1965 4001 needs a bit of TLC

[marc61]

shoe shopping:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

[sloop_john_b]

shoe shopping:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

[chefothefuture]

shoe shopping:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

+1

Most of those are 1.5" shoes anyway, and the ones with 1.25" shoes are just too nice to butcher.
A royally messed up 100 on the other hand……

[Kopfjaeger]

Agreed. Those all look like the wider shoes. I do not want to "butcher" a classic lap steel for it's shoes. I have found a pair of vintage correct shoes and I'll be honest, I don't know where they came from. I think we can all agree that this needed a donor pair of shoes but not at the expense of a classic lap steel.

Sepp

[jps]

Good move, Sepp.

On the other hand, 1 1/2" horseshoe pickups can be used successfully on a 4000 series bass. Exhibit X:

[Kopfjaeger]

Jeff,

Yup, Marks bass very cool!! I needed the narrower later model shoes to fit in the surround. I really was not interested in trying to find someone to trim and eight off of both sides of a pair of shoes. That would suck!!

Sepp

[Colonel Sanders]

Good move, Sepp.

On the other hand, 1 1/2" horseshoe pickups can be used successfully on a 4000 series bass. Exhibit X:

Did Mark paint this bass himself? It is a very cool one!

[Ashgray]

Like many others who don't own an early 4001, I've been hankering after that real authentic sound produced by a vintage horsie, and have just achieved it! I was lucky enough to get hold of a horsie courtesy of Tony "optic nerve" Matura (via Ebay), who had one from an old lap steel that still retains a strong magnetic field in the horse-shoe surrounds. I've just finished the solder job in fitting it into my 4001 v63 and WOW! What a difference from the vintage re-issue horsie fitted as standard to v63s, which produced a reasonably close sound but it's really no substitute for this one!

If you can't get hold of an original horsie, I'd say from my experience that an old lap steel pup is the way to go!

Ash

[cjj]

Dang, now I really DO want one...

[jps]

...that real authentic sound produced by a vintage horsie, and have just achieved it!.....I've just finished the solder job in fitting it into my 4001 v63 and WOW! What a difference from the vintage re-issue horsie fitted as standard to v63s, which produced a reasonably close sound but it's really no substitute for this one!.

Ash

Yes, they do have that sound, don't they? Difficult to explain in words, you just have to hear it, really.

Hope this helps, CJ?

[cjj]

Umm... yeah...


Actually, I've been wanting one for quite a while, but then RIC came out with another batch of RIHS pickups and John Hall said they went to a lot of trouble to get the sound very close, so I got one of those. And yeah, I like the sound, but reports like this have gotten me thinking that it's really not the same thing. And so, dang, now I really DO want one...

[Kopfjaeger]

CJ,

I've never played a re-issue horseshoe bass. Snow White had original shoes on a Silva wound pup. The tone was awesome! I really can't wait to get the "65" back to OEM and see if the tone is better than Snow White.

Sepp

[teeder]

I really like the sound of the RIHS, but it doesn't come close to the vintage sound of the real magnetic shoe pu's.

[opticnerve]

The sound is thunderous, with more presence, grunt and, well, more of everything that makes a vintage 4001 sound as they do. Our guitarist is in for some ear-rattling competition during our next gig!


Ash

That's great Ash!!! It sounds like it successfully re-creates the sound of the pickup it was modeled after, the pu in my '62 4000.

Enjoy your new sound!

[Ashgray]

All down to you Tony, for having the foresight and ability to put that pup together - many thanks!

Ash