I just joined the 4001 club...

[egosheep]

Congrats Brian, cool story! Are you going to put one of the newly available reissue horseshoes in it?

[kiramdear]

I'm happy for you, Brian. I was a very active bass player at one time. But I was happy with having only one bass and using it for everything. Made my job simpler. My point? If you have only one bass and it's a good one like a rick, don't worry, you're covered. I still feel that way.

Now, don't ask me how many guitars I like to keep handy ...

[doctorwho]

Congrats, Brian!

[scotty]

Congrats Brian!

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Congrats and enjoy it, Brian! The Barts are good pickups, much better than the SD replacement pickups for Ricks. The Rick character will come through with the Barts, there just won't be quite as much bite in the attack.
PLEASE do me a favor, install the strings correctly on the keywind posts! I'm sure you got it like that. When people install the strings like that, it makes me nuts!

Joey:

You are correct - it came strung that way.... What is are the strings supposed to look like?

The strings on it are 5 year old Dean Markleys.. (At least by the empty package in the case). I normally use Rickenbacker strings myself... Time to order a set... What gauge is preferred?

Also as a bass newbie - can someone explain the difference between flatwound and roundwound and which is preferred for a 4001... I thought the 4003 was designed for high tension strings...

I am a guitar player... My one and only bass prior to this is a 70s era Hofner 500/1... The tonal difference between the solid body 4001 and the hollow body Hofner is obvious, as well as the scale length... It will take some getting used to.

As to Jetglo... Well 5 out of 6 of my RICS are JG - so I must like the colour.... One day I'd like a few Burgundy Glos.... Some day.


BTW this is my 799th RRF post... Who says getting to 30 is hard!!!

More pics...

[markyl]

Lovely bass!! Congrats on a good deal too!

Yeah, strings wound around the outside of tuners just looks so wrong, it's like a toilet paper roll.. the paper HAS to be hung over the top!

[cjj]

On a bass, the ends of those "bridge cables" can be kind of dangerous if left sticking out in the breeze. So, they put holes down into the tuning post where you're supposed to put the end. This picture shows it fairly well:

Flat wound strings are wound with a flat ribbon of metal making them much smoother than roundwounds, which are wound with a round wire. They generally have a more mellow tone than rounds, and in the old days were lower tension. That's not always true these days. I've used rounds on all of my 4001 basses without any problems...

[bassduke49]

What is are the strings supposed to look like?

Not only are the ends sticking out ready to put a scratch into something or take the eye out of someone, they are also wound around the posts the wrong way. The strings should wrap from the inside of the headstock, like this:

[songdog]

Also as a bass newbie - can someone explain the difference between flatwound and roundwound and which is preferred for a 4001... I thought the 4003 was designed for high tension strings...

I think to a first approximation, flatwounds will give a Paul McCartney sound, roundwounds will give a Chris Squire sound (and more fret wear). Decisions, decisions! What a wonderful choice to have.

I've read that Rotosound rounds have higher tension and can cause problems on some 4001 basses... but I've had them (RS66LD, .45-.105) on my 4001 for several decades and it's been very stable. Others on this forum will know more about that.....

Of course, you could always get another 4001 so you can have one strung each way!

[66Atlas]

I'm definately with Joey on the stringing method. Everytime I see a strings sticking out like that it drivers me nuts...the only thing worse for me is when the string isnt trimmed at all and the excess is curled up into little circles! But hey, to each their own

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

i think he just bought one so i'd go visit him ! great score. congrats ! music shoppe might be where rush had all their ricky mods done ?

Ron:

I thought the exact same thing when I bought it! Time for another Ontario RIC meet up I think... Perhaps in the summer..

The Music Shoppe was a large operation rivaling Steve's and Long and McQuade at the time... They also had the Drum Shoppe just down the street... Not sure why they closed/folded... I still have their rental catalog in a file

I saw many cool RICS back there in the 1980s. Including a 1982 MG 362 double neck...

i had bought a sept.' 75 burgundyglo from music shoppe II back in '83.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

i had bought a sept.' 75 burgundyglo from music shoppe II back in '83.

What happened to it? How long did you have it... I love BurgundyGlo... I wish it was still a current colour.

Post 800!!

[johnallg]

Brian, to add to the correct-wire-on-post info, lay the string through the tailpiece, across the bridge, up the neck, over the nut, and to the post. Cut it 3" longer than the post, then with needle nose pliers bend about 1/2" 90 degrees down. Making sure the string is not twisted down it's length, insert into the post hole down the middle and wrap so the string length comes from the middle of the neck over the post. You should be able to get 3 winds using the 3" length, with the last bit of take-up wire at the bottom of the post, closest to the headstock. Maybe obvious, but there it is.

3" = 76.2 mm
1/2" = 12.7 mm

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

John, CJ, Paul, Terry...

Thanks for the images and help..

My bass is now strung correctly... and I know how to do it from here on in, which is great...

Played along tonight with some Beatles recordings through the computer - the bass has enormous sustain and resonance... There is a nice sweet spot mixing between the two pickups... It was fun experimenting...

[cjj]

Looks MUCH better!