Fingerstyle 4004?

[rickenbrother]

Sounds excellent, Scott! I really enjoyed that. A little, "La Villa Strangiato" inspired I'd guess!

[fretless]

dang you are right , there is a connection some how , I would have never suggested that, heck I can't even pronounce that but I love that song ! Thanks man \m/

[woodyng]

loved that,scott! is your bridge pickup position in the more traditional spot for ricks? mine is further south,and solo'd,tends to be a bit brighter sounding....

[guitfiddle]

I usually bring my 4004 to every gig. I put it through a BassBone and boost the highs a bit. I also put my 4003 through it as well, albeit without boosting the highs so much. I can switch back and forth between the two pretty seamlessly thanks to the BassBone. I also generally play fingerstyle but keep a thumb pick on in case I want a sudden burst of plectrum style playing at any time. I'm sure this type of setup and technique isn't for everybody but it seems to work for me.

[fretless]

loved that,scott! is your bridge pickup position in the more traditional spot for ricks? mine is further south,and solo'd,tends to be a bit brighter sounding....

Thanks man ! , nah I don't think so , it's a '08 so pretty sure these went North by then , back up to the fretboard on the neck .

[incubus2432]

Sorry I'm kinda late to the party......

For my LK, generally, I have all p/u's and tone cranked. For strings I use D'Addario Chromes. A big part of getting the best tone from a 4004 (IMO) is to have the p/u's adjusted as close to the strings as possible.....just far enough away that they don't get struck by the strings under aggressive playing. My current amp is a Mesa Boogie 400+ through a Powerhouse 1200 cabinet (4x10+1x15+horn). The eq/tone controls are set relatively flat. For years I went through countless amp/cabinet configurations and came close to my dream tone but since I bought my current setup I can say that I'm 100% tonally content (first my wallet and now my back suffer but it was and is worth it).

On Cii's that I owned I was never able to get a bright enough tone out of 'em. They always had a hint of mud to my ears. My Laredos on the other hand always had a brighter, more lively tone that works well for my needs in a metal band with just a drummer and one guitar player for support. My Laredo is at Paul W's for a proper 5 string conversion so I can't speak specifically on how a Laredo sounds with my current rig but in past experience I found the LK and Laredo to be pretty similar tonally.

[ricaddic]

I play both finger style and use a pick wiyh my 4004Cii, I had it modded VT/VT which I feel made this bass suprior, I always use a pick when playing my 4004 Larado or eithier of my 4003'sI feel the 4003's sound much better when picked and dont use them for fingerstyle, I play me 4001C64 both fingerstyle and picked I have flats on her, and I prefer to use a pick when playing my 4001V63.

[bluewhale]

Thanks for all of your replies. They suggest a bunch of experiments I will try.

rickenbrother - what a solid foundation your playing provides in the video clip. It sounds just right. Thanks for that.

fretless - very nice tune. My own pick sound is similar to yours.

In the original post, I forgot to mention a problem I have playing fingerstyle on a 4004Cii: when I pluck the E string in the normal upward direction, the sound drops out drastically.

There is no volume loss if I use my thumb to pluck down on the E, but that's not how I like to play. I notice that the pickups on a 4004 aren't very wide, and that the E and G are near the edges, but I'd be surprised if that's a factor. I certainly don't hear any dropout in the clips posted above.

Have any others here had a similar experience, and if so, how do you get around it?

[fretless]

Thanks bluewhale! I have not experienced that but have heard of it , I pull on those strings like I'm shooting arrows too The bridge does have adjustable spacing though and perhaps they moved out to the farthest point . The rollers move very easy when changing strings . My bass had a perfect setup on it when it arrived ( Thanks again Music Connection ) and the spacing was right on for me and there are no drop outs sooo perhaps a slight adjustment will cure that for you . Here she is the day I opened the case .

40042.JPG

40044.JPG

[bluewhale]

sooo perhaps a slight adjustment will cure that for you ...

As I look at my bridge, I see that I could easily tighten the spacing and have room to spare. I'll try it.

Nice pics too. Blueburst is my favorite COY.

[fretless]

Thank you bluewhale , mine too lets us know how it goes .

[bluewhale]

I took fretless's suggestion to reduce the string spacing in order to position the E string more directly over the pickups. That made a big improvement. Plays more easily now, too.

I also raised the bridge pickup and lowered the neck pickup. Sounds much better to me.


Thanks,
bluewhale

[fretless]

That's Great news ! Glad to hear things improved