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Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:15 pm
by woodyng
That pickup array looks formidable! Cool looking bass,love the swirled pickguard look on that blue..
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:06 am
by aceonbass
Thanks Joey & Woody. The bass is wired so that the neck position on the switch is the paired humbuckers (which are in the 4002 positions) with the bridge position being the RIHS. Cap and pot values correspond to the type of pickups used on each channel. Since this pic was taken I now have a matching truss rod cover and the tuners have been swapped for Gotohs with a Hipshot drop D tuner for the E string. I was going for kind of a Lemmy inspired "4003LK II".
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:14 am
by sloop_john_b
Is the middle position all 3 pickups? I would love to take that bass for a spin.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:36 am
by aceonbass
Yes, in the middle position you get all three pickups, but I find I get a more distinct tone if I keep the HB's separate from the RIHS.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:46 am
by aceonbass
This 3000 was a basket case when I got ten years or so ago. After all the mods, including reshaping the body like a 600 series Rick, converting it to a 5-string, and having it shot with a fireglow finish, I sold it to move on a try other ideas. The bass ended up in a music store in Japan that listed it as a Rickenbacker prototype!
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:53 am
by aceonbass
This is one of the last 5-string conversions I did. It's a 2010 4004. The tailpiece/bridge assembly has been completely reworked for wider spacing and strings that go straight to the rear of the tailpiece without the any of the usual side pull. The bass is now in Canada with it's current owner. He also has a 4003S5, and says this is the best playing 5-string he's ever had.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:07 am
by aceonbass
This bass started out life as a 4004L that was sent to me with pickups in the lowered position that had truss rod issues that, once dealt with, needed a creative solution to covering them up. This is what I came up with. A modified version of a '57 4000 guard with HB1's in the 4002 positions. The bassically stock 4003 style wiring has humbucker appropriate components with volume controls that double as push-pull coil taps. Woody Cross is the current owner. He swapped out the chrome hardware for gold, and added vintage knobs.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:17 am
by aceonbass
8mileshigher wrote:Woah - oh - oh - oh !!! Dane ! You've got that many 8-string customs jobs or are those ones you put together for other clients ??

Rich, the cream colored one is mine, while the other 3 were done simultaneously for other clients. The two JG 8's have made an appearance here, while the one on the far right underwent further mods after it left me and is now with it's owner in China.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:23 am
by admin
Makes me want to customize my 4003! Nice work here Dane.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:16 am
by T.A.R.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:55 pm
by woodyng
Dane,Thanks for posting my pic of the Laredo's latest incarnation. i really love it,I've been experimenting more with the coil-tapped modes in my raucous band,and it has a really nice warm clank to it,not quite as brazen as the 4000's. When you and John Luke first presented it here,i was gobsmacked! It really has so many features i love taken from different Ric basses,ie,love the 4002 pickup positions,the 50's picguard shape,and the neck profile and feel of the Laredo. My MG Cii is customised as well,since it got the chrome hardware from the L,has VVT with a 3rd chrome knob,coil tapping,a deer antler nut,and a gold-painted TRC.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:46 am
by rickreck
My '00 4003S/8
1.Bridge pup S.Duncan SRB-1b
2.4001V63 mountring
3.added 21st fret
4.removed neck pup and VT
5.Create a new pickguard with aluminum
6.I'm currently using as 4strings bass

- There is still surface protection
This great instrument was born in your country is doing well on the other side of the Pacific Ocean far
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:48 pm
by MusicScholar
rickreck wrote:My '00 4003S/8
1.Bridge pup S.Duncan SRB-1b
2.4001V63 mountring
3.added 21st fret
4.removed neck pup and VT
5.Create a new pickguard with aluminum
6.I'm currently using as 4strings bass
022.JPG
This great instrument was born in your country is doing well on the other side of the Pacific Ocean far
I like your custom bass.
Re: show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:10 pm
by aceonbass
Why would anyone take half the strings off of an 8-string bass
show your custom bass!!!
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:23 pm
by 8mileshigher
aceonbass wrote:This bass started out life as a 4004L that was sent to me with pickups in the lowered position that had truss rod issues that, once dealt with, needed a creative solution to covering them up. This is what I came up with. A modified version of a '57 4000 guard with HB1's in the 4002 positions. The bassically stock 4003 style wiring has humbucker appropriate components with volume controls that double as push-pull coil taps. Woody Cross is the current owner. He swapped out the chrome hardware for gold, and added vintage knobs.

- Rickenbacker%204004%20V57%20L.jpg (15.35 KiB) Viewed 2649 times
Woody brought this customized beauty to the BARC Confluence, and it is an eye-catcher for sure ! ! !
Real nice work on this one, Dane ! !