Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

"Help me fellow 4002 owners"...

...Dave, I wish I could be of help, but I don't own a 4002.

Dave, I'll try and get some photos of mine (under the pickguard) up for you if Ted can't do it. Although, I won't be able to get to it until next week because I'm out of town for the next couple of days and won't be near my computer (the one where I can post photos) until the first week of Jan. 2066. Sorry!

"the first week of Jan. 2066."

He waited 25 years for the bass... now 60 for pics?

"the first week of Jan. 2066."

He waited 25 years for the bass... now 60 for pics?

the Dude Pit g'tar went for about $1200 if I remember correctly.

Damn!

"He waited 25 years for the bass... now 60 for pics?"

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

"He waited 25 years for the bass... now 60 for pics?"

LOL!!! All right you mugs - you've all just taught me to be VERY careful and spellcheck everything at least TWICE before I submit it! And THEN do a triple visual inspection to make sure that there isn't something that spellcheck didn't catch!

Actually, I'm surprised that Jared didn't catch that first! *smile*

Besides the one on the Dudepit, I'm thinking of another 4002 that was on ebay sometime ago, 2-3 years maybe. The bass went for a song and had been modified with non-original p/ups. There amy have even been a thread about it here on the Forum, but I can't recall clearly for it's been a while..

I also seem to remember that the 4002 on the Dudepit had one of those funky bridges made by "Star Guitars" (?). Not sure if those bridges needed any extra routing Dave, but a quick peek under your bridge may be interesting.

This is the one from the "Pit". The tail and bridge have been replaced with new. The holes were pugged by Dale, before he refinished it.

Over all I am still happy with the purchase. Although it is not 100% original, it sounds and plays like you would not belive. A deal at a 1/3 of the cost of a LK.

The 4002 pickups are hard to document because they are sealed in an aluminum box that is riveted closed. The rear pickup is bifilar. I this case it means it has two non-connected windings. One is for the hi-Z and the other for the lo-z output. I have no idea what is inside the pickups beyond that. On real 4002 pickups you can actually feel the plates and the bobbin top if you press on the Tolex on the top of the pickup. The HBs have some kind of vacuum formed plastic cover that is rigid and does not reveal what is beneath.

Here is a pic of the inside of a '2' showing the wiring and the backside of the guard. You can see the two sets of leads coming off of the treble pickup. One set (green) runs directly to the lo-z.



Here is a shot showing an HB1 near the real 4002 pickups.

Ted, thank you for taking your bass apart for me. I see it now.

It was no problem. Actually, I took those pics about a year ago for a similar question raised here.

It might be possible to have a set of pickups made. If it is not a guarded secret, maybe JH would be willing to give you the necessary specs for impedance on the coils and the layout of the internals. Lindy Fralin could probably mock one up for you based on that. You could get some Tolex material for the tops. The chrome rings are the standard RIC issue. The aluminum case would have to be made but it does not look very tough to reproduce. I could give you measurements from mine.