Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Im installing guitar High Gains in my 4004Cii 4-2-5 . Anybody done this already ?

Got mine on the way and will try it any day now.

Keep in mind the hi-gain PU has individual polepieces for the (normally) 4 strings, so you may have balance issues (or not) using them on a fiver. I woould put toasters on that bass like I did when I had my 4004Cii.

I tried high gains on my Laredo 4-2-5 ... I changed the pickups from 4 poles to 5 poles. I had 2 problems. The strings hit the pole pieces and the pickups sounded harsh. To keep the strings off of the pole pieces you can route the pickup holes a little deeper and lower the pickups. Or you can use toasters. Or you can take 6 pole high gain pickups and remove the poles and put in short rods and put on a toaster cover. (I really want to try that last option on a blue 4004L 4-2-5 someday) To keep the pickups from sounding harsh you will need to replace the 500k ohm pots with 250k ohm pots.

The main reason I don't have single coil pickups on my 2 4004 4-2-5 basses is that when wired in a VVT configuration the hb1 pickups sound pretty good.

But some day I do want to get a 4004 and have it with 2 single coil pickups.

Also you might try a pair of the new high gains with 6 adjustable pole pieces. It won't look right but they will cover 5 strings very evenly.

jwr2 wrote:Or you can take 6 pole high gain pickups and remove the poles and put in short rods and put on a toaster cover. (I really want to try that last option on a blue 4004L 4-2-5 someday)

This is pretty much the route I'm going to try. I had a very unsatisfactory show last weekend tone-wise with the 4004. The first show since I 4-2-5'd it. It reminded me of the description Charly had of the tone in another thread some time ago about the bass. There could be a million different things not even related to the bass that night working against my sound, but I'd like to give this a try. Especially since it's reversible (just go back to the HBs). And my problems were not just on the B and G strings. The middle strings sounded equally bad, especially toward the middle of the neck.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the bass. Nothing majorly wrong with it, just some unpleasantries in the evening's performance I'd like to mess around with. Heck, it could all point to my amp setup being an issue with this bass. But a couple pickups is a cheaper experiment than a new amp. I'm just having fun with the bass at the moment trying different things.

jps wrote:Keep in mind the hi-gain PU has individual polepieces for the (normally) 4 strings, so you may have balance issues (or not) using them on a fiver. I woould put toasters on that bass like I did when I had my 4004Cii.

Wouldn't guitar high gains be the same pole-wise as the toasters (6 poles)? That's what I have on the way.

When I first bought Jeff' Scott's Cii (pictured above) it had the toasters already installed and I had never heard what an HB1 pickup sounded like. I converted it to a five string and was still fairly pleased by the sound with the toasters until I bought a Laredo and got my first taste of HB1 power. The HB1 is a fuller, thicker sounding pickup and may not cut through like a 4001 in a band situation unless you are willing to do some mods. First off, I just think the B string on a five string 4004 just sounds better with the HB's vs. the toasters. It gives the B string some balls that the toaster can't and because of that I put HB's back in the Cii. The second thing I did was go to Vol Vol Tone controls with 500K(Vol) and 1000K(tone) pots. Jeff Rath recommends this and it really brings some clarity to the HB1. Finally, you can increase your clarity even more by using amps that are more Hi Fi. I find that the HB's sound really good with my Markbass amp versus the Ampeg I was using. I use DR rounds and am very satisfied with the sound I'm getting, very growly with tons of low end. The 4004 has it's own voice and I think once you find a way to sharpen that voice you will be pleased, but a 4004 will never sound like a 4001.

This one here has toasters

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/05-4004cii5.htm

jps wrote:Keep in mind the hi-gain PU has individual polepieces for the (normally) 4 strings, so you may have balance issues (or not) using them on a fiver. I woould put toasters on that bass like I did when I had my 4004Cii.

Those look great! I wish the necks were slimmer.

qwezirider wrote:

jps wrote:Keep in mind the hi-gain PU has individual polepieces for the (normally) 4 strings, so you may have balance issues (or not) using them on a fiver. I woould put toasters on that bass like I did when I had my 4004Cii.

Wouldn't guitar high gains be the same pole-wise as the toasters (6 poles)? That's what I have on the way.

Toasters have fairly large magnets that are right next to each other so they act more like a blade polepiece pickup with even coverage all the way across it. Hi gains have a bar magnet under the 4/5/6 pole pieces so there might be small gaps in coverage.

I really like my 4003 4-2-5 with 11k ohm single coil pickups ... and I really like me basses with hb1 pickups ...

The single coil has more clank the hb1 has more snarl ...

Worst case, if high gain guitar pickups don't do the trick, I can slap them into my Washburn BT-10 guitar.

I hope your mods work out for ya'. I was never able to get a decent tone from my Cii (OK, but not great).....I think it was more an issue with the walnut sandwich construction. I never had any issues with either of my Laredos, Ci or LK. No matter what it just always seemed muddy.....strings, amp setttings, effects, whatever I tried just didn't help. I am certainly no expert but since my maple Laredos and walnut Ci/LK didn't have any similar issues I am left to believe that there is something funky resonance-wise going on with the walnut sandwiched in maple body. Or I'm just goofy.

I have discovered it has a wonderful tone for recording. So far, for that, it's surpassed my former 4003 and my Heartfield for a tone that's workable right out of the gate. So not all is lost. Maybe I just need to convince my financier....uh....lovely bride, that I simply must have a Laredo for live work.

Hmmmm....always learning on this forum . That is my FG4004Cii with toasters that Jeff posted photos of . I thought "guitar" high gains with the six poles would cover the 5 string spread pretty well but are you guys saying the toasters and high gains are basically the same pickup , sound wise ? Bruce is right about recording . I used the 4004Cii with no mods and it has a very versatile voice for several styles of music.