Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

rickenbrother wrote:

cassius987 wrote:Hm, I had been told that 4004Cii/5's had a really wimpy B.

Excuse me, no wimpy B string here:

rickaddict wrote: I agree with JA, a big part of the 4002's sound has to do with its pickup placement.

rickaddict wrote:I think the only guy qualified to speak on tonal differences between the 4002 pickups (not a true humbucker, but a dual filament pickup with one set of windings for the regular output and one for the low impedance jack, as I think JH wrote here once) and HB-1's is Dave Pascoe. He had a set of HB-1's in his 4002 before he found a pair of 4002 pickups from the RIC outlet and installed those. IIRC, he compared them in a thread here somewhere.

dswp wrote:So how does it now sound?

These are my first gut impressions only (for right or wrong).

When I first thought of posting this thread, (and before I plugged in the 4002 with its’ new pickups for the first time), I was concerned as to how I was going to explain the small nuances and the differences of the sound of the bass.

That is not a problem, as the bass’s sound has changed in a big way. It is now a totally different bass.

Looking back at the bass now with the HB-1’s in it, it was a dumb-ed down version of a 4002. It had a very rounded, smooth sound to it. It sounded like a cross between a Ric CII and a Jazz bass.

It sounds nothing like that now. The bass has a new persona.

First the mono output.

All equalization was set flat on the amplification, so there is no coloring of tone.

When I plugged her in, I thought that some of the connections have come loose. It is so quiet I thought it was broken. The pickups are very hot and lively, but yet so quiet and sensitive. Trying to play the bass now has become more difficult. It is very unforgiving, as it sounds so clean. Any slide or slight misplacement of a finger on the fret board is pronounced. Any false strikes or finger resting on the strings with the right hand also is highly audible.

To make a general analogy, a high dollar video digital camera, in the motion picture world, is very accurate when recording and playing back images. Having had said that, most people are used to viewing film, which is inaccurate but warm a lush looking. In today’s world the “film” look is always the standard in the movies that we see.
(Disclaimer; all of you film and camera people out there; please refrain from making fun of my generic amateur comparison above).

The 4002 has now become a digital camera. When I play it now, it is like I am a cockroach and someone just turned on the kitchen lights on my bass playing. It is so clean that I really must concentrate as to what I am playing. I can not use the bass on gigs, and be in autopilot mode.

Overall it does now have more of a Ric tone to it, rather then a Jazz Bass.

Not that I would condone it, but I can see why people have changed the pickups out. The bass it totally unique sounding, and could be called inflexible.


The low “Z” output has pretty much the same description as above, but yet quieter.

Do not get me wrong, I am not criticizing the original pickups at all. I am just surprised how the bass retained almost none of the sound qualities from before.

In conclusion, the bass is unique sounding upon itself. It is truly its’ own blood line in Ric’s history. I know over the years, I have seen Ted and Gary comment about some of the cues that I have mentioned above, but hearings it for yourself, is another issue. This is my first impression of the bass for playing it only for only a few hours. I think that I must throw away all of my preconceived notions of this bass and start over.

cassius987 wrote:I meant no offense, Joey, and that is a lovely bass. Do you have sound clips?

I would love a Ric 5er, but I don't want to do a conversion, so if your stock 5er sounds great then I am pleased to hear it!