I'm baaaaaack

[ricosound]

I've been Rick-less for about a year (sounds dirty) thought I'd give one of these a try. Have no experience with the 4004. Couple of questions: Anybody ever put Toaster covers on HB-1s (cosmetic)? How about a Hipshot bridge on a 4004 for a more Rick-like look?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

[winston]

Wes,

I put toaster covers on HB-1's that were installed on my both my 350 (bridge position) and my 330 (both pickups). You need to do just a little sanding of the corners of the HB-1 to make them fit perfectly.

Welcome back btw. No need for anyone to stay away (or not join the RRF) because you don't own a Rickenbacker. Holding them in high regard is good enough for us.

[ricosound]

Wes,

I put toaster covers on HB-1's that were installed on my both my 350 (bridge position) and my 330 (both pickups). You need to do just a little sanding of the corners of the HB-1 to make them fit perfectly.

Welcome back btw. No need for anyone to stay away (or not join the RRF) because you don't own a Rickenbacker. Holding them in high regard is good enough for us.

...sorry, I never left the forum and continued posting, I just felt like a cheater after I sold my 4001.

So my next question does anyone have or no where to get two toaster covers?

[winston]

I bought my toaster covers from the RIC boutique.

[rickenbrother]

Welcome back btw. No need for anyone to stay away (or not join the RRF) because you don't own a Rickenbacker. Holding them in high regard is good enough for us.

+1 You just have to love Ricks!
If RIC made gold toaster covers, I'd put them on a CheyenneII.

[cjj]

Hmm... gold plating isn't all that expensive...

[ricosound]

I bought my toaster covers from the RIC boutique.

Checked RIC don't see them listed seperately.

[winston]

Call them Wes. I bought mine through Kenny.

[jps]

How about a Hipshot bridge on a 4004 for a more Rick-like look?

If you want a Hipshot bridge get their A style as it is a direct drop in for the former ABM bridge; if you get a newer one with the Schaller bridge you will need to drill holes, but they would be covered by the original bridge if you swap back. Using the other Rick style bridge there will be new holes needed that can not be covered up by the original bridge.

[cassius987]

Also, the Rickenbacker-style replacement bridge by Hipshot is currently not capable of as low of action as it is with other bridges, for instance the stock Rickenbacker bridge and probably the Hipshot A-style bridge. Just guessing about the A style but I know the other comparison from experience.

[jps]

When I had the A style bridge on my former Cii it was able to go lower than the ABM bridge, the main reason I put it on in the first place.

[aceonbass]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you put a toaster cover on an HB1, it won't fit all the way down on top of the pickup, leaving a gap between the bottom of the cover and the flange around the pickup. Tightening the screws here will bend the edges. Also, why use a Hipshot A bridge on a 4004 when the much less expensive Schaller 463 bridge will work. It's what RIC uses on 4004's now anyway. If it sits too tall for you (not a problem on my new 4004) then you can take out the spacer plate it sits on top of. The top of the Schaller is also curved to match the curvature of the fingerboard. The Hipshot 4000 series replacement bridge saddles cannot be adjusted wide enough to cover the wider string taper of a 4004 by the way.

[ricosound]

So I got the Larado a week ago and have had some time with it. First thing is boy the neck is wide. I have a Pbass and the Rick fretboard seems even wider for similar string spacing. The QC on this one seems a bit wonky. Either the bridge or the treble pickup is off center slightly such that the strings are to one side of the saddles to get them in the pickup appeture. Maybe this is why they went to the Schaller adjustable bridge to makeup for machineing tolerances All a part of the hand-built charm I guess.

I'm sure the Schaller tuners are light and high quality but they look funny from the back of the big ol' headstock. This one has a blend pot in place of the toggle or I'm sure I'd be whineing. I am suprised how thin the body is and it is lighter than expected too. I love the depth of the Midnight blue but without the binding and pickguard it looks more purple that in pictures. I'm sure a Fireglo or Blueburst would be stunning on these.

Now lest you think I'm unhappy, the good. The HB1's on this thing are amazing for passive pickups. I don't have anything else like it. I know people don't think they are Rick sounding enough. Some say darker but I would say fuller accross the spectrum and probably less clanky. For them I say play a 4001 then. This is the first bass I have owned where the true meaning of sustain fits. I have had 4001's and other neckthrough basses, but this thing just rings and rings. The body and neck are very resonant in my hand. Kind of like the bass equivelant of a good Les Paul guitar. I'm so used to playing bolt neck Fenders and using the natural note decay, I will have to learn to play this thing. I'm sure with a pick and palm muting these things are killer. I'm not one of these guys that can pick a sound apart and hear nuiances, but I do hear a lot of complex character in the sound. I also find the controls to be very lively. A normal passive tone control just makes an instrument deader and more muffled to me. Active controls only boost or cut a paricular frequncy band. With this one I can actually dial in different reponse characteristics and the pickups each have their own personality when blened, not just one brighter and one bassier.

I had all kinds of plans to modify this thing but I would have to say that it is pretty good as is for now. The only thing is maybe putting some 27:1 open gear tuners to balance it out asthetically like Hipshot Rick replacements. I also like the Toaster cover on HB1 idea but @ $50 for the pair and they may not work, I gotta think about it for a while first.

[aceonbass]

I don't really care for the Schaller M4's either. Fact is, they are an 12:1 M6 guitar tuner adapted to bass. Even though I used another one of these on my 4004L 5-string conversion, I'm switching to a set of Schaller BML Light bass tuners with the M4-looking tuner key. They make these with chrome vintage style tuner keys also, and they are a 20:1 ratio. If you're going to use a "vintage" style tuner make sure the headstock is wide enough between the tuner hole and the edge of the headstock. Some 4004's are pretty tight here, making the tuner plate show from the front when you mount it. I prefer the Schaller/RIC vintage tuners in this application since they're only $85.00 and are real RIC parts. They are also a much better than M4's with an 18:1 ratio, which I've always found to work just fine. I agree that the neck is wide like a Fender as it tapers towards the bridge, which is why they make a perfect 5-string!

[cheyenne]

When I had the A style bridge on my former Cii it was able to go lower than the ABM bridge, the main reason I put it on in the first place.

Amen!