Dane Wilder's VVT mod for 4004

[seabass]

I'm sure this has been discussed here before but if anyone is considering this mod; DO IT. The 4004 sounded good before, but it sounds great now. Much cleaner tone. Thanks Dane for the fine work!

[aceonbass]

Thanks for the plug Dave! I think your harness had coil tapping for each of the pickups too?

[seabass]

No, just the straight ahead hookup. Sounds good to me!

[woodyng]

I recommend not only the wiring upgrade,but the coil tapping as well. I did not get the ct for my cheyenne,and regret that,especially since it has the standard pickup position,and the neck pickup can be a bit boomy.

[Captain Bob]

Since your talking VVT, has anyone considered Volume, Blend Pot, Tone. My Fano PX-4 has this configuration.

The blend pot allows the player's preferred balance between neck & bridge pickup levels to be exactly maintained, independent of volume adjustments. Just a thought.

[aceonbass]

I've done many Balance/Volume/Tone harnesses for 4004's. One of my faves also, with coil tapping for each pickup via the volume and tone controls.

[Ashgray]

I've installed one of Dane's Blend/Volume/Tone harnesses with coil taps on each pickup into my 4004 - never looked back! With two pickups but only a single volume and tone pot on a stock 4004, it made perfect sense. There's much more flexibility with the controls and pickup selection/tone, offering many more options that before, all of which are useable. Also a much clearer tone throughout!

This was the third of Dane's harnesses I've bought - in my view they are the most essential, effective and cost-friendly upgrade available for Ricks!

Ash

[woodyng]

Since your talking VVT, has anyone considered Volume, Blend Pot, Tone. My Fano PX-4 has this configuration.

The blend pot allows the player's preferred balance between neck & bridge pickup levels to be exactly maintained, independent of volume adjustments. Just a thought.

In practice,i don't know if it is any better.
I have a Vol/blend/tone arrangement on my Cheyenne,and a Vol/vol/tone on my Cheyenne II. They both work well,but i think i just prefer the jazz bass arrangement (VVT) better.

[woodyng]

I've installed one of Dane's Blend/Volume/Tone harnesses with coil taps on each pickup into my 4004 - never looked back! With two pickups but only a single volume and tone pot on a stock 4004, it made perfect sense. There's much more flexibility with the controls and pickup selection/tone, offering many more options that before, all of which are useable. Also a much clearer tone throughout!

This was the third of Dane's harnesses I've bought - in my view they are the most essential, effective and cost-friendly upgrade available for Ricks!

Ash

Amen,Ash!
I've 4 of Dane's harnesses,(3 on my Rick 4004's),and they absolutely brought those basses's tonal clarity out of the murk!
The Cheyenne was almost comically "dark" before i had the components swapped. I can totally see why a lot of people didn't like the sound of these,which is a shame,because the hb1 pickups are AWESOME.

[Captain Bob]

There is also the Bill Lawrence trick, which by placing an additional capacitor between the poles of a blend pot, a tone choke is created. Some folks like this too. Perhaps, Dane has experimented with this too. Dane has built 3 harnesses for me, including the restorative harness in the '64.