Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, after years of wishing, I finally acquired a beautiful left handed '79 4001 Bass. I'm hoping you can answer a few questions, as I'm new to the world of Ricks and have spent the past 15 years playing a Fender Jazz:

Q: There's a hum on the neck pickup that's louder than my single coils on the J Bass. Is this common with 4001s, and if so, what are some shielding solutions?
Q: The controls for the pickups are a bit confusing on my bass, and I'm not sure if they are typical of these basses or possibly wired incorrectly. I assume that bass volume and bass tone knobs apply to the neck pickup only (switch on up position), while the treble volume and treble tone knobs apply to the bridge pickup only (down position). So, if both pickups were on (switch in middle position), You could adjust the volume and tone of both pickups individually for various belnding possibilities. When I have only the neck pickup on only, the bass volume and bass tone knobs are the only knobs effecting the sound. However, when I have only the bridge pickup on, the treble volume, treble tone AND bass tone knobs all effect the sound. It seems the bass tone knob is functioning the same as the treble tone knob, as I don't hear a discernable change in sound. Does this sound right for the bridge pickup to be controlled by the 3 knobs while the neck's only controlled by the two?
Q: Since my bass is lefty, the headstock is righty with the Rick logo curving upward on an upward curving nameplate. Is this how all lefties were made? If not, are lefties with righty necks more common or rarer?
Q: Mine came with a plastic bridge cover. When were they chrome and when did they switch to plastic?

I appreciate your help.

the cover over the bridge pickup has been either chrome plated plastic or powder coated (black) since they replaced the original horseshoe pickups in the late 1960's.This piece was put on to maintain a consistant 'look'.To my knowledge ...these were NEVER made of metal.Except maybe the original one that a mold was made off of to come up with the plastic product.

The curved nameplate is original also .Check out photos of Sir Paul's bass.

The layout of controls on Ricks has never been standard to the industry.I move these around for a lot of player ,so they are more like a Gibson ,Guild,etc.
The tone controls are nearest the strings and the volume controls are on the 'bottom' ,farthest away from the strings.The volume pots do NOT interact when both pickups are on ...if you like that function that is a simple exchange of wires on the volume control.
The interaction of the tone pots (when both pickups are on is unavoidable).
Switch down ,you should have the bridge pickup and it's vol. and tone controls....
Switch in the middle both pickups (volume controls not interacting but tone controls that due interact)
Switch up -neck pickup and it's own controls.

The Rick-O-Sound is a STEREO jack and requires a splitter box,a stereo cord and two mono cords.Then this is run to 2 different channels for recording or two different amps for playing live for a fuller sound.
This is a real 1950's concept and continues to this day to be a Rickenbacker ONLY feature.
In mono/standard output...you can use the bass like anyone else and run into your standard amp ,bi-amp or record with it .Just like anyone elses bass...simple-standard cord etc.

Lefty basses were generally made with the right handed headstock.This was a signature look and did not require retooling to achieve a nameplate or layout of the headstock.It's very distinctive and no one has really said (to any influence)...why don't you mirror image the headstock to look consistant?
I think it looks okay .And you immediately know what brand it is!

The hum factor .....As most Rick pickups are single coils ....in the USA you get 60 cycle hum (in the UK I believe you get 50 cycle hum)anyway...to shield these from maximum noise you need to do a few things.

1- if you remove the plastic/chrome cover ferom the bridge pickup as it could be in your way(many player do this) you have no shielding at all on that pickup except for the cable going to the controls.You can do a couple of things.
paint the cavity with an electro-static paint ,wrap copper tape around the bobbin and ground/earth that .
line the cavity with aluminum ducting tape and make sure when you re-install the pickup that one of the 4 scews that holds the mounting ring on touches the tape to ground/earth it.
2-do the same to the neck pickup ,but as it has a metal cover ,there should be less hum than the bridge pickup already.
3-line or paint the control cavity with shielding material.

BEWARE OF GROUND LOOPS!!!

if you notice one of the leads from the jacks has a shrink wrap around one of the ends(usually the one going to the neck pickup volume control) this has no ground/earth to it at the pot.If it did you would pickup MORE hum as it would give you a loop! The shielding will NOT cause this effect.But changing out ALL the cable to shielded cable will unless you are careful.

Hey, Mark, many thanks for your help! You've cleared up most of my questions, but I'm still a little confused by the circuitry.

I assumed that each pickup had 1 volume knob and 1 tone knob assigned to it, with the neck pickup assigned to the BASS tone and BASS volume knobs and the bridge pickup assigned only to the TREBLE tone and TREBLE volume knobs. From the way you've described it, it sounds like you're saying that the BASS tone and TREBLE tone knobs should act like 2 band circuitry regardless of what pickup you're on, while the volume knobs are not interactive in the middle position, correct? If so, it doesn't sound like I'm wired properly. In the middle position, I can blend in any balance of bridge and neck pickup volumes I want. And as for the bass and treble tone knobs, both seem to cut or increase treble only, (like the way tone knobs function on a J bass) but I don't hear an increase in bass with the BASS tone knob. Perhaps the circuitry operates logically in stereo mode? (or at least the way I'm used to) I haven't tried that yet.

