Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Kind of a vague dumb question, I know. Still having never seen nor heard a 4004, I have to start my research somewhere.

I love my 4003, but I'm looking to add the tonal range of one of the high end Jazz Bass clones to my pallette. Before I go down that road,does a 4004 sound like a humbucker equipped JB?

Hi Jeff.

You can get a rough idea of what my 4004Cii sounds like here:

http://www.myspace.com/zutty

I find that my 4004 is a little darker, grittier than my 4003

Thank you. That's exactly the type of response I'm looking for.

hey Michael, wicked tunes man! they rule!

Your compositions and playing are excellent, but your sound is not what I expected.

You've gone for a sound I describe as "mah-wow". A darker (like you said) complex P-Bass tone. Defintely more foundation than lead. Not dull by any means but not brassy like expected out of a Ric. I must consider your finger style impact on the sound versus my pick style, though.

When I compare the passive Jazz Basses I've played to my 4003, JBs are smoother at the bridge. The harmonics are not as complex but still quite edgy. What I love about my 4003 is the combination of the neck and bridge. Obviously I'm influenced by Chris Squire. Kind of dark meets the light. : ) The JB sound I'm going for is like that of Dave Hope from Kansas.

Your 4004's neck pickup is much nicer sounding (to me) than a JB's. I'll bet with the right adjustments. It could do Hope's sound with more depth due the neck pup's position.

Do I make any sense?

The 4004 has 2 series humbucker pickups ... this makes it sound like a cross between a p-bass and jazz bass with some 4003 tone thrown it ... part of the 4001/4003 sound is the single coil pickups ... so the 4004 will sound different than the 4003 ...

you can hear sound bytes from various basses here ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/hear.htm

I've got and kept a 4004Ci because of it's darker tones than my 4003. With roundwounds on it, it can clank but in a fuller deeper way. With flats, it can do the sound Mike gets. I use Chromes on mine. Playing with the volume and tone pots (I have stacked V/T pots and the pup switch on mine) you can get the brighter Jazz sound fairly close.

Thanks, Matthew! I appreciate the kind words.

Jeff H., I think you make good sense. Just to let you know, there are no effects employed on that demo, that's basically straight 4004 tone. I think you can get a more brassy tone out of the 4004 than what you hear from me, especially if you undertake the volume-volume-tone mod mentioned elsewhere on this forum.

Also, the neck pickups on the 4004s are now flush against the fingerboard. Mine [2004] has the neck pickup about 1 1/4" away.

Great tunes!
It would also be helpful to hear a 4004 with toasters, & higains installed.

Don't have any clips, but after a year and a half playing a Laredo all I can say is...

WOW!

At first I was wondering...as you mentioned Jeffery "darker complex p-bass tone"...I was happy - I liked flats on my 4001, but I rarely got that "Rick" sound.

But after about a year I started to learn how to tweak the amp, and now I'm getting the BEST sound (IMO) I've ever gotten. It's rich and deep, and has that Rick sparkle on top of it.

Basically I nudge the highs and lows on the EQ, and do a little cut in the lower mids. From what I've found that lets the Rick sparkle come through and keeps that deep bass vibe the 4004 produces.

I have a 2004, so that's the "trebly" PU arrangement:

*WARNING* Dabbling in the dark art of 4004 playing could result in a condition that causes you to drill holes and modify what many people consider to be a perfectly fine bass right from the factory. Once this condition sets in the sale of all your 4003's(to feed your habit) will result in you wondering if you've lost your mind.

Mark, How does the conversion to single coils sound on the flamed one?

Thanks for the responses.

I like the description that 4004s have a darker tone with the ability with eq'ing a light Ric "sparkle" on top. That's a good description of a PJ pickup orientation of a Sadowsky Metro Vintage.

From the pics it appears the rear pup is pretty far from the bridge. I can see why the highs would not be as prominent. I love the look of Mark's white one BTW.

My 4003 covers the "balls out" sound. The 4004 looks like a good compliment. It's just so hard to find one around Milwaukee.

Toasters are slighly brighter with a touch more clarity, the hb's sound good though, darker with a nice growl. Either setup needs to be run with VVT or concentric pots to get the most out of the pickups. Plenty of lows with either toasters or hb's.