HB1 to 4003 revisited

[VRICKY63]

Does the HB1 adapt to the 4003 bridge pickup mount very easy ?

[berth]

+1 . Once the neck of my 4001S is adjusted (it was glued in crooked, lower on the E-side than G-side and no adjustment left with bridge lowest) she will get my 2 HB-1's. (It is at a luthier at the moment to get me a quote for this and will most likely be where my next bass money will go.)

[jps]

Does the HB1 adapt to the 4003 bridge pickup mount very easy ?

Yes, it will. There should be two holes on the mounting plate that match the spacing of the mounting holes on the HB-1, or hi-gain and toaster, for that matter. Just remove the existing pickup and mount the HB-1 with some screws, washers and nuts (preferably, stainless steel) from your local hardware store, something in the #6 to #8 range, IIRC.

[cassius987]

It's easier to install and use it in the bridge position than the neck position in my experience. Because it is designed to take wood screws it is not very easy to adjust in the neck position.

[gearhed289]

I tried this years ago and wasn't crazy about the results. BUT - this was with the stock wiring harness on my '89 4003S. Several months ago, I decided I was going to give it another go. I have to give a big thanks to Dane for his recommendations of 500K pots and .022 ZoSo caps. I have both tone knobs as push/pull coil taps. Man, this thing sounds great! Played it through my SVT and in-ear monitor rig last night. What a FULL, warm, thick sound, with every bit of Rick O Crunch you could want, even in dual humbucker mode. Funny thing is, it SEEMS louder, but... I keep my input gain on the monitor board just on the verge of red-lighting. I didn't touch it last night, and I'm still not going into the red. Coil tapping both pickups results in a noticeably lower output, which is fine, because my overdrive pedal (HBE Hematoma) has a clean boost function. Totally straight ahead like the Duncan Pickup Booster - a chicken head knob for level, and an on/off footswitch. Pretty happy camper here! So far I'm finding both pups in humbucker mode, or tapped neck/humbucker bridge to be my favorites, but I still have some experimenting to do. Thanks again aceonbass! OH - and they look pretty wicked too with my mirror pickguard and RIHS treble pup bezel.

[aceonbass]

Your welcome Tom! I think the coil tap mod should become a standard feature on RICs with HB1's. It realy expands the versatility of the bass or guitar. I just finished swapping out the electronics in my '06 660 from Toasters to HB1's with all new vintage style wiring with 500k pots and push-pull coil taps. Coil tapped this guitar sounds about the same as it did, particularly chimey. In full humbucking mode the sound is similar, yet fuller with more bottom end. The hardest part of this type of wiring is pre-wiring the push-pull pots with the proper grounding and lengthening the extra wiring on the HB1's to reach where they have to reach, but the results are pretty slick.

[cjj]

So, when you switch to coil tap mode, do you just ground the center tap between the coils, leaving the other end of the "unused coil" grounded, or do you swap the "hot" lead from the coil end to the center tap?

I'm not sure it would make a lot of difference, but a coil with both ends grounded alongside an active coil will put some slight load on the active coil whereas an open coil won't load anything to any degree...

[aceonbass]

I think that first thing you said..LOL

[cjj]

OK, here's a schematic version of what I'm talking about:

output.png (4.62 KiB) Viewed 3817 times

The first just grounds the center, leaving the other coil connected which will present a slight load to the other coil. The second leaves the unused coil open and so will have no load...

[aceonbass]

CJ, I think it's probably the first one, but I couldn't be sure as I don't know how to read a schematic. I think it was Don Butler who showed me how to coil tap (or more accurately, coil short) by running the extra two wires in the HB1 harness that are normally taped off, to the center terminals on the push-pull while running a ground from the side of the case accross the top terminals of the pot and then to the lug your using for your ground.

[cjj]

Yes, that description sounds like the first one.

I'll have to make a few measurements and see if I can see any difference, then maybe try it to see if there's a difference in sound. Theoretically, the shorted coil should put a bit of a load on the other coil, but whether it makes any audible difference is anybody's guess...

[incubus2432]

It's easier to install and use it in the bridge position than the neck position in my experience. Because it is designed to take wood screws it is not very easy to adjust in the neck position.

Just tap the holes for the appropriate fastener or (the quick and easy method) just crazy glue a nut to the underside of the p/u. Presto......easy adjustment.

[woodyng]

i presume the wiring that Dane did on my laredo 4002v57 is the same thing as being discussed. it most definitely provides some musically usable tonal variation. i find i tend to keep one of the pickups in the full hb mode (usually the bridge pickup),and by putting the coil "tap" mode on the neck pickup,it tends to relieve some of the tendency for boominess. the bass also sounds really nice with both pickups tapped. i do want to do the installation on my cii at some point,too,as the action is dead flat all the way up the neck,which i don't quite have with the laredo.

[aceonbass]

Woody, I have plenty of the 500K Alpha push-pull pots pre-wired/set-up for coil taping and instalation in RIC's with limited cavity clearence. Just install and wire like you would any regular pot, run the extra two wires in the HB1 harness across the center contacts on the put, and you're in business. Let me know if you need any.

[VRICKY63]

I see it's been almost 1 year since I posted this thread. I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed having the HB1s in my 4003. I never got around to doing the push/pull pots but the tone pot mod has been quite satisfactory.