Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I used to have a '81 4000 that had the most fantastic sounding pickup. My '79 4001 de-capped bridge PU didn't even come close (much thinner sounding and not really usable on its own). Does anyone know if the 4000 models were installed with an overwound bridge pickup compared to the 4001 models of the same timeframe? Did RIC specifically overwind the pickup for the single pickup basses?

With the volume and tone pots all the way "up", put a regular cord in the 4000 and with an ohmmeter measure the resistance between the tip and sleeve. Then, on the 4001, with treble vol/tone pots "up", put the same cable into the ROS jack and measure tip to sleeve. What you read will tell you how they are wound. We will all be interested in your results.

It might have just been a hotter higain in the '81.
My 1976 4000 is definitely not overwound.
My '81 4080 seems to have a little more juice.

Complications: the pup from my 4000 currently resides in my 4001 & a SD resides in the 4000.
I'll measure the original 4000 pup (through the ROS jack) & the 4080 pup (also through the ROS jack).

Results to follow.

Oh yeah, the 4001 has the cap removed & the 4080 has the cap jumped.

Okay, the 1976 4000 pup measured 7.22 & the 1981 4080 pup 7.31 with the meter on the 20k ohm setting.
Both of these measured through the normal jack with the switch in the bridge (down) position, due to the funkiness of my wiring repairs to the 4001 ROS jack.
The 4080 has a LOT more low end than the 4000, but that's largely due to body mass. They are both set necks, but the 4080 neck joint is longer. The neck is also thinner by a hair than the 4000, & more narrow than both my other Ricks by a very noticeable margin.

I believe others have pointed out that the 1980's pups were hotter than 1970's pups.

The SD is WAY hotter when set at the same height as a stock pup, BTW. I have to use the active input on the amp.
It's not so bad in a 4000, takes out some highs & adds some lows (mud), but there is so much high end & high mid already present in my 4000 that it's tolerable.

I guess I'll have to rewire that jack. So that's what's causing the extra hum.
That's why I hate soldering & wiring in general: no talent for it.
Oh well, I'll just have to become famous & have roadies & techs do all the hard work for me.

If both pickups measure about the same ohmage on the coils, but one is louder, I can think of three variables that could be the reason; one pup is closer to the strings than the other, one has a bigger or stronger magnet, or the value of the volume/tone pots is different.

Unfortunately I don't have either of the pickups any longer to measure them.

Kevin, does your 4000 have a rout for a neck pickup? That rout takes a hell of a lot of the neck joint wood out.

I wonder if the rubberized magnets on the high-gains weaken over time?

I haven't got any stuff to measure the output with, but my 73 4000, whether having higher output or no, sounds better than any isolated 4001/4003 back pickup I've ever tried. It even sounds way better (IMO) than the 'shoe in my CS (or the one in my previous CS or V63). Of course that could be as much to do with the construction of the bass itself, and ultimately it's a matter of personal taste what sounds great or not. I generally find the older treble pickups a bit nasal and the newer ones a bit muddy, but this is neither. My old 76 4001 (which I'm currently looking after for the owner) used to have a really feeble treble pickup until I took the cap out, then it came alive. It's still not in the same league as my 4000 though, having recently spent some time comparing them. I've never really been happy with the isolated treble pickup on any other Ric I've ever played, but my 4000 sounds great.

Here's a pic of what's "under the hood" on a set neck 4000.
Note the small dimple on the bass side of the joint where a 4001s might have been started had that been ordered.

I think that there's a lot of individuality in Ricks. It's really hard to A/B them.

Wood density plays a part in tone, if not in volume. My 4000 is feather light & very bright, my 4001 is very heavy & quite dark sounding.

The 4080 (cap bypassed, but still in circuit)kicks all others' butts easily. When I tried it first with the cap still active, I thought "Hmmm, not bad", but after bypass, it was like "BOOM"!
A HUGE difference. I cannot possibly stress how much of a leap the tone took. Just incredible sounding, & it plays like a dream.

I remember Sérgio saying he had measured a 4000 pickup that sounded great and it was only around 4.1K

Actually someone else did, but it is true that a Rick-style pickup tightly wound to only 4.0 K will sound fine.

That is because the impedance value is only part of the story. As Sergio said, the way it is wound is just as important.

I will never understand the need for the bass cut cap, especially in 70's 4001s. It literally sucks the life out of the sound and makes basses from that era anemic. The current production with the vintage tone switch have much hotter pickups that can stand up to the cap. In the case of the 4080, they are just plain loud in any setup. Is it the set neck? the massive body? After all, the thing does weigh about 14 pounds. I have talked with respected builders who feel that non-contiguous neck joints actually improve the transmission of fundamental.

So why the #1 claim of the neck-thru crowd being sustain? Is it not the fundamental also ringing longer, or do the harmonics decay faster with a set-neck, leaving predomantly the fundamental?