Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just bout a brand new 4003. Looks and sounds great. I just noticed yesterday that it is a bit quieter than Fender style basses. (I don't mean less hum) I'm a teacher, and I brought it to my lessons and the kids with the Squires were louder. Then I brought it home and did a side by side with my Fender P bass and heard the same thing. Is this common? I do have flatwounds on the Ric which could be part of it. The one reason it concerned me was because the bass is advertised as having High gain pickups. Any thoughts? It does sound fantastic. Just making sure there isn't anything wrong with it. Thanks.

Welcome Joe. What brand/type of strings?

GHS Precision Flats 45-105

Make sure you're plugged into the MONO output and not the Ric-O-Sound output jack.

longhouse wrote:Make sure you're plugged into the MONO output and not the Ric-O-Sound output jack.

Ha ha ha! I've already done that twice on gigs. Flipped the switch to neck only and "where did the bass player go?"

Welcome to the forum, Joe. New 4003 basses are normally very loud. The strings might be one factor in the lower output. Try raising the pickups a little by turning the pickup height adjustment screws clockwise. Have the push/pull vintage tone control pot in the down position for the most output.

I am always highly confused when people have this problem because for me it's the opposite--my Rics are much louder than passive Fenders. So much so that it makes recording through a preamp a requirement.

I've got the pickups raised up as close to the strings as on my Fenders. I just played it next to my Jazz bass that has the same strings and it sounds close but the Jazz seems louder. The Ric sounds fuller to me for sure. Maybe that leads to the perception of it being quieter. Don't know.

cassius987 wrote:I am always highly confused when people have this problem because for me it's the opposite--my Rics are much louder than passive Fenders. So much so that it makes recording through a preamp a requirement.

Recording through a preamp should always be a requirement!!!

It's not, or wasn't, for my Jazz Bass. That thing could go straight into my laptop sound card and sound fantastic. The Rics were all way too loud though, the hi-gains putting out too much signal and causing mucho clipping, thus requiring me to finally by a pre.

But I'd rather have that problem than the reverse.

cassius987 wrote:I am always highly confused when people have this problem because for me it's the opposite--my Ric are much louder than passive Fenders.

Thats what I was thinking. If I have played with a Fender style bass through my amp I typically have to turn down the amp when I plug the Ric in. It booms through my amp in comparison

Is there anyway to test the electronics to make sure its ok? I was thinking of calling the shop or maybe the knowlageable local bass tech to see if he can see if the output is ok. I noticed it was humming a bit last night as well. I'm not used to that.

jmceachern36 wrote:Is there anyway to test the electronics to make sure its ok? I was thinking of calling the shop or maybe the knowlageable local bass tech to see if he can see if the output is ok. I noticed it was humming a bit last night as well. I'm not used to that.

Is the amp input in the active switch position or the input marked active? It would need to be in passive if that is so.

johnallg wrote:Is the amp input in the active switch position or the input marked active? It would need to be in passive if that is so.

I only have 1 input on the amp. It's a Little MarkII. I called the local tech that I trust. He had adjusted the truss rod a week ago, so he'd seen and played the bass. His response to my question about the output of the bass was interesting. He said it was normal for Rics to have a little less output than Fenders. Then the interesting part. He also said that having less output puts less stress on the amp and results in having a better sound.

personally I never noticed much difference except where active vs. passive is concerned... I figured that is why there is a volume knob.