the individual piece of wood has something to do with it ... also the older weaker necks resonated slightly better than the new strong 4003 necks ... but the adjustable rods more than compensate on the 4003 ... the 4001 and 4003 had 250k ohm volume pots and 500k ohm tone pots for the 60s until 1989 ... in 1990 they changed to all 250k ohm pots ... then about 2006 they started putting in 330k ohm tone pots ...
so if you want to give a modern 4003 more of a vintage bite you can put in 500k ohm tone pots or if you want to mellow out an old 4001 wire it up without the cap and with all 250k ohm pots ...
from a pure wood point of view the wood on an old 60s bass is the brightest and the 70s basses almost as bright and the 4003 a little less bright ... why? because of the construction under the fretboard and because as wood ages it gets a little harder ... these differences will vary bass to bass and it is a subtle difference ...
I also believe that when I convert a 4003 4-2-5 the added stress on the neck causes the bass to resonate better and I believe fatter strings will do the same ...
those are my opinions ...
No lows in treble pickup
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soundmasterg
- RRF Consultant
- Posts: 1923
- Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:06 pm
The pots that StewMac sells are not as good in their quality as CTS pots, which you can get at www.tubesandmore.com . That said, they are adequate and sound ok.