Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Great timing. I was just about to do this today.

Thanks John!

You might also like to read this thread:
http://www.rickenbacker.com/forum_view_thread.asp?forum=Just_Basses&thread_name=New%20Feature!!!!&thread_id=1171&Page=2

Goodluck Greg!

Thanks for the welcome and glad I could help out with the drawing. It is really an easy changeover so don't be shy about attempting. You can wire it either cap in or cap out when the knob is down according to preference. Just change the wire going to the end to the other end of the new switch.

I have been known to lurk at the RIC forums but I have been reading these for quite some time.

I worked with a friend of mine at work to get this done...a hardware engineer who is good at soldering and understands this stuff better than I do. We replaced the treble volume pot with the new switch and wired in the cap. Put it back together and voila! What a difference (I brought in my amp so we could hear what the difference was)! My friend wired it so 'in' was without the cap and 'out' is with the cap (I wanted it reversed but oh well).

The only problem is the new pot is hitting the bottom of the wiring hole, so the pickguard is sticking up about 1/8". So we got our machining expert in, who did a few measurements and found the there is over 1/4" of wood to work with. He wanted a certain bit for his drill press so he can cut a perfectly smooth section out of the wiring hole (without going through!!!), so he's going to bring it in tomorrow and cut it for me. Just a bit nervous about that!!

So on the new Ricks they must cut a deeper hole for the wiring, to fit this new pot in there.

Tonight I went and read the thread about this on the Ric site. I hope that we did it right and we don't hear the "pops" that John Hall was talking about. I'll just have to try it out and see.

Keeping my fingers crossed until we're done tomorrow!

John was talking about the way I originally had it drawn - the way the diagram is now is the way the factory is wiring it. Shouldn't pop.

Did it! Had to cut about 1/8" out of the body to get the new switch to seat perfectly, but we were careful with a drill press, and it worked out great.

I am getting a little static sometimes right when I push or pull the knob. Not sure if that's normal. Otherwise it seems good. It does sound alot different with the cap in the circuit. Without the cap there's a much deeper tone.

Glad that's over

So... do you like the new tone?

I kind of like the deeper tone better (without the cap), but I'll have to see over time what the benefits of each are.

I mostly use the cap in (which is why I wired it so the switch is down when the cap is in) but I also altered my bridge pup (unwound to 7.8k) so there is a tonal difference from a high gain anyway. Its all personal tone preferences anyway!

So let me get this straight. This new option with the push/pull switch is nothing but capping and uncapping...like switching back and forth between an old capped 4001 and the new uncapped 4003?

Yeah, that's exactly it! You can add it yourself. I'm no electronics whiz, but I managed to do it. I prefer the capped sound, but sometimes like the added option of the uncapped sound.

Well. I did the mod, no practice amp at home tonite, oh, I just realized the Xt live and headphones will let me test it... The pot is a tad long, even for a 2004, so I didn't tighten down real hard on the screw closest to the bulge. It's not too bad, but the next time I take my bass in, I'll have rout a touch out so there won;t be a bulge. I took the washer off the inside and bent the tab so I'm maybe 1/16 bulged right at the bottom. I will let you know this weekend how it goes. I play Friday and Sunday both this week so it'll get a good work out.

One piece of advice, get a few inches of heat shrink for the cap leads. Mine are bare, so we'll see if there is any noise added, but the rest of the leads have shrink on them. Oh, and I just ran the cap lead through the pot terminal and up to the switch terminal. No need to run another wire from my perspective.

Ok, I played the mod at church tonight. One BIG problem. The volume gets cut almost in half when switching to the cap. SO... you can't switch during songs, just between. Also, I found myself digging in to much on attacks. With this 4-2-5, Chromes and the mod, it doesn't have the overtones of rounds, but the mids are WAY up!

I can't even imagine playing the mod with rounds! I did notice that if I blended with the neck pu in and adjusted about 3/4 to not overpower the bridge, it sounded cool, but it's very easy to get hooked on that middy(not midi) sound!

I know what you mean! About the change in volume. I CAN switch mid song. I'm pretty good at changing volume and tone on the fly, don't even have to look. I got quick hands. Took me about 2 years to master it, but I can change vol and tone whenever.
The trick is to practice songs and incorporate any volume and tone changes so it becomes second nature!
When you change to the cap sound, just nudge up the volume with a spare finger. Watch Geddy Lee, he has it down to a fine art......

I was already maxed! I need to incorporate my XT live into the equation and then it wouldn't be an issue!!! I am just not comfortable with the pod yet. In fact, I'm scared of trying it again. I feel like such an idiot when I can't figure it out. I'm a computer guy for cryin out loud!