4000 Conversion.

[j.harv]

Hello.
I have a 1975 rickenbacker 4000 that I have owned for about 20yrs now.
The thing with this bass is that Im not too crazy about the single pick up.It's kind of a one trick pony when I comes to sound/tone.
I was thinking of turning this bass into a 4001 I guess,by adding a neck pickup.I have seen these pickups and 4001 pickguards on ebay quite a bit.
Is it worth doing this mod? Is it as easy as swapping pickguards and wiring new pu's in? And is there a lot of routing involved.
Im pretty sure some people are thinking this wouldn't be a good idea,but Im planning on hanging on to this bass and I want more in tone.
Thanks for any tips.

[cjj]

Welcome to the forum!

Have you ever taken the pickguard off of your 4000? Some of them were routed for a 2nd pickup from the factory. In that case, it's just a matter of getting a new pickguard (or modifying the one you have) and wiring it up...

[jdogric12]

I would never do that. 4000's have their own value and you can't go back once you route. I'd either sell the 4000 and buy a 4001, or just buy a 4001 and keep both. You sound like you have some emotional attachment perhaps? If so, why do you think digging a chunk of wood out of it is acceptable but selling it to get the tone you need isn't?

[j.harv]

I would never do that. 4000's have their own value and you can't go back once you route. I'd either sell the 4000 and buy a 4001, or just buy a 4001 and keep both. You sound like you have some emotional attachment perhaps? If so, why do you think digging a chunk of wood out of it is acceptable but selling it to get the tone you need isn't?

Thanks for the replys.
Im not super attached to this bass,but I just cant be bothered to sell it.And I like to tinker,so I thought this might be something interesting to do.
I have checked under the pickguard and there is no routing.But it looks like there has been an outline partially cut into the body.Thiis something im not gonna do for sure but Im seriously thinking about it.

[jdogric12]

Does not compute.

Oh well, welcome and good luck with whatever you decide! but I still say don't do it. There are a lot of people that specifically like the tone you get with a 4000 since it has all that extra wood in the neck thru portion. Subtly different than simply a 4001 with the switch set to the bridge position.

[ilan]

What color is it?

I love the neck pickup and both pickups sound on my Rics, so I understand your dilemma.

But I wouldn't route a set-neck 4000. The neck joint is weaker than in neck-thru 4001/4003/4004's, and a neck pickup route will weaken it more. You can end up with an unplayable vintage bass with an irreversible mod.

In the 70's there were some set-neck 4001's that were routed at the factory for a neck pickup, I recall John Hall posting that he did not recommend them.

[woodyng]

I have to join the chorus here,and say leave it as is. I have a '74 4000 myself,for about a decade now,and never find that i need a 2nd pickup on it. It has a gnarly sound with rw's and a superb Tone with flats as well. I do have 2 other Ric basses though. I don't really understand why you would want to weaken the crucial join area on a set neck,or why RIC did it with some of their 4001s basses during the 70's. (so there is precedent,but...)

[sloop_john_b]

I would be happy to trade for a two-pickup Rick bass for your 4000.

[teeder]

Welcome, Jason.

I also recommend not doing it because of the possiblility of weakening the neck.

Maybe put a different pick-up in, like a Rick Humbucker HB-1? Then you could tinker with the split coils or full HB tones.

[j.harv]

Thanks again for all the replies.
I most likely will leave it as is.It is a nice looking bass but the sound is not as beefy as I like. Its kinda thin sounding.
I did replace the original pu a few years ago with a new rickenbacker replacement. Pretty much the exact same pick up but brand new.I thought the old one might have lost some of its output over the years. But with the new pu it stills sounds basically the same.And I also like the look of two pickups and more knobs on the pick guard. The 4000 kinda looks bare with that big empty white space where the neck pu would be.
But thinking about the weakening the bass makes me shudder so I will leave it alone.I was just wondering though,how deep would it have to be routed.It almost seems like those neck pickups wouldn't need to be set deeply in these basses,or are they adjustable,up and down,like most basses.
Thanks again to everyone.
Im glad I came across this site.

[Badanovski]

I can understand esthetic concerns, but I had a set neck 4000 with factory neck pickup route & never had any problems with it.

[woodyng]

J.harv,what are you running the bass through? (Amp,speaker,etc.) If you replaced the 70's higain pickup with a newer Ric pickup,the new one is probably much hotter output....
Badanovski,our own bass guru,Rickenbrother has a 4001s set neck,and last time i saw it seemed to be just fine,too. But,there is a risk that that might not be the outcome of the operation....especially if the operator is not too experienced in the nuances of guitar-ripping....

[vulcan_creedler]

Welcome, Jason.

I also recommend not doing it because of the possiblility of weakening the neck.

Maybe put a different pick-up in, like a Rick Humbucker HB-1? Then you could tinker with the split coils or full HB tones.

This is by far the best advice!! An HB-1 with coil tap will give a good range of sonds, from classic ric growl to full blown oomph (don't forget lemmy uses an hb1 in the bridge position only!!!!) Almost a greater range than a stock 4001!!!

[Badanovski]

especially if the operator is not too experienced in the nuances of guitar-ripping.... Are you saying there's something wrong with a hammer chisel or chainsaw?!!

[woodyng]

Hey...i stay away from that stuff,cause i could start a project like that and end up in the hospital myself. Yes,i am incompetent in this area....
But even if were being done by someone like Paul W., i wouldn't say it was a good idea. (Feel free to chime in,Paul.)