Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've never had a chance to play a 4004, so I thought I'd ask those of you that have —how they compare with the 4001's & 4003's in terms of how they feel and how they sound. Wondering if I should put one on my wish list.

Thanks in advance..

M.

Sound wise I find that they sound like a traditional Ric with a slight kick to the lows and a touch more clarity. Just a more modern version of a 4001/4003. I find them more comfortable to play with the contoured body, cleaner bridge and no treble p/u surround.

As far as the feel of the neck......I'll leave that to others. I'm not that sensitive to different contours so for me playing a 4004 feels comfortable as does a 4001/4003. They feel different but it's not something I have put much thought into since they both work well for my style.

I played one once and hated the difference in feel from the 4003. I'm referring to the placement of hardware, etc. I'm just really used to a 4001/3.

i own a 4000,v63 and a cii. the v63 feels chunkier (several lbs.heavier) to me than the cii. the wider neck of the cii is no problem,and the hb-1's sound fantastic,rather like 60's thunderbird pickups to me,very potent! it has been the bass that my bandmates have liked the best,soundwise. i was in your position about 2 years ago,and decided to try to find a 4004,and i haven't regretted buying it at all. from the general consensus,a laredo may be a bit more like a 4001/3,since they are more similar in construcion. i am very very happy with mine.

I've owned 2 77 4001s , 1 4003 , 1 4001V63 . Sold all of them but have kept my FG4004Cii . Beautiful instrument ! Beautiful sound ! Most of all............no binding,no pickup cover and light/comfortable ! I love it !

I ove the neck on the 4004. It is fast and sleek. It is a lighter bass which I suppose would make a difference if you were doing a 3 hour show. I heard it described as a Rick bass on steroids. That may be a bit of an over statement but I would somewhat agree. For the record I purchased my son a 4004 and he loves it too.

The neck on a 4004 may be wider but it is flatter on the back and that makes it very playable. As for sound, hearing Chris Clayton (POTR Chris) play Todd's Cii at MARF was a real eye opener. The bass is a monster and sounded so tight and deep through an EBS combo amp. I was amazed at the sound and tone that pair could produce.

incubus2432 wrote:Sound wise I find that they sound like a traditional Ric with a slight kick to the lows and a touch more clarity. Just a more modern version of a 4001/4003. I find them more comfortable to play with the contoured body, cleaner bridge and no treble p/u surround.

As far as the feel of the neck......I'll leave that to others. I'm not that sensitive to different contours so for me playing a 4004 feels comfortable as does a 4001/4003. They feel different but it's not something I have put much thought into since they both work well for my style.

I agree with Brian totally. (a verbose +1, as it were)

I never thought I would own one, as I loved the 4001/4003's so much, but after playing one, I was hooked. I now own two Laredos.

As I've said in the past, the 4004 models are the best kept secret of the bass guitar community,

I would ask for sound clips but to be honest most Ric bass sound clips seem "aimed" at a particular sound to me and I've heard tons of 4003 clips that sound nothing like either of mine, except for some of the Rare Blend stuff Jeff linked for me once--his 4003FL treble Toaster sound was pretty much in line with the way mine sounds now. Most of the other clips sound too processed or something and my 4003 has never sounded like any of them. I run the signal pretty clean which may be the difference.

So I say all that just to say that, I would love to know what a 4004 sounds like, but I bet even if there are clips out there that they are distorted enough that it's hard to discern the true voice of the bass, as with many 4003 clips. All I know is that the 4004Ls in MG I have seen on eBay LOOK fantastic and surely if nothing else you could mod one to similar specs to a 4003 (in terms of pickups and wiring, but with fewer controls) and have that same clean, clear Rickenbacker tone on a very clean, boutique-looking instrument. So I'm sure you could make a great instrument out of one even if you didn't like the HB-1 tone.

Thanks to all for your insight ... by the sounds of things I should think about picking one up ... so many instruments, so little time to play them all. At the moment I'm waiting for my 4003 S/8 to arrive on Tuesday. Can't wait to play it ... I think it will consume all my free time.

Peace,
M.

You can never have too many Ricks, Mark.

Enjoy the 4003S/8!

rickaddict wrote:You can never have too many Ricks, Mark.

Enjoy the 4003S/8!

Amen to that!

The 4004 has an awesome huge sound and it is defiantly Ric. A little different than the 4001/4003 sound but still Ric (imagine a Gibson Ripper on Rickenbacker steroids). The bass is truly the best kept secrete in all of Rickdom. It is much lighter than my 4001 or 4003s5. My ’93 4004L’s neck is just about the same profile as my ’74 4001 and just a tad wider – a very easy play. And lends itself very well to string additions (5 or like I did 8 ). I almost didn’t do the conversion to an 8 string, as I was really starting to love the bass as a 4 string. But no regrets there the 8 has an awesome sound. Some day when the kids are out of college I will mount a quest for another. If you want to listen to a sound clip of the 4004L8 try this:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=127860
scroll down to The8. This was just messing around but my guitarist says it faithfully captures the sound. I’m sorry I didn’t mess with the tone but it does get a lot thinner and a thicker…. Maybe compare to your S8????

Tom: Thanks for your comments. You have certainly made your point. Great tone and playing.