Hey Mark,
I know that they used to make those bridge pickup
covers out of metal of some type cause I got I new one back in '73 and it had one on it. It was really thin, pressed steel or something but it wasn't plastic. I remember seeing others like that too, and I even found a couple of them recently at a guitar show. I'm one of those few people out there that actually LIKES having them on the bass!(cuz I use a pick and I can rest my hand on the PU cover). I remember seeing a friend of mines 4001 in the late 70s and noticing that the cover had changed to chome plated plastic and the truss cover had changed to the raised letter type...

Peter,the tone pots are standard passive tone controls ...just like a Fender Precision bass.They cut the highs.Thats all they do .

The bass knobs are for the neck pickup and the treble for the bridge pickup.

There is a HUGE confusion (this is slightly off topic) on the rear and front pickups to a guitar .

This is totally confusing as Fender and Gibson for years changed which was which one.So FROM NOW ON!!!-there are only neck and bridge pickups...and if you have three pickups,the other one is the MIDDLE pickup .

As to the circuitry operating logically ,Spock would have minimal trouble with it.
You need to think of the bass as a two pickup guitar ..say a Les Paul or a ES335 Gibson.It's the same wiring.
The jacks are the only difference.
The Rick-O-Sound is stereo ...neck pickup goes to one side and bridge pickup goes to the other side .

Standard /mono jack is the usual ...same old jack that the whole world has for ALL the other guitars.Thats it ...simple

On a Gibson type 2 pickup guitar the volumes interact and you get a master volume effect.
The volumes on the Ricks do not .They are wired like a Fender Jazz Bass with a switch.

With passive electronics you don't add anything Ever!

With active electronics ,you need power(a battery) and that WILL add or subtract .

Passive IS "normal" for all vintage gear.It was not until Alembic ,in the late 1960's introduced active to the bass world .Now we could nit pick and say that perhaps Gibson did this before with the Les Paul personal bass in the late 1960's ...but that bass did not make a dent in the bass community .It is a curiosity .Alembic really put active on the map.
The 4002 was Ricks attempt to address that issue at the time.

I have a similiar question about the controls on my 4001. I get a fairly dramatic loss in volume when using both pick-ups compared to using only one. Select either pick-up, neck or bridge and they deliver at a fairly similiar volume. Select both and the neck pick-up becomes the more prominent of the two, along with an overall decrease in volume! Any reason for this?

Yes ...there are several possibilities,

one of the coils could be out of phase with the other...not likely but it does happen.

the bridge pickup has had it's .0047mfd cap removed and is 'louder ' than the neck pickup .

That is more likely the cause.
The neck pickup is limited in it's height adjustment and is really a fixed pickup.
If the bridge pickup is louder ...lower it to match the neck pickup.That is about the best you can do .

The neck pick-up is the louder of the two when using both, so I'm guessing that raising the height of the bridge pick-up may compensate? Would this also allow the bridge pick-up tone control to have more of an effect when using both pick-ups? It works great when only using the bridge pick-up but seems to have a very limited effect when using both pick-ups. (The tone control knob for the neck pick-up works great whether I'm using just the neck pick-up or both.)

in the factory ..to set the pickups for the basses ,we would snug the pickup in the guard ,then adjust the bridge pickup to balance the two evenly .

If you still don't like the tone control....play with the value of capacitor.

Here's what I've got goin~ 4001 seems to have four volume knobs. both exit wire soldered mono. Does it make a difference which side of tone pots you solder wires to? This is the way I got it except for wiring mono. Can I get a diagram that shows wires going to respective sides of pots and onto jacks. Switch operates correctly and knobs are in respective positions for p/u's anyway~ AT LEAST TWO KNOBS ARE IN THE RIGHT SPOT. thanx AMOS

A 4001 has a volume and tone for each pickup.

The knobs say -bass ....this is the neck pickup
the treble knobs are for the bridge pickup

The knobs closest to the strings are the tone controls!

Does this have a Dual jack ?

I will try to draw this out and get it posted here.

I have a clever wiring that is 100% mono and gives you all that is "vintage" in the standard jack and all that is "modern " in the Rick-O-Sound jack.

yes it has dual jax, one had neck pu and the other had treb.wired to it. I had to remove and reinstall lead for one or the other.I'm no genius but I dont think Ric. intended to wire their guitars like this and I'd almost bet they didn't . this thing was a wreck when I got it , Ive repaired a neck and body fractures replaced a truss rod all new hardware keys t/p new 01V63 pick up's and refinished~Sounds great just does't have tone control. Yes I would love to see your diag.
Amos

When was the clear piece of lucite used to
anchor your fingers when using your thumb to play
(i.e. on Paul Mc's and Chris Squire's original Rickenbackers) discontinued?? It's the piece that is mounted to the pickguard below the strings.
Can anybody help??? Thanks!!!

leftybass; that clear Plexiglas fingergrip you refer to was used on Rick basses as early as late 50s, till late 72or into '73.But inexplicably, even during those years, all basses leaving the factory did not get them.