My '09 4004L5 MID

[aceonbass]

After I sold my '02 4004L5 MID 5-string conversion, I needed another RIC 5-string to replace it. I bought a brand new '09 4004L MID from Pick Of the Ricks, played it for a week, and then broke it down to be converted to a 5-string. I much prefer the new two piece necks due to their strength, but was concerned about flexing where the new pickup routes are on these. The neck angle is just slightly shallower now, but probably no more so than it was as a 4-string. 4004's have a wider neck taper, so they're very well suited for 5-string use. In fact, I don't care for them that much as 4-strings due to the extra width at the heal. I could explain the whole process I chose this time around, but a picture's worth a thousand words, or maybe about 250 considering my limited photography skills. One thing I will mention is why I chose to put the extra tuner on the bottom ala the Rath method of 4-2-5ing. I'm no longer in California, so I don't have easy access to my very talented luthier and guitar refinisher, so cost was a consideration. After taking measurements, I found that if I offset each tuner hole outward 2mm, I'd be able to mount all three on the bottom sticking straight out without canting the outer ones outward to avoid tuner button interference. The dress washer on the Schaller M4 tuner covers the work. I also drilled the middle tuner hole between the other two the same distance from the edge of the headstock as the outer two. This looks better than having them in a straight line. Since a lot of basses have been slanting the tuners backward at an angle for ergonomics for some time, I found that it would actually increase the tuner head to tuner head distance, making it even easier to turn one without having my fingers hit another tuner. I haven't wired it up yet, but it will be Volume-Volume with push-pull coil taps for each HB1. String pitch at the bridge is 15mm, and is very comfortable to play finger style. Anyway, here it is......

[aceonbass]

More.....

[aceonbass]

Still more......

[s4001]

I'm very curious to hear that pickup combination.

[aceonbass]

So am I

[ram]

Damn Dane that is wild looking! I really like it, nice job! I put an HB1 in the neck position on my '74 4001 and love the sound. Would love to hear this bass when you get it all together and wired and all.... sound clips maybe? Where did you move to? Or is this a witness protection type thing?

[cassius987]

So the bridge pickup is raised/lowered by twist knobs? Cool beans...

Lovin' that muteless bridge (really looks lovely) and yes, I do think you improved on the original 4-2-5 method with the final tuner layout.

Great work Dane! I may have to make a stop in Lenexa some time when I'm driving back to Springfield.

Oh and I definitely want some sound clips...

[jps]

I like what you did with the tailpiece, a lá the Forrest White prototype.

[johnallg]

Very nice, Dane - a lot of thought and mods. I take it the bridge pup is a higain?

[rickenbrother]

Very cool, Dane,congrats and enjoy it. Just surprised that you didn't redo the headstock like your last 4004L/5.
Looking forward to hearing this one, hopefully soon.

[aceonbass]

The bridge pickup is the stock HB1 mounted to a 4003 bridge pickup chassis. There's no way I'd be able to get even string response out of any hi-gain with the strings this far apart. Notice the pickup ring opening on the neck pickup. I widened the upening on both bezels to expose the top to the wider spaced strings and re-plated them. I didn't do the headstock the same as my last one due to the extra shipping cost and down time. I also wanted to be able to do a whole conversion in-house that I could offer to my customers without subletting anything (except plating) to save on costs. The tailpiece/bridge was the most expensive part due to the re-plating and cost of the bridge I got from Jeff Rath. There' really isn't a bridge out there that will work with the stock pickups and not push the strings too close to the esge of the fretboard, which is part of the reason I chose a modded a stock 4003 tailpiece with custom offset saddles. In the future I will probably use a modified Schaller 496 5-string bridge. The stock 496 bridge's spacing is 3 mm too wide. It's very easy to palm mute with this tailpiece and the bridge adjusts from the front with stainless Allen screws. Of course I added the two additional screws at the rear of the tailpiece to keep it from lifting and provide a more solid contact with the body. I also will probably use different tuners. The stock Schaller M4's have a weak 12:1 ratio. I don't know why RIC doesn't use the Schaller M2000 which looks about the same and has a 20:1 ratio. I will probably use Gotoh's which also have a 20:1 ratio and are less expensive. I was able to use the stock nut after filling the slots with a special Epoxy I use, and re-filing them. Instead of spacing the strings equally from center-to-center at the nut, I made the spacing between each string equal (about 7-8mm). The makes it a lot easier to go for the B and E strings without missing them since they're further apart now.

[jps]

Check out Hipshot Ultralite tuners, a bit more pricy than the Gotohs but they have a 27:1 ratio (IIRC) and feel really nice, not cheesy (to me, YMMV) like the Gotohs.

[cassius987]

Not that I would really know anything about this, but I have to wonder if gear ratio is all that it is cracked up to be. I have no experience with 12:1 tuners but I can compare the tuners RIC ships out on 4003s versus the Hipshot aftermarket replacement, which has something like seven more "teeth" on each of the gears. My 4001FL came from eBay with these installed. Honestly, neither tuner really seems to outdo the other in terms of keeping the pitch in place, although my 4003FL (equipped with the stock Schallers) stays in tune for nearly two weeks sometimes. All that said though, I know Dane knows what he is doing, I'm just not sure I buy into the gear ratio argument that more is better.

[longboard_ric]

Hi Dane, that's a fine looking and unique bass you have there.

I hope it's everything you wanted. Enjoy!!!!

[paul_yan]

Excellent work, Dane!