Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

When NOT using TI's, I use DR Highbeams.

MY Dr's give me 6 - 8 months EASY...They actually sound a little better after a few weeks of play....wipe 'em down, play the heck out of 'em!

sloop_john_b wrote:Let's see your new 4004, Rhys!

Sure thing!

http://www.premierbassguitars.com/ricke ... ject-sold/

I bought this from Dan Basica as part of his liquidation. It was his own personal project bass. I believe Dan was heavily inspired by Woody's bass, which he had talked to me about a year ago. He implemented some ideas of his own as well, and the pickguard is from his own tracing of blown up photographs of other basses. The neck is sort of a Ric-Precision hybrid that easily supports 19 mm string spacing or more. It plays really, really nice and the setup is just perfect for me. I will probably replace the tone pot with a ToneStyler one day but other than that I see no reason to change anything Dan has done. He has series-single coil switches on each pickup, and for now I definitely prefer series.

Since it has Jazz pickup positions like a 4002, I'm going to go ahead and sell my Roscoe Beck V (kind of a Jazz Bass on uber steroids, with some Precision tones also possible). It's a wonderful bass but I really am a Ric guy, especially when it comes to the neck feel and out-of-the-box tone, which for this bass is sort of a "Ric take on the Jazz" in the same vein as the 4002, with some of those classic Ric upper mid tones.

Ok,where is the "face melting" emoticon?
That is beautiful,looks like they did a fantastic job! Amber Fireglo is actually my favorite color,and this one has the walnut headstock wings,too! AWESOME. And Congratulations! What model year is this?

woodyng wrote:Ok,where is the "face melting" emoticon?
That is beautiful,looks like they did a fantastic job! Amber Fireglo is actually my favorite color,and this one has the walnut headstock wings,too! AWESOME. And Congratulations! What model year is this?

Thanks Woody! This bass is a 2008 if I remember correctly. I never thought I'd own a 4004, then Dan offered me this... I am lucky he did these mods to such a great example of the "species". There's probably some honeymoon bias but, having played close to a dozen 4004s I think this is the nicest example to date or at least the best set up. It's also possible that the Jazz positions really make the HB-1s shine. Now that I have really gotten to appreciate what the old one-piece necks were like (while I've played many 4004s, I didn't get to sit with each one for hours), I can understand why some people were sad that RIC moved this model to the same neck as the 4003. This bass really is like a Ric-Fender hybrid in the neck feel and a total Fender killer for anyone on the fence who might have been feeling 50-50 Ric-Fender. I'm a bit surprised they aren't a lot more popular by now, but a lot of people probably don't even know about them.

The new purchase is definitely bittersweet. The reason I was able to purchase this from Dan is his inventory liquidation, which is a result of his poor health. Otherwise he probably would have hung onto this beauty for many more years.

I personally really prefer the older neck profile,but the newer 2 piece necks are nice,too. (And Very different!) The revised J/4002 pickup placement really makes the bass's sound shine. It would be fun to get our 2 basses together and compare-mine came with Circle K strings,and i think i love them as much or more as the DR's i've used for years.
I am sorry about Dan's health situation,but i do believe his custom creation has found an appreciative new owner who will treasure and enjoy it. I just bought an 8-string Fernandes bass from the same shop,although i don't think it belonged to Dan.(?) I am enjoying the heck out of it,and am grateful that i was able to get it.

That is fantastic! Congrats man!

Thanks John!

Welcome finally to the 4004 Club!

woodyng wrote:It would be fun to get our 2 basses together and compare-mine came with Circle K strings,and i think i love them as much or more as the DR's i've used for years.

Totally, I'd love to revisit the Circle Ks some day. It's cool how they have a hybrid wrap (i.e. the outer one is always nickel, the inner wraps are always steel).

Joey,

I'm still using Circle K's on all my basses. On most I have the balanced .106, .079, .059, .043 set. I do have the .102, .076, .057, .041 on my 65 4001 and the .098, .073, .055, .039 on my 77 4001. Not 100% thrilled with the .098 gauge. They feel too thin.

I have noodled a few of Mark Walker's basses, since they are vacationing at my house. Mark uses DR Sunbeams the med-lite gauge and I like them. I may give them a whirl on a bass to see how they work in a band mix.

I'm in two bands now so my work horses get double the amount of work. I was getting 8-10 months easy on a set of Circle K's with one band. I thought that was pretty good.

Sepp

Kopfjaeger wrote:Joey,

I have noodled a few of Mark Walker's basses, since they are vacationing at my house. Mark uses DR Sunbeams the med-lite gauge and I like them. I may give them a whirl on a bass to see how they work in a band mix..

Sepp

Besides the string longevity, according to DR and what I've heard from DR users, the Hi Beams are roundwounds that are easy on frets. I don't know if this is true for any other DR brands of sets. The So Cal guys and anyone else that knows my usual go to Ricks, includes the use of my 4001S as much as my 4004's. The first few frets on my 4001S are very worn from the ham-handed use of one of its former owners. I have to minimize fret wear on the 4001S until I can have it re-fretted.

From my experience, RIC bass strings have a pretty good longevity, nice tone and are kind to frets. I think the outer wrap might be slightly compressed, probably the same for DR High Beams, which helps reduce fret wear. Right now, the price of a few sets of RIC strings won't fit my budget. Even the DRs are priced at more than I'd really like to spend.

Kopfjaeger wrote:Joey,

I'm still using Circle K's on all my basses. On most I have the balanced .106, .079, .059, .043 set. I do have the .102, .076, .057, .041 on my 65 4001 and the .098, .073, .055, .039 on my 77 4001. Not 100% thrilled with the .098 gauge. They feel too thin.

I have noodled a few of Mark Walker's basses, since they are vacationing at my house. Mark uses DR Sunbeams the med-lite gauge and I like them. I may give them a whirl on a bass to see how they work in a band mix.

I'm in two bands now so my work horses get double the amount of work. I was getting 8-10 months easy on a set of Circle K's with one band. I thought that was pretty good.

Sepp

+1 on Circle K Strings and longevity. I've had the same set (balanced .106) on my 4003 for over two years, and I play that bass 1-3 times a week for several hours at a time. The set sounds a bit broken in, bit still pretty bright!

cassius987 wrote:

woodyng wrote:It would be fun to get our 2 basses together and compare-mine came with Circle K strings,and i think i love them as much or more as the DR's i've used for years.

Totally, I'd love to revisit the Circle Ks some day. It's cool how they have a hybrid wrap (i.e. the outer one is always nickel, the inner wraps are always steel).

Just an FYI: Circle K Strings is now Kalium Strings.

D'Addario introduced a new type of strings at NAMM called, Flex Steel. I'm thinking that these strings were designed to be similar to the DR Hi-Beams.

rickenbrother wrote:

cassius987 wrote:

woodyng wrote:It would be fun to get our 2 basses together and compare-mine came with Circle K strings,and i think i love them as much or more as the DR's i've used for years.

Totally, I'd love to revisit the Circle Ks some day. It's cool how they have a hybrid wrap (i.e. the outer one is always nickel, the inner wraps are always steel).

Just an FYI: Circle K Strings is now Kalium Strings.

I just replaced the daddario strings that came on my 8-string with a balanced set from Kalium. Major improvement in feel,playability,and sound,the bass sounds like a Rick 12-string now. (I did also get a new nut and set up from Chris Benavente,so that also helped!) Kalium's shipment included 4-5 product stickers that read "circle k strings".
So...did you ever get to try any new strings?