HB pickups

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:48 am

I been thinking of converting one of my 4001's to the HB pickups. I have a couple of questions for the forum tech gurus.
1. Can I just replace the 4001 pickups with HB pickups without regards to the volume and tone pots, PUP selector switch etc.?
2. Is there a way to place it in the bridge position? How much mods do I have to do?
3. Will it work to mix a HB in the neck position and the standard 4001 PUP?
4. Anybody have any used HB's they are selling?

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:21 pm

1. Yes
2. Screw it down to the plastic base plate.
3. Yes
4. Not right now.

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:38 pm

Thanks Ted.

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:44 pm

Although the HB1 can be screwed down on the base plate, in order to make it sit level on the plate, it would be a good idea to use one of the sponge rubber pickup pads that RIC sells between the pickup and base plate.

wmthor · Post by **wmthor** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:04 pm

If anybody needs them, I think that I have at least 2 (maybe 4) of the rubber pickups pads at the house. I'm in Dallas through Friday, but will check to see what I have when I get home.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:10 pm

The base plate of the hb pickups are made for a wood screw ... you will need to modify or swap out the base plate for one that accepts a sheet metal screw if you want to use it for a neck pickup on a 4003 ...

The hb pickups are a good option for someone who wants a 4003/4001 that has no hum and has a thicker sound.

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:47 pm

With the pickup assembled, I just tap the mounting holes for 8/32 fine thread screws.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:26 pm

a trick that I have used is to superglue 2 nuts to the underside of the base plate so it will have the threads for a metal screw ...

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:30 pm

I thought there was a difference in the vol pots used on rick basses, single coil-250K, hb-500K.
While I've brought this up, has anyone(Jeff) considered trying 1meg ohm vol pots with the hb's, supposedly this might give a brighter sound or would it be too harsh?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:47 pm

yes you are right ... a good rule of thumb is single coil should have 250k ohm pots and double coil should have 500k ohm pots ... but that is not an absolute ... and yes I have 2 basses wired right now with 1000k ohm pots ... my 93 4004L 4-2-5 and my 93 2050 4-2-5 it makes the bass brighter and harsher and colder sounding ... but if you want to experiment with different pickups on a 4001/4003 then don't rewire the pots for that experiment ... also as per recent info I received from John Hall the 4001/4003 made before 1990 have 500k ohm tone pots and 250k ohm volume pots ... from 1990 to 2005 the 4003 had all 250k ohm pots and in 2006 the 4003 has 330k ohm tone pots ...

On p-basses and jazz basses I find 250k ohm pots sound best reguardless of the pickup type ...

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:22 pm

"from 1990 to 2005 the 4003 had all 250k ohm pots"

I just measured the tone pot out of my 2004 4003 (the tone switch mod removal) and it was 182.2k ohms. Your statement backs up that reading, and clarifies John's posting the following in the "7342 and 7341 Potentiaometer values?" (SIC) thread. (

"330K pots have been our universal standard for some time now, used in all models except where vintage accuracy requires something else."

I took the statement "for some time now" to mean further back than 2006. I knew mine was not 330k.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:33 pm

I don't know the exact date the 330k ohm tone pot was introduced on the 4003 ... I assume it was when the vintage tone circuit was introduced ...

but that timeline explains why my 1990 4003s5 sounded better than my 1989 4003s5 ...

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:44 pm

It got me thinking - my neck pup has a 250k (actually probably more like 182k) tone pot and the bridge is a 500k tone pot. That would shift the neck pups tone controlling point up in frequency...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:50 pm

those tone pot numbers explain why my 73 4001 sounded so good also ... I put a modern 250k ohm wiring assembly in it without the capacitor and the original pickups ... and it also explains why my 1968 4001 had a lot of treble bite when I installed 4003 high gains ...

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:18 pm

Progress report:
I installed an HB1 in the neck position of my '78 4001. The mounting screws (as Jeff pointed out) are for wood screws. The funny thing is one screw from my 4001 fit the other did not. I found a temporary screw so it's ok for now. First thing I noticed is there was NO hum at all in the neck PUP. Switching to the bridge PUB (standard hi-gain from '78) there was considerable hum.
The HB1 has a nice round bass sound and cuts off in the upper frequencies. Mixing it with the bridge hi gain was nice. Still sounds like a Ric.

I need some help:
How can I best secure the neck PUB? Earlier in the thread, Dane, you suggested to tap the holes for a 8/32 screws. I don't have a clue on how to do that. What do I need, and how do I do it?

Ted suggested I mount the bridge PUB by mounting it to a plastic base plate. It looks as if the current hi gain base plate does not come off. Does anybody have suggestions on where to get (or make) a base plate?

Thanks!