2003 Rickenbacker 4003VP - what's different about it?

[KOLAD]

What can you guys tells me about my Japanese market only Ric?

I bought it new in Jan. 04 maybe Dec 03.

Any idea the the k of the toaster at the neck? Or the k of the bridge pickup? 7k, 9k? Any ideas?

Was anything else different about this bass than the toaster at the neck and the vintage silver case?
The binding is not checkered btw.

[ilan]

The VP (vintage pickup) was a standard option at the time (IIRC there was a premium). I don't think it was Japanese market only.

[KOLAD]

It wouldn't have been the only time that dealer in question lied to me.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

What can you guys tells me about my Japanese market only Ric?

I bought it new in Jan. 04 maybe Dec 03.

Any idea the the k of the toaster at the neck? Or the k of the bridge pickup? 7k, 9k? Any ideas?

Was anything else different about this bass than the toaster at the neck and the vintage silver case?
The binding is not checkered btw.

If it was one of the 03 Japanese market 4003 basses it will have Checkered Binding as well as a toaster pick up.

Post a pic and we will all chime in.

[bassduke49]

Well, hang on a minute. How do we know it came from Japan? If it had the checker binding and the Toaster pickup and dated 2003, then most likely it was originally sent to a major retailer in Japan. If it doesn't have the checker binding, it COULD be from Japan, but it could be from anywhere. The VP option was happening at that time and wasn't restricted to any particular distribution. So if your seller thinks that the Toaster pickup means it must be from Japan, he's just blowing smoke. If he has proof it came from Japan, OK, but so what? It would be just like any other 4003VP made and shouldn't justify a premium price.

[KOLAD]

It does NOT have checkered binding.

The place I bought it from up over my way told me he could get things other dealers in the US couldn't get very easily from Rickenbacker because of his relationship w/ the company. He is a really large RIC dealer but now only sells onlien, no more in store sales. (What a collection he had in his vault too, I was fortunate enough to see one of his few Lemmy basses back then, play a few of the C64's and C64s basses he had too - and then my 4003VP, which I purchased after battling my brain.)
At the time the 4003VP was all I could afford in the long run as I was recently engaged then. I always regret not just saving another few months and buying the C64. Don't get me wrong, I love my bass, I do, it's been all over the country with me and used on so many recordings etc, but it's still always the bass that I sorta kinda settled on, and ya can't get over that no matter how hard you try. It's Fireglo and has a nice flame to the neck and everything.
The toaster at the neck and the hi gain bridge never sound good together though. They're very mismatched, output wise and sonically. (This is why I ask if anyone knew of the specs on the pickups in the VP's that year). I recently raised the neck pickup very carefully by removing the screws and grommets, twisting wire to hold the cover and very gently screwed it up to the guard. (No cracks!) It helped balance it out alot, but the both pickups on sound of the bass still doesn't have that burpy midrange tone I want it to have in my head.
Very soon it will have a mod I've been planning off and on since 2004, vintage style full size pickguard and a 1/2" position of the neck pickup.

[bassduke49]

I assume you have tried different volume levels with each pickup? Lots of folks prefer full treble pickup, and maybe 80-90% bass pickup. Others can explain it better, but it has to do with one pickup affecting the other when both are engaged.

[sloop_john_b]

Would have been a 7.4k ohm scatterwound toaster in 2004.

[KOLAD]

I assume you have tried different volume levels with each pickup? Lots of folks prefer full treble pickup, and maybe 80-90% bass pickup. Others can explain it better, but it has to do with one pickup affecting the other when both are engaged.

Yes, that's actually something I have studied for years as an audio engineer and do understand quite well.
In basic terms, the weaker of 2 pickups will drag the other one down when both are on. It's in fact quite the opposite as one would think, which is the louder one would be more powerful when both would be on. (a mismatched Strat middle and bridge or neck will do this too and give less of that awesome quack if misbalanced, ya gotta mess with the heights to dial in the right amount of quackiness with those IMO)
I tend to not like the volume touched as it buffers the sound as sound as it's touched. Maybe not so much on a treble bleed or similar type setup, but on a RIC it just doesn't sound good to my ears instantly as soon as I touch the volume knobs and try and balance them out. Since I raised the neck PU it's got a bit better, but still the both on sound isn't much to speak of. I think it's the impedance mismatchy type of hollow mids tone, which isn't what you get when you do a both on sound with 2 high gains.

[cassius987]

I assume you have tried different volume levels with each pickup? Lots of folks prefer full treble pickup, and maybe 80-90% bass pickup. Others can explain it better, but it has to do with one pickup affecting the other when both are engaged.

It's basically an effect of spatial comb filtering (not temporal, since the signals happen at the same time) between the two pickups at full signal. Dialing one back a bit lets both "open up", as does engaging a cap which alters the phase of a large chunk of the output frequencies of one pickup (which makes it incompatible with RWRP).

[KOLAD]

I assume you have tried different volume levels with each pickup? Lots of folks prefer full treble pickup, and maybe 80-90% bass pickup. Others can explain it better, but it has to do with one pickup affecting the other when both are engaged.

It's basically an effect of spatial comb filtering (not temporal, since the signals happen at the same time) between the two pickups at full signal. Dialing one back a bit lets both "open up", as does engaging a cap which alters the phase of a large chunk of the output frequencies of one pickup (which makes it incompatible with RWRP).

Exactly...right on!