Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

On second listen, I think what I'm hearing is the HB-1 sparkling a little bit more on the higher notes, but perhaps sounding a bit more muffled than the 4002 pickup otherwise. Odd!

I think that's right. Some low-end distortion with the HB-1, but a bit more hair or something on top which can be nice. It's a double-edge sword, maybe?

I finally had the chance to have a listen. I was surprised at how similar they sound. I was expecting a bit more growl from the HB-1. Did you play with a soft touch Joshua? Maybe that's why there's not much growl.

rickenbrother wrote:Did you play with a soft touch Joshua? Maybe that's why there's not much growl.

Probably, Joey. That kind of thing occurs on a gut level with me... so I can't actually say I know the answer to your question, but I assume that's what I did.

Well, because I loved this passive-only tone moreso than I expected to and because the Audere doesn't play nice with the 4002 pickup I went back to a passive harness that is very close to stock, but with some tasteful modifications to keep that "no load" tone around. As of last night this bass has a Bass Volume (480K), a Vintage Tone Switch (standard post-2006 configuration) instead of Treble Volume, a Bass Tone using a Fender No-Load pot and a 0.022 uF cap, and the same kind of tone setup for the Treble Tone. Ric-O-Sound and Mono jacks are dead stock, so is the toggle switch.

Basically I went with a less treble-loading tone pot setup because I wanted a little more variety, and I'm happy with those results, and I only went with a volume pot on the bass pickup because that's always the one I attenuate when I am blending the two pickups. Finally I had to keep the vintage tone selector. I'd be happy to e-mail schematics to anyone interested. I am very happy with the result, it basically lets me do the "no load" tone you heard in the clips but introduce some standard loading when I feel it's necessary to get that warmer sound. I really like the treble pickup with the cap bypassed and the tone all the way "down" with this current setup, and now that the cap values are smaller the neck pickup really shows off some nice bark-y character with the tone all the way down as well so it sounds more like a true upright would at that position.

In comparison with stock: standard loading stock is 165 K in mono and 330 K in stereo as well as loading from the tone pots, and here it is always 480 K on the neck pickup and also 480 K on the bridge pickup but only in mono; in stereo the bridge pickup can only be loaded down by the tone pot which is not actually in the circuit except when needed. The hinge frequency for these caps is approximately an octave higher than for the original caps.

I am keeping the Audere preamp, pickguard, jacks and switch assembled and I'm not sure if I'll sell it or put it back in the 4003 MG.

Cassius, have you ever considered running only the lowZ winding on the 4002 pickup only through the preamp?