you're better off with a RIC TRC.

Close to $200 would be about what a plexi gold TRC would sell for. A black or white molded TRC should sell for closer to $100. Is that a lot for a little scrap of plastic? Yes, but it's like money in the bank. Your bass will be that much more valuable when you go to sell it.

So lets see here: $100 minus [time spent talking about, writing about, thinking about, arguing about, and explaining the homemade TRC (time is money)] minus [money spent on the sticker, and the money spent to get your luthier to make the TRC] = about as much as a round of beers at your local pub with your friends.

Since the round of beers would be quickly consumed and forgotten, and the TRC would add to the visual impact and resale value of your Rickenbacker bass for years to come, I vote for the genuine TRC.

[rickaddict]

And BTW, I really like the look of a JG Rick bass headstock with a silver-lettered TRC!

http://rickresource.com/register/viewit ... ine%3Dtrue

[rickenbrother]

And BTW, I really like the look of a JG Rick bass headstock with a silver-lettered TRC!

Me too!!
Although not truly Jetglo, this has a similar look.

[ram]

And BTW, I really like the look of a JG Rick bass headstock with a silver-lettered TRC!

Me too!!
Although not truly Jetglo, this has a similar look.

Yeah I like the effect as well....

[rickenbrother]

I wanna play your 4004L/8 someday, Tom!

[ianmatth]

When I picked up my 4004L 4-2-5 the other night I was talking to my luthier about the bridge pickup that he put in the 4003. He asked me what I bought it as, and I told him the eBay auction said it was a modern neck pickup, but it was definitely a bridge pickup and didn't seem to be modern. He actually had to mess with the wiring quite a bit to get it working properly when he installed it and he said based on the wire that was used it was definitely late 60s early 70s, and looking at the pickup thread it seemingly is one of the original high gain pickups Rickenbacker was using from 68-72, as it looks like the one pictured and it measured at 7.6k. As I think I said before, it's definitely louder than the toaster. It may be due to being closer to the strings, but I think there's more to it than that. One issue that I seem to be having after I removed the clear bridge pickup cover, is that when I use the bridge pickup as a thumb rest, if I play too hard the string hits the pole piece and creates a sharp sound. I guess it's just a matter of adjusting my technique. People always note that Chris Squire has a certain technique so he won't hit the strings against the horseshoe pickup. I just play a lot of fast/heavy music (Metallica, Iron Maiden) that lends itself to being played hard.

[johnallg]

Ian, your getting the "blat" when you dig in and the statement the bridge is louder than the neck even though lower in impedance speaks to the bridge being a lot closer to the strings. I'll bet the bass sounds awesome.

[ianmatth]

If I tap the strings on the poles it gives that sound, so that's exactly what it is. I don't really want to raise the action any higher, so one fix that might even out the pickup volumes a little as well would be to lower the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup is actually a little higher in impedance, as the toaster measured 7.34k. My luthier also said something about it being louder, but I don't know if he tested the pickups outside of the bass in any scientific way. I definitely feel having the toaster and the high gain with separate volume controls gives a lot of tonal options for balancing the pickups, and I'm still messing around with the 4-band Audere to see what sounds I can get. Joshua said when he had the Audere in his double toaster 4003 he liked to set it at around 20% high mid, 15% low mid, 5% bass boost, 5-10% treble cut.

[johnallg]

Exactly, the string is hitting the pole. Rereading my post I did not make that clear - posted late after a week of working till 2-3am. Lower the bridge pickup enough so this doesn't happen, especially since you say the bridge pickup is higher impedance (higains are around 11.6k to 12k), that will balance the two more.

Sounds like you have a handle on it.

[8mileshigher]

Although not truly Jetglo, this has a similar look.

Joey -- I'm curious about your post from last week, when you say "not exactly JetGlo" are you referring to the Black paint finish on the Bass or to the shading of the Black TRC ??

If you are referring to the Black finish, what shade of Black is it, if not JetGlo ?

[ianmatth]

Maybe it means he painted it black, but since it didn't come like that from Rickenbacker, it's not technically Jetglo. I have that going on with my 4004L 4-2-5: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=392561

[ram]

I wanna play your 4004L/8 someday, Tom!

Dude Joey, I would love for you to get a shot on it!! I really like that thing I think you would as well!

[ianmatth]

I just posted about how I'm unhappy with my 4004L (looking to sell, check out that thread), but I wanted to let everyone know I am seriously pleased with my 4003. It has the real Rickenbacker TRC on there now (lifted from the 4004L), so it looks awesome, but what really makes it awesome is the sound. I finally found the tone I was looking for with the Audere Classic 4-band preamp, funny thing is I found it by looking for a slap tone. I used headphones to really get the true tone without interference from my Ampeg SVT4-PRO with too many tonal options. Anyway, I set low and high at 100%, low-mid at 0, and cut the high-mid by 50%. I ended up with the ultimate "buttery" vintage tone (probably a rosewood board with low-impedance hand-wound pickup thing as it is similar to a 60/70s J-Bass or 50s P-Bass) that seems to be the Paul McCartney/Chris Squire tone that everyone is trying to get. It is seriously a rich old-school 4001 Ric sound, maybe even better than if you had a true low-impedance horseshoe magnet like Chris Squire does. In addition to the Audre Classic, I definitely have to give credit to the legit vintage 7.6k high-gain bridge pickup, as I have that on full and am using it as my finger rest. I swear it even does early 60s Beatles songs McCartney was using the Hofner for and sounds better to me. Now that I found this setting, this is easily my favorite bass. I don't think I even need another Ric. The only problem is that while I can get this tone from the headphones, I am still losing it a little from the amp. I was able to get most of it back by using the 10-band EQ on my Ampeg, but I still can't quite get that pure tone from the bass that I get through my headphones.

On another note, I actually have found another awesome sound for the bass - playing Iron Maiden songs in particular - where I can play a heavy finger style and the striking of the strings against the bridge pickup actually works with what I'm playing. IMO, that 7.6k high-gain is the best Ric pickup EVER, it really does everything I'd ever want a Ric to do, and sounds awesome with the toaster.