Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Isaac wrote:Me playing my white 4000 at a party yesterday (06/25/2016)

Nice! ( i got one,2!)
So did you add the neck pickup yourself?

Me at a gig last year with my '95 4001v63....

Always do!

DriftSpace wrote:

ElinPalmer29th.jpg

Sean's Mood Maidens?

Gotta ask: What is the instument the seated woman is playing? TIA

DriftSpace wrote:

ElinPalmer29th.jpg

Intrigued by the (4001?)'s headstock binding.

woodyng wrote:

DriftSpace wrote:

ElinPalmer29th.jpg

Intrigued by the (4001?)'s headstock binding.

Hmm. Gotta be a Mapleglo 4002. Unless custom binding was added to the headstock. Any other shots to show the bass better?

bassduke49 wrote:

woodyng wrote:

DriftSpace wrote:

ElinPalmer29th.jpg

Intrigued by the (4001?)'s headstock binding.

Hmm. Gotta be a Mapleglo 4002. Unless custom binding was added to the headstock. Any other shots to show the bass better?

Not a 4002, it looks to be painted a solid white and the pickguard is shaped like that on a 4001/3.

bassduke49 wrote:Gotta ask: What is the instument the seated woman is playing? TIA

Got to show off my nerdiness: a nyckelharpa

woodyng wrote:Intrigued by the (4001?)'s headstock binding.

It's a PW-restored 4003 in pearl white; I had the binding added in the style of a 4002.

jps wrote:Sean's Mood Maidens?

Ha! Yeah, that photo does make it look like everyone is thinking about some serious stuff.
The band is called "Elin Palmer and Light Racket".

electrofaro wrote:Got to show off my nerdiness: a nyckelharpa

She gets that question literally every time she's on stage, and that is indeed the answer.
She comes by it honestly; she's a Swedish native.

woodyng wrote:Nice! ( i got one,2!)
So did you add the neck pickup yourself?

Kinda sorta.

I bought the bass new back in 1977. The store I bought it from suggested some modifications. They put in a brass nut (brass nuts were all the rage back then, and the nut was miscut at the factory, anyway), a Badass bridge (they botched that. The idea was to rout out the body, because the Badass is taller than a Ric bridge and needs to be lowered, and install a block of rosewood for more sustain. But the rosewood block was either too small or they put it in the wrong place. I've been saying for forty years that I ought to get that fixed), active electronics and a Hi-A pickup in the neck position. The pickup was originally designed to go in the mute compartment of the Ric bridge. Sounded pretty good. So no, I didn't install the original neck pickup myself.

Eventually the handmade active electronics failed. I was in the Navy by then, so the bass languished for a long time. Rather than repair the electronics, I pulled them out and went passive. Then, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to try the Seymour Duncan humbuckers. I bought a set and installed them. I had to expand the body rout a little bit, as well as enlarge the hole on the pickguard. So yes, I did install the neck pickup it has now.

How do the SDs sound? Pretty fat. Not a terribly Ric kind of sound at all. But it has a sound of its own, and played through my Sunn Model T amp and speakers, it really suits the high energy classic rock band I use it in.

Isaac wrote:

woodyng wrote:Nice! ( i got one,2!)
So did you add the neck pickup yourself?

Kinda sorta.
I bought the bass new back in 1977. The store I bought it from suggested some modifications. They put in a brass nut (brass nuts were all the rage back then, and the nut was miscut at the factory, anyway), a Badass bridge (they botched that. The idea was to rout out the body, because the Badass is taller than a Ric bridge and needs to be lowered, and install a block of rosewood for more sustain. But the rosewood block was either too small or they put it in the wrong place. I've been saying for forty years that I ought to get that fixed), active electronics and a Hi-A pickup in the neck position. The pickup was originally designed to go in the mute compartment of the Ric bridge. Sounded pretty good. So no, I didn't install the original neck pickup myself.
Eventually the handmade active electronics failed. I was in the Navy by then, so the bass languished for a long time. Rather than repair the electronics, I pulled them out and went passive. Then, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to try the Seymour Duncan humbuckers. I bought a set and installed them. I had to expand the body rout a little bit, as well as enlarge the hole on the pickguard. So yes, I did install the neck pickup it has now.
How do the SDs sound? Pretty fat. Not a terribly Ric kind of sound at all. But it has a sound of its own, and played through my Sunn Model T amp and speakers, it really suits the high energy classic rock band I use it in.

Ah yes,brass nuts.. ...had a few of those on my basses over the years. My reason in asking about the neck pickup install was curiosity about whether there was already a factory rout done. My 4000 doesn't have one.
I used a set of the SD Rick pickups in a pawnshop 4002 for 10 years,and concur about the sound of them. I just bought a '77 Yamaha BB1200 bass that had the badass installed,unfortunately the BB has a wider string spacing than that bridge can accomodate. Badasses,brass nuts,and active electronics were all the rage back then....

woodyng wrote:Ah yes,brass nuts.. ...had a few of those on my basses over the years. My reason in asking about the neck pickup install was curiosity about whether there was already a factory rout done. My 4000 doesn't have one.
I used a set of the SD Rick pickups in a pawnshop 4002 for 10 years,and concur about the sound of them. I just bought a '77 Yamaha BB1200 bass that had the badass installed,unfortunately the BB has a wider string spacing than that bridge can accomodate. Badasses,brass nuts,and active electronics were all the rage back then....

Yep, all the rage. And it served me well. I made my living with that bass for a few years.

I'm pretty sure that there was no neck pickup rout on the bass originally. I base that on the fact that it's a set neck bass rather than neck through and that I had to expand the rout to fit the SD. Of course, I could be wrong.

Sam from New Sofa Studios in PA posted these on his Instagram of me recording bass this past weekend. Awesome guy and takes great pics!