Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

ok so I've been playing my 83 4003 for about 14 years now, and I've played a few newer basses but never had the chance to compare. How would you guys stack a 4003 from the time mine was made against say something from 2005 and now?

The newer ones have much higher output due to increased windings in the pickups. Some other differences in the pickup bobbins may also have some effect on tone.
With this higher output comes more midrange than the earlier ones. 4003s from the early 90s onwards have walloping mids even compared with other brands of bass.
Although It could be said that in newer basses that the classic Rickenbacker "Clank" is a diminished a little. It only takes a minor twist of the treble knob to get it all back + a ton more lows.
The older pickups give you that immediate classic crunch and the newer ones although seemingly less characterfull in reality have more versatility hiding up the sleeve..

Ageing of the timber and different truss rod styles also have a bearing on the sound...
Yours being an 83 would have the revised early rods (Adjust from the pickup cavity) would have a slightly different sound from the newer compression rods. And from this point it gets a bit esoteric....

emac.

I think it's actually hard to nail down concrete differences, but I agree with Eden that the new ones are quite versatile and I've played several older ones that I didn't find as versatile. Regardless Nolan, your bass sounds KILLER the way you mix it... so I wouldn't feel lacking!

weemac wrote:It only takes a minor twist of the treble knob to get it all back + a ton more lows.

Please expound on this- a simple twist of the existing configuration or a modification?

This '08 4003 has the classic Rick sound.

leave it to JPS to post something ridiculous

Anyway, I'm not feeling like I'm lacking, its more a concern of consistency and durability on the part of my current bass in favor of a new one. My bass is getting old and I'm gigging with it and I really don't want to because its considered "vintage" by today's standards. I came across an 09 selling for roughly 1600. Its jet glo just like my current bass, so I'm thinking I may buy it or one like it. and retire my current one.

FretlessOnly wrote:

weemac wrote:It only takes a minor twist of the treble knob to get it all back + a ton more lows.

Please expound on this- a simple twist of the existing configuration or a modification?

To get the classic 70s 4001 tone from a 4003 you just use a bit more treble on your amp! (and perhaps a bit less gain as the 4003 pickups are rather hot) The push pull switch on the newer ones can come into play as well.
I'm not saying its exactly the same sound that you will get but near enough for most situations...

emac.

bear in mind guys I'm not looking to retain that vintage tone. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a tonal difference between old and new. Does anyone on here have anything recorded? Josh you have an older 4003 and a new one yes? Do you think you could maybe do a quick recording of both neck and bridge pickups on your basses just so I get an idea?

Prowl wrote:leave it to JPS to post something ridiculous

Actually, before I did the vintage mods to it the bass had all the growl and classic tone one could ask for. Adjusting the pickup heights and especially, the pole pieces on the new pickups is all that is required; this was with the stock RIC strings. The current 4003s are tonally very flexible depending on the tone control/VTC/pickups settings.

jps wrote:

Prowl wrote:leave it to JPS to post something ridiculous

Actually, before I did the vintage mods to it the bass had all the growl and classic tone one could ask for. Adjusting the pickup heights and especially, the pole pieces on the new pickups is all that is required; this was with the stock RIC strings. The current 4003s are tonally very flexible depending on the tone control/VTC/pickups settings.

I remember when you originally posted pictures of that bass and saying how cool it looks. I wish I had the option of backing my neck pick up off like I do with the bridge but when I do that the jerk rattles, and if I tighten it up and I have the tone full on, the string with make a horrid clank

Miles. Is there a new one nearby you can try ? I bet you can duplicate the tone of your old one on a newer one but the bigger difference will be the "feel" of the instruments. To me the newer 4003 models feel much more hefty than the older ones.

unfortunately the only new Rick dealer around me is PMBlues Guitar Heaven which closed its doors to be an online only store, so you can't just waltz in last I knew. I played an 09 last year in Florida at Sam Ash but I didn' t have my bass with me at the time to do an A/B comparisson