Removing horseshoe magnets on horseshoe pickup?

lucien · Post by **lucien** » Fri Jan 12, 2001 4:32 pm

Hi,
Can the horseshoe magnets be non-destructively removed from the horseshoe bridge pickup? I have an opportunity to buy a new 4001v63 for about the price of a new 4003, but my playing style doesn't permit the horseshoe magnets to be there.

I'll replace the pickup with a regular bridge one if necessary, but if you can simply remove the magnets off the original without screwing the pickup up too bad, I'll just do that.

Anyone know?

Thanks,
LS

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Fri Jan 12, 2001 6:47 pm

Yes you can ...I have not done this for anyone but...I think that you will need to replace the screws that mount the whole thing together.I would get screws that are stainless steel (these are available at most hardware stores )in the same thread and then re-assemble .

You can do this or make a spacer out of some non ferrous material and that will take up the slack .

The horseshoes do officially make a difference ,but the real magnets are indeed the polepieces.It will sound different from the standpoint that the magnetic field is now different than with the horseshoes.How much different ...I don't know .BUT!!! There are plenty of guys that have done this and not one of them has been institutionalized for it .(Put away in the loonie bin)

lucien_s. · Post by **lucien_s.** » Fri Jan 12, 2001 9:05 pm

Ok, thanks for the tip. I"m assuming there are screws underneath somewhere holding the assembly together? I couldn't see anything from the diagram of the pickup off the rick website.

But the bass itself is too magnificent to pass up despite the pickup, especially now that they don't make it anymore. I'm taking my G&L fretless down there tomorrow to see what kind of trade deal I can work out. I love the G&L, but being fretless, I use it the least...

LS

Steven_Brence · Post by **Steven_Brence** » Wed Jan 17, 2001 11:48 pm

Hi,

I have a '99 4003 and I want to replace the original bridge pickup with a vintage reissue horseshoe. Would you like to arrange a trade? I am told that you can simply swap the pickups without changing the pickup surround. If you are interested, send me an email.

Steven Brence
[email protected]

whitfordstholmes · Post by **whitfordstholmes** » Fri May 18, 2001 8:44 pm

Mark/Lucien S./anyone with a 4001:
I have the CS4001 and have the same dilemma- love the bass but the horseshoe magnets get in the way. Has anybody recently performed the operation successfully? Any advice? I really like this bass and want to gig with it, but I don't want to mess around with it this will harm it.

v63 · Post by **v63** » Sat May 19, 2001 8:04 am

It's a simple mod. You may need shorter screws if you're not using a spacer to make up the depth difference.

whitfordstholmes · Post by **whitfordstholmes** » Sun May 20, 2001 3:25 pm

Thanks for the advice- operation was successful, and I haven't noticed any significant difference in sound. Used washers as spacers and seems to work just fine.