a remote diagnosis:

[brycycle]

hi Sergio!

Tony Cabibi was gracious enough to play middleman for me in the purchase of a '73 4001. he received it this week and noted these issues (which seem to be pup related):

2) Someone at some time did SOMETHING to two of the pole pieces on the
bridge pickup. They were removed and re-inserted about an 1/8 of an
inch
away from the original spot.

3) This is the weird part (and I only played the bass for about 5
minutes...) SOMETHING is wrong with the
intonation or one of the pickups is out of phase. The "E" and "A" are
PERFECT and sound like a RIC, the "D" & "G" sound like they are tuned
down (even though the tuner says they are in tune) and sound like a gnarly
PBASS!

any thoughts?

[johnallg]

Bryce,

Seeing no one has jumped in here, I have one idea. Does the two strings that sound different (like a P-Bass) correspond to the two moved pole pieces? Are the moved poles the same RIC button headed nails? If so, could they be magnetized? If not, could they be magnetized or solid metal (more magnetic coupling to the under-coil magnet)?

[rickcrazy]

Well, here I am.
Puzzling... This 1973 4001 treble high-gain pickup is still working after having been tampered with in no uncertain terms... Sheer beginner's luck, I guess hehe. Meaning whoever modded the pickup, of course. Seriously though, how very odd that only both the E and A string on your Rick should sound right... Then again... What kind of pickup is in the neck position on this '73 4001? A high-gain or a toaster?