Replaced HB-1s with Scatterwounds

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 4:31 pm

Tonight I swapped out the HB-1 pickups on my 4004Cii with new Scatterwounds. I am glad I did. As much as the HB-1s sound good and give that modern sound, I buy Rickenbackers for their classic tone and now I have it in this wonderfully crafted bass. If anyone is thinking of doing the same it is easy, just a bit time consuming to do. I suggest that all the O-rings that come with the pickups (6) be used when installing the pickups, three O-rings for each mounting screw. This places the pickup at the proper height and gives adequate range of adjustment. One thing I had to do was loosen the covers of the pickups to realign them so they will fit in the routed out cavity. Another thing to watch for is the way the wires are attached to the base of the pickup makes it easy for the hot lead to short to ground; a little time dressing the wires will be beneficial. I found this out by measuring the DC resistance before mounting the pickups, one was shorted and I looked very carefully with a 8X loupe and found the reason. My pickups measured 6.25k and 6.4k.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 4:59 pm

I tried that on my 4004L ... I tried a toaster neck and a high gain bridge ... It was OK but not a real improvement ...

But I like the toaster on the neck of my 4003s5 ...

philco · Post by **philco** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 10:45 am

Jeffrey, I remember that Bob Young or somebody wanted to try HB-1 pickups in a 4003. That would be cool, a vintage look with a modern tone. The 4003 tone control setup allows individual volume and tone control to each pickup, while the 4004 gangs them together. When playing both pickups together, the neck overshadows the bridge on the 4004, as least on mine, and the bridge pickup is much closer to the strings.

dano · Post by **dano** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:36 pm

I replaced my high gains with HB1's on my '79 4001FL. This gives you all the tone control of a 4001/4003 with the modern RIC sound.

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 5:30 pm

Everybody has a favorite tone and thanks to RICs standard size for it's pickups we all have the opportunity to create our own way of speaking bassically! How nice.

I do find that I can balance out the pickups by bringing the bridge PU very close to the strings and placing the neck PU about 1/4" away, this is with TI flats. YMMV

philco · Post by **philco** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 7:30 pm

I may just get rid of the switch on the 4004 and put a volume knob for the neck pickup there. I don't see the need for separate tone controls, as the neck and bridge pickups are both the same. In effect, it would work just like my OLP MM2 as far as knob operation, but the spreading apart of the individual pickups would allow more tonal variation than the single split humbucker on the MM2 can allow. It allows a continuous blend from full neck to full bridge tone, instead of the 3 choices that the switch gives. I would actually rather have a switch on the tone control (full bass, middle, full treble) than on the pickups. Shaping your basic sound is what the preamp EQ knobs are for, and a single control on the bass cannot replace all those controls. You really only need a volume knob on each pickup, maybe a switch if you change to a single pickup often. A master volume knob would actually be more useful than a tone control, allowing you to maintain the right blend (I want a variable blend, NOT an equal static balance) between the 2 pickups at various volume levels without having to adjust 2 knobs. Too many tone shapers (which are also frequency dependent phase shifters, unlike simple volume pots which turn the whole tonal spectrum up or down equally)in a row just KILLS your tone. Moreso for bass than guitar in my experience, since bass plays cleaner. Since I own a SansAmp RBI, a tone control on the bass OR amp is redundant for me and prevents me from finding my settings on the RBI as easily as when plugging into a clean system. Plugging into an RBI is like having an active preamp in the bass, but even more flexible with dual volume control for a stage monitor and the PA amp or bass amp stack. You can buy 2 RBI's and switch between them instead of dinking with 4 knobs on a bass while playing. People who like the StingRay could go that route instead of upgrading to a Bongo Bass. Two RBI's and a single pickup can get you as much, maybe more, tonal variation as two pickups and a single RBI. Also more tonal variation than between single coils or humbuckers.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:26 am

The next phase in my mods will be two volume controls and I haven't decided what to do with the switch yet, perhaps a preset treble cut or maybe a mute switch for on stage use once the PUs are blende to taste. I don't want to drill out the switch hole in case I wanted to restore the original controls.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:21 am

Jeffrey,
I agree. Wouldn't want to alter the switch hole either if she were my bass.
I don't know if this idea is logical and practical or not.... How about making the switch do the following: mute, normal, low cut (.0047 cap for the treble position toaster or both pickups)? That should work very well with 2 volume controls.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:34 am

By the way, Claudia must look classy with 2 toasters !
Jeffrey, have you considered gold plating the toaster covers to match her tuners and bridge?

docbass · Post by **docbass** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 6:36 am

Never mind, I see that scatterwounds are the toasters. Learn something new everyday!!

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 7:48 am

Yes they are, William.
The current toasters are sometimes refered to as "7.4K Scatterwounds".
From around 2001, RIC uses a coil winder that simulates the hand(?) winding process in the '60s---scatterwounds.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:33 pm

Paul,

Actually, since the classic toasters have always been chrome, at least to my knowledge, I was thinking of seeing if anyone out there with a 4004L would like to swap all their chrome hardware for my gold hardware. I think a Jetglo Laredo would look really great with gold hardware. Anyone interested?

docbass · Post by **docbass** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:41 am

Thanks for the info guys. I'm still hunting for pups. The DeArmonds I bought didn't work out, way too large for the size of the bass body I'm working with. They'd look pretty overpowering if I installed even one of them.

I love the toaster look. How much different is the tone between the HB1s and the toasters? I'm still torn between the two types!

docbass · Post by **docbass** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 9:15 am

OK, I did it. I ordered 2 toasters for my semi-hollow bass project. Now, should I use 250 or 500K pots for them? I'm only using a blend control and a volume, so it's gonna be a simple circuit. I also don't want to use any bass cut caps either.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:09 pm

Great, you will love the toasters. May I suggest you use two volume controls instead of the panpot as with a panpot you are, in effect, running each pickup through two volume controls in series. I do not know what that does for the sound but you did say you wanted a simple circuit. As to what to use, 250k is what you want for the toasters.