P-bass 4-2-5 with Ric hb2 pickups

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:23 pm

This is my latest project ... a 4-2-5 p-bass ... with 2 ric hb2 pickups from a 4004cii5 ...

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:52 pm

'Adolph builds a timebomb
And Leo plays with it...' _PG

and Jeff plays with it.

Cool project!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:55 pm

Verrry Purrrty...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:17 pm

thanks ... it should be a real player when it is finished ... it should have a ric-ish sound ...

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:00 pm

Beautiful! I just hope the pickups cover the spacing of the strings!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 2:49 am

On this one, they will, since it is a 4-string neck with 5 strings on it.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:15 am

Man, look at that maple! Looks like someone's been raiding Paul Smith's private stash.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:47 am

the bridge is 2 3/8" and the nut is 1 5/8" this will put the strings inside the effective width of the pickup ... and yes that is a quilted maple top on an alder body ... I got it without pickup routes so I could do my own pickup locations ...

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:43 am

Very nice quilt!
Looks like the RIC pup placement, so she should sound a lot like the 4004 series.
Another fine job, Jeff.

A little off topic, but since the HB2's are in evidence, here goes: since there was a problem covering the total string width on the 4004Cii5's, why didn't RIC use the same pups as found on the earlier 4003s5's? There was no coverage problem with these.
Of course, I understand the wish to keep the HB style for the updated 4004 series look & sound, but why not use the single coils, or even add a cover on the pup so the look was similar?
This question has been bugging me lately & I just wanted to air it out.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:52 am

The string spacing on the 4004/5cii is wider than the 4003S/5.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:35 am

Aah! Too simple of a solution.
I've never had the pleasure of handling either of those models.
Thank you Jeffrey.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:05 pm

The hb1 and hb2 pickups cover a slightly wider spacing than the Ric high gain pickups ...

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:56 pm

We can only hope an improved Cii5 is coming soon.
Well, within a year or so is fine with me. Gotta catch up on those nasty bills

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:26 am

The 4003s5 is basically a 4003 with 5 strings on it. That's where the idea came from to modify a 4-string bass into a 5-string. The 4004Cii5 has a wider neck, because of those who thought the 4003s5 was too tight, however, the pickups were not widened, therefore, causing the problem.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:11 am

the reviews of the cii5 are they did a good job on everything except for the pickups ...