At long last.....

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:25 am

Chris and Francesco:
How do you like that tone? Quite different than a 4001/3, but familiar, too. Can you two attempt to describe it for the 4005-deprived? I gigged with mine for a time and found I could teeter on the edge of feedback for some amazingly long sustain. I love that bass live.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:34 am

I need to find suitable strings for it first....Mine currently has some OLD round wounds on it. It has that old string "twang" to it, which I don't particularly care for.....I must get flats for it to get "my" sound.....

I suppose regular long scale strings will work? I am leaning towards TI Jazz flats as I like the sound of them on my '73, and although the neck on my 4005 is perfectly straight with these rounds, the TI's will put less stress on the old girl....

As for the tone? The only term I can think of is that it is "boomier" but with a twang that is really distracting, but I know that is due to the old strings....

What strings do you 4005 owners use??

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:35 am

...AND.....it's time to get a REAL amplification system for it....

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:42 am

I had roundwounds on it for a time...then went to, what do you call them, tape wounds (nylon?)? They were great for Mac like sounds on recordings. Now I have pyramids, which I love.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:25 am

Jerry:

I just received a set of D'addario Chrome flats in the mail. They are long scale but aren't long enough to use with the R tailpiece. The bridge end of the rounds I have now are elongated and thinner than the string itself. The overall length of the strings are the same. The silk end is too long on the chromes and extend past the nut onto the fretboard.....oh well, off to juststrings.com , I guess....

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:15 am

If I were fortunate enough to own a classic 4005, I would go with lighter guage TI's. Great tone and feel, your bass will thank you for the less tension. A must for a vintage Rick, especially if the neck is tired.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:49 am

Thanks Scott!
That is what I've decided to go with. I called Mike with John Connelly from N.Y. They are importers of T.I. strings. He actually went and measured the longscale 36" strings for me and measured how far it was from the silk at one end to the other. So, the
TOI_JF364 nickel flats will work with a 4005. Done.
Should have 'em in a few days , then I can do a good comparison....

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:56 am

wow,chris that things in great shape where did you find it?

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:07 am

and does she have a sister?

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:29 am

Sorry Jared, no sister....

Ken, I got it from Garys Classic Guitars. Her name is PJ...

It is in , I'd say about 8-8.5 condition...It has typical little wear issues that you'd expect on a 37 year old bass. The neck is fantastic! It just "feels" right when I'm playing it.....It doesn't SOUND too good right now, but when I put the TI's on it, her true personality will shine through...

Although I paid BOTH arms and a leg for it, I am going to play this one most of all! I'm not going to baby her too much....It looks like she stepped right out of a time capsule...

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:47 am

its a 67 right good year, actually rare year for rics these older basses give you goose bumps you feel like your holding a piece of history.garys a little high in price but he comes up with the goods good luck with it, she looks great. oh yeah that neck is to die for isnt it?

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:19 am

Yeah, I commented earlier about the ORIGINAL CASE that came with it!! It had that musty, 60's smell that almost made me curl up in a ball in the corner and suck my thumb...

60's Rickenbackers are absolutely fantastic...

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:32 am

LOL!!! Nice one Chris....ah, if only Santa would bring me one of those.....

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:49 pm

Chris,
I use Chromes in 40-55-75-95 guages, which seem very similar to the TI flats but have an even better balanced feel to them. The D string is definitely higher tension than the rest of the set on the Tis. I change out the .060 D string on the Chromes Super Soft set with a single .055 which makes these strings just purrfect!

Years ago (decades actually!) I used XL 170s on my 4005WB and got a great classic Squire kind of tone. I can still get a nice growl with the flats, just a bit rounder and fuller sounding without too much clank. In high volume settings it can feedback with the fundamental note around the second A (110Hz). Try some Hendrix on it!

jal · Post by **jal** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:30 pm

" that musty, 60's smell " ,
yeah mine too, kind of reminds me of stale old chewing gum or candy , I think it may be the glue that Ric used , two of my old 60's Gibson Thunderbird case have a funky 60's smell too but the '65 Ric case is in a class of it's own,