Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Looks cool. It also kinda looks like PW on Gretsch!

Looks like he put something in place for bigger pole heads.

I think it looks great!

If you never use the bridge PU, seems like a logical mod to me. Petersson favors the neck PU on all his basses, going so far has to take out the bridge PU on some of his Waterstone 12 string basses, leaving a gaping cavity where the PU once was.

To each his own. Sounds to me like all he needed to do was remove the pickup cover and flip the switch up. But it's his bass to do with as he pleases.

Always needing to inject my opinion though, I gotta say... I see (and hear) absolutely no benefit/improvement to this mod other than reducing the weight of the bass.

But if it was an original horseshoe, then the surround was magnetized and therefore could not be removed.

Then again, if you weren't going to use that pick up anyway, I suppose there wouldn't be any harm in removing the surround. To each his own, I suppose.

I think it is really cool. It's not like the bass was butchered or anything. If he wanted, he could have it reverted back to a regular 4001. I am seriously thinking of doing this at some point, as I rarely use the bridge PU and mainly use the neck PU.

coolingitdown wrote:But if it was an original horseshoe, then the surround was magnetized and therefore could not be removed.

By that time (actually, quite a bit before that timeframe) the 4001 had a hi-gain pickup in that position, the horseshoe pickup was gone by around '68-'69.

From what I have read, Petersson originally had a blue Rick 4001 he bought in 1969 but did not like how the HS PU got in the way of his playing. So he later bought the '72 4001 and had it modified to be a neck PU only bass.

I think it looks really unique, with the binding and MG finish. I have never been a MG fan, but this bass looks really great IMO.

It really isn't that outrageous a modification. People have purchased 4000 basses and modified them to be a 4001, which is a much more radical mod.

RobRick wrote:It really isn't that outrageous a modification

I agree.

I like this mod. My first Rick was a 4000 and (since my second Rick was a 4001 FL) I knew I missed a neck pickup. I like the simple look of the 4000. I like neck pickups sounds wise. This mod makes sense to me.

I really like that bass! Good video!

RobRick wrote:I think it looks really unique, with the binding and MG finish. I have never been a MG fan, but this bass looks really great IMO.

It really isn't that outrageous a modification.

+1!

RobRick wrote:I think it looks great!

If you never use the bridge PU, seems like a logical mod to me. Petersson favors the neck PU on all his basses, going so far has to take out the bridge PU on some of his Waterstone 12 string basses, leaving a gaping cavity where the PU once was.

kinda like the gretsch guitar malcolm young plays with ac/dc with the two pickups out of it.

This might look good as a single pickup bass.

I have it on good authority that Tom used a 4001v63 on one of the songs on their latest album