Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So here's my 4000 right after I got it. Completely standard.
The sound is good, but the pickup is a little low in output, so on with a RIC horseshoe.
Now it's way too aggressive ! Only one thing for it.....
Just the addition of a classic toaster, 4003 electrics with a push/pull pot and it's perfect. Got all the bits to change it back too.

very very nice........



did you just get it, like this week?


or did you have it for a while


al

I'd have thought a one p/u RI HS would have sounded really good, and possibly slightly different with a set neck.

Kinda like a P bass with a different timbre...

i ,too, was interested in dropping a ri horsey in my 74 4000,although the stock pickup is plenty loud and aggro-sounding....i am afeard to do any routing into the neck joint area to install a 2nd pickup,tho. before i did that,i would probably just sell it and look for a v63/4003s....

Firstly, I didn't do any routing at all on the bass. If that has been the case, I wouldn't have touched it. When I removed the pickguard, it was already routed by the factory. In fact, it had "4001S" written inside the cavity. I believe that this is not uncommon. I've had the bass about three years and made the changes over that time. I used the original bridge pickup to restore a '75 4001 that's being repaired right now, and I thought the RIC horseshoe would be a great replacement. That horseshoe though, was ridiculously hot, and really need some balance to it to get the bass to shine. All I needed to upgrade it was really a toaster, pickguard and some new electrics. All of the parts are new RIC, and I kept all the old parts. It can go back to a 4000 anytime. It's a very cool sounding bass now, so much so, that when I went into the studio last month with that one, my 4001 and the 4004LK, I ended up using it on all the tracks on the album.

Nice job, Gareth! Why did you choose the 1" spacing for the neck PU? You could have had a pickguard made by Pickguardian for it instead of going with the standard modern spacing.

gar-is your 4000 a set-neck or neck through?

Nice one, Gareth!
I have the same project going on now!

jps wrote:Nice job, Gareth! Why did you choose the 1" spacing for the neck PU? You could have had a pickguard made by Pickguardian for it instead of going with the standard modern spacing.

Basically, I had a spare pickguard for a 4001 with that spacing lying around, so I just used that one, as it seemed to fit into the routing that was already present. I used new 4003 electrics because I figured that as all the pickups were modern RIC, I wouldn't match them with older 4001 wiring. The new push/pull pot is very effective. There's a huge difference in sound between it being in and out.

woodyng wrote:gar-is your 4000 a set-neck or neck through?

Set neck. The whole bass is much lighter than both of my 4001's.

nothing should surprise me when it comes to these instruments,but yet i am surprised there was already a routing there,at least for the set-neck model....i have a 74 model/setneck, and there is no routing.....must have been a "friday" bass.... ......anyhoo,nice one!

woodyng wrote:nothing should surprise me when it comes to these instruments,but yet i am surprised there was already a routing there,at least for the set-neck model....i have a 74 model/setneck, and there is no routing.....must have been a "friday" bass.... ......anyhoo,nice one!

Apparently, the earlier ones didn't have the routing. My 4000 is an '83 model, so it's one of the last ones. A lot, if not all, of the later ones had the routing done at the factory. Mine even has "4001S" written inside the routing cavity. I expect that it was just easier for RIC to tool up to make one sort of body for the 4000 and 4001S models. Paul W had a '74 4000 at his place when mine was there, and it was unrouted if memory serves. Also, the heel of the neck and the join at the body were quite different. I suspect that the 4000 morphed slowly over the years until it was essentially a single pickup 4001 by the time it was discontinued.

Mine is routed.


Does anyone know why this one is marked "4000-C"?

teeder wrote: Does anyone know why this one is marked "4000-C"?

Ah, you must have a C series prototype.