Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Guys I'm new here and I just picked up a new amber fireglow 4003, and I love the bass, but I can't stand the high gain neck pickup because it's just to muddy to me. I grew up playing 4001s with the toaster, but it looks like every one is out of stock on them now, so does any one have an idea of where to find one or if anything can be done to the pickup in the bass?

Welcome Roy!

I suppose you could unwind the neck hi-gain so it reads more in the 6-8K Ohms range.

Jeff..wasamadda you?..after the welcome, when they announce a new bass into the world..gotta ask for day pics!

Welcome Roy...if you give us pics, we give you answers...happy holidays!

I jut got a new AFG 4003 - it's my first Rick bass actually - and my neck pickup sounds fine to me. But then, I've also got the adjustable hi-gains and have adjusted them so they could out punch Mohammad Ali, Sonny Liston, George Foreman, and Mike Tyson all together. If you have the new adjustable hi-gains, you might try tinkering with them - it just takes an allen wrench. I had actually planned on moving the neck pickup to the 1/2" spacing and installing a toaster, but I think it sound fan(f)Rickentastic as it is. But that's me, my bass, my playing, my amp, my taste, and my ears. Toasters do turn up on ebay now and then, too, so I'd keep a look out there. Or place a post in the Rickenbackers Wanted section of this here forum.

Here are some pics of me and the bass in action last week in Olympia:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtoly/page8/

And here's a picture of our guitarist playing my bass, and me playing his guitar. Unfortunately it's among the best pics of the bass because he stands still more than I do!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtoly/326808823/

very nice AFG!

Hi Roy,
Merry Christmas, and welcome to the Forum, Fireglo, and the new Amber Fireglo are possibly (well they are) the nicest Ric colours.

As for the neck pickup sounding muddy, how's the height of the pickup ?

Thanks for the tips guys. I've done a lot of tweeking with the height (and the poles) on the adjustable neck pickup, but it just won't get the sound I want. I should say I love the vintage sound with the push-pull on the bridge pickup, but the Ric sound I love is with both pickups on using the vintage bridge setting, but when I do that the neck just does not have the detail the old toasters did. I thought about unwinding it, but has any one tried this?
Here's a photo of my bass. I've got to say Ric did good on this one, because it plays and rings better than any of the late 60s early 70s 4001s I've ever owned or played, now I just need to get her to sound that way through an amp.

Let's try that photo again.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Rbowen/30800-2.jpg

Do you back off the neck pickup's volume a bit? I always do as the neck seems to predominate if you don't and makes the bass sound very bassy without definition.

Very nice AFG's guys!

I'm thinking it's more of an amp issue than a pickup issue.
Roy, if your amp has a parametric or sweepable mid, try boosting the low mid around the 250k region.
I always found my '77 4001 quite dark sounding until I read the suggestion here about that low mid boost. I recently installed the pre-wired control harness from RIC with the same 330k pots that are in the 4003 & the sound is pretty close to perfect!

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Welcome, Roy. I found, like you, I prefered the clarity of the toaster over the output of the high gain. You have two choices - try and find a toaster or get about 90% of the way there by unwinding your high gain to around 7.4-7.5k ohms DC resistance. I have done this and it works and sounds very close - the difference is in the magnet types.

Yeah, the bobbins are almost identical, so unwinding the hi-gain gets you very close.

It all just comes down to owning only toaster Rics and no matter how I try I don't like the high gain neck (they bridge I really like), but of all times to get this bass it has to be when no one has any pickups (or covers) for sale. I would unwind this one and change the magnets in a second, but still I'd need a toaster cover.

Roy, remember the toasters have 6 pole pieces; the bass high gain only 4. If you decide to change out the magnet and pole pieces, drop me an email.

Thanks John, I'll keep that in mind. I'm about to give up for the time, because no one in the world has a cover let alone a pickup they will part with, and Ric looks like they have forgot all about making parts.