Got my hands on a battered 4000! Restore it or play it?

[woodyng]

Mmm.. I figure it's best to take it to a luthier to have a good look at the neck. That being said: it hasn't collapsed after all this time it sat in its case, so I don't suppose it will in the near future.
Any particular reason to use a toaster instead of higian? Is it smaller?

Classic open clear sound vs modern overdriven tone of higain. The toaster would be my preference,so that's only like my opinion,man....

[RickyBubba]

Either route, take your time. Important thing is you have it, can play it, and do something later! Looks real good from here!

[iiipopes]

I guess I'm the odd man out: if it is set up well and has a balanced tone, play it!!!

If at any point you get tired of looking at it, or want to sell it, then get a modern-style horseshoe pickup and restore it to sell. That will bring more.

[Lewis90]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been playing it for a while and it does sound good, but it's missing the Rick growl.
I've seen someone putting a hb-1 in their 4000, can anyone comment on the sound of those compared to the 'normal' 4000?
And is there a lot of difference between a hi-gain from '75 and the new ones in sound?

[woodyng]

The hb is going to be bassier,and quieter,but with the right electronics,still quite grindy,although nowhere near as much as the old hi gain. Modern hi gains are much more powerful,with a bit of loss in the clarity compared to the older ones. My 4000 with the original higain and electronic circuit is the "grindiest" bass i own. As far as your bass missing "growl",what strings are you using on it?

[nov_1981]

The hb is going to be bassier,and quieter,but with the right electronics,still quite grindy

+1.. The HB1 is a great sounding pickup for a 4000, plenty of bottom end and tone.. Much more than a lone stock highgain could give you in my opinion. If you dont plan having a neck pickup installed i think the HB1 is the way to go.
I recently installed an HB1 along with a new harness put together by Dane Wilder.
Dane set it up with 500k pots including a push pull on the volume pot that turns the 15k HB1 into a 7.5 single coil.
I would highly recommend Using Dane!

[woodyng]

The hb is going to be bassier,and quieter,but with the right electronics,still quite grindy

Dane set it up with 500k pots including a push pull on the volume pot that turns the 15k HB1 into a 7.5 single coil.
I would highly recommend Using Dane!

Quite versatile to have those options at your fingertips. I have 2 of my 4004's set up that way with Dane's electronics.

[donhank]

[quoteI've seen someone putting a hb-1 in their 4000, can anyone comment on the sound of those compared to the 'normal' 4000?][/quote]

My 4000 is also a member of the HB1 club. Actually, I had no complaint with the tone of the original hi-gain pickup, but the noise was intolerable. Comparison . . . I now find myself dipping the mids a little deeper and at a lower frequency on my amp and also reducing the input gain a bit. The HB1 is bad and nationwide - a perfect solution for me.

FWIW: the aluminum hipshot shown in the pic is going away as soon as I can manage - it isn't bad, but it really wasn't an improvement over the OEM.

[edski]

I now find myself dipping the mids a little deeper and at a lower frequency on my amp and also reducing the input gain a bit.

This is a necessity I've only recently come to embrace as I try to play my 4 basses as often as the other.

The 4004 needs to have the highs and high mids bumped up a bit to compensate for the boominess of the HB-1's. The 4001 gets a little bump in the bass and low mids to compensate for the clankiness. My custom FL gets the same treatment as the 4001 because it's very light and can be a little thin in tone. My Ibanez gets a little more treble since it has flats on it.

Last night I rehearsed with my Laredo, the week before the 4001. There really wasn't that much of a difference in the sound, especially with a drummer thrashing about.

Over the years I've found that pickups don't appear to have the impact on sound that many ascribe to them. I think the actual instrument is the main factor. When I put SD humbuckers in my old J bass a bunch of people said it would sound radically different. It still sounded the same, just with no buzz and higher output. Ditto when I put DiMarzio humbuckers in my '66 Fender Mustang. Still sounded the same, just more umph.

[woodyng]

I played a 4002 for a decade that had SD pickups in it when i found it. Overall they weren't all that bad,but that bass always was missing some of the essential "Rickness" i felt it should have had.i thought it sounded more like a really good J bass... (It was reunited with it's own pickups later by JDOG fortunately)!
I also am amazed at what the right pairing of components can do to improve the sound of an instrument,the wiring harnesses i have on my 4004's really made a tremendous difference in the clarity of sound coming out of the HB1's.
The way i've used my 4000,the stock pickup while noisy is also great at putting out that full range sound with a lot of top end,which you can tame with the tone pot. It sounds fabulous with flatwound strings,with the tone 90% off,(very "silly love songs"),or with everything wide open and using RW strings,it is a Clankysaurus Rex.

[henry5]

I now find myself dipping the mids a little deeper and at a lower frequency on my amp and also reducing the input gain a bit.

This is a necessity I've only recently come to embrace as I try to play my 4 basses as often as the other.

The 4004 needs to have the highs and high mids bumped up a bit to compensate for the boominess of the HB-1's. The 4001 gets a little bump in the bass and low mids to compensate for the clankiness. My custom FL gets the same treatment as the 4001 because it's very light and can be a little thin in tone. My Ibanez gets a little more treble since it has flats on it.

Last night I rehearsed with my Laredo, the week before the 4001. There really wasn't that much of a difference in the sound, especially with a drummer thrashing about.

Over the years I've found that pickups don't appear to have the impact on sound that many ascribe to them. I think the actual instrument is the main factor. When I put SD humbuckers in my old J bass a bunch of people said it would sound radically different. It still sounded the same, just with no buzz and higher output. Ditto when I put DiMarzio humbuckers in my '66 Fender Mustang. Still sounded the same, just more umph.

I wonder about this and how much is down to the listener's ability to perceive the difference. When I had an SD treble pickup in my 2nd CS it sounded nothing like how it did when I replaced it with a pickup Sergio made for me. The SD was really bland and nasal; Sergio's was like a Ric p/up but with a bit more bite. Then when I finally got hold of a reissue h/shoe and put that in to complete the bass, that was different again; bigger and boomier.

I agree that the instrument itself is by far the biggest factor though.

[aceonbass]

The 4004 needs to have the highs and high mids bumped up a bit to compensate for the boominess of the HB-1's.

Although HB1's do seem to have a bit more solid bottom end, they're not boomy at all. It's the 180K-330K tone pots and .047uF tone cap they come with that chokes the top end and clarity out of them. As Woody and others have found, the right components with the right values makes a world of difference in the tone of these pickups.

[henry5]

The 4004 needs to have the highs and high mids bumped up a bit to compensate for the boominess of the HB-1's.

Although HB1's do seem to have a bit more solid bottom end, they're not boomy at all. It's the 180K-330K tone pots and .047uF tone cap they come with that chokes the top end and clarity out of them. As Woody and others have found, the right components with the right values makes a world of difference in the tone of these pickups.

That's a great point Dane, and I suspect applies to most pickups to a greater or lesser degree.

[Lewis90]

Seems that the HB-1 is a good choice, but I also hear good things about Sergio's pickups and the Classic Amplification pickups.
Any comments on the work of Sergio or Classic Amplification?

[aceonbass]

Sergio does great work. While I've heard good things about Classic Amplification too, they cost a lot more than an HB1, so what's the point?