Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi - I've searched this forum and discovered several of you have made this change as well as the more sophisticated change to stacked VT/VT. I want to keep it simple (V/V/T) by just removing the toggle switch and adding a volume pot for the neck pickup, and leaving the existing V and T pots where they are. Sounds easy in theory but I'm being cautious.

Can anyone point me to a wiring diagram for this?

Also, to match the existing values of the pots, should I just buy one more to match the existing (I believe the stock pots are 330k?).

Thanks for your wisdom!

You could go the Seymour Duncan's site, and look for standard Jazz Bass wiring. Otherwise, someone here can post a diagram.

The ultimate 4004 wiring mod is to replace the vol pots with push/pulls so each pup can be operated in standard dual coil/humbucking mode, or single coil mode. I don't have a diagram for that one unfortunately.

coolhandjjl wrote: The ultimate 4004 wiring mod is to replace the vol pots with push/pulls so each pup can be operated in standard dual coil/humbucking mode, or single coil mode. I don't have a diagram for that one unfortunately.

I think the ultimate 4004 wiring is with stacked pots to get VT/VT for each pickup, switches for going single/dual coil on each pickup, switches for standard or "vintage" tone (series cap) for each pickup, and a switch for Standard/Rick-O-Sound...
I suppose I should include the schematic, just in case anyone is interested. The "vintage" tone here is the circuit from a 4002, not the standard 0.0047uF cap of the 4001/4003.

cjj wrote:I think the ultimate 4004 wiring is with stacked pots to get VT/VT for each pickup, switches for going single/dual coil on each pickup, switches for standard or "vintage" tone (series cap) for each pickup, and a switch for Standard/Rick-O-Sound...

I'd love to fiddle around on that sometime CJ. Sure sounds interesting. You sure put a lot of thought and effort into it--the only thing I think it's missing is Series/Parallel, although some don't care for it, I actually prefer it to coil taps.

It should be noted that on a bass that is not equipped with a stereo output there is no reason whatsoever to include two tone controls--they are redundant, both acting as master tones in mono, although if you turn them both off you do get a slightly darker sound.

Heck, you could wire a 4004 Blend-Tone and even get to keep the mini switch and the stock appearance but with almost all the versatility of a VVT mod.

cassius987 wrote:

cjj wrote:I think the ultimate 4004 wiring is with stacked pots to get VT/VT for each pickup, switches for going single/dual coil on each pickup, switches for standard or "vintage" tone (series cap) for each pickup, and a switch for Standard/Rick-O-Sound...

I'd love to fiddle around on that sometime CJ. Sure sounds interesting. You sure put a lot of thought and effort into it--the only thing I think it's missing is Series/Parallel, although some don't care for it, I actually prefer it to coil taps.

It should be noted that on a bass that is not equipped with a stereo output there is no reason whatsoever to include two tone controls--they are redundant, both acting as master tones in mono, although if you turn them both off you do get a slightly darker sound.

Heck, you could wire a 4004 Blend-Tone and even get to keep the mini switch and the stock appearance but with almost all the versatility of a VVT mod.

Why do you prefer series/parallel to coil taps? Can you comment on what the sound difference is? I may have to play with that a bit to try it out.

I've often wondered if there would be a difference in sound for single coil between shorting the center to ground (as I did) or switching the ground from the "normal" position to the center (removing the load of the shorted coil). I might have to give that a try too.

And you're right about non-stereo. Of course, on mine, I replaced the jack with a stereo one so I can run that way (which is how I do it almost all the time).

In its next incarnation, I'm planning on adding a 3rd pickup and possibly removing the "vintage" tone stuff since I'm not sure I really like it anyway on the 4004. I'd have triple stacked pots, coil taps for each (or maybe series parallel), the mono/stereo, and a switch to select which pickup the middle one is paired with in stereo.

Since each coil is across all strings, I see no reason for series/parallel coils switch for each pup. On DiMarzio, Nordys, and other pups where the two coils go EA and DG, then a series/parallel makes sense.

coolhandjjl wrote:The ultimate 4004 wiring mod is to replace the vol pots with push/pulls so each pup can be operated in standard dual coil/humbucking mode, or single coil mode. I don't have a diagram for that one unfortunately.

Once the pots have been pre-wired, installing them into a VVT setup is pretty easy. I sell the pots pre-wired as well as the proper .022 uF tone cap and additional 500K tone pot.

no offense,C.J.,but having so many controls on the back and the front of the bass seems a bit unwieldy,at least for doing changes "on the fly" whilst playing. my laredo has 2 vols with push-pulls for coil tapping,and 2 tones (which i do find a bit redundant). overall,being able to change the settings easily and get a lot of nice variations is really handy,and so i had Dane put together a v.v.t. circuit for my cii. i have had it for about 6 weeks now,but am embarrassed to say i have not gotten it installed yet. the one person i knew of in my town that could do this kind of work took one look at the cramped cavity and declined to do it,so i am waiting till i can get the bass over to medford/ashland to have it done. to the original poster,it is definitely worth doing,gives your 4004 a lot of tonal flexibility. personally,i do not care for the mini-toggle at all.

You're absolutely right, the switches on the back are not convenient for changes "on the fly." But, I haven't had much reason to change 'em in the middle of a song or such so it hasn't been a big deal so far. They can be changed without a huge amount of trouble without taking the bass off, but you have to do it by feel and remember which switch does what.

The biggest point of doing it this way was to make it a totally reversible mod. Of course, if I put a 3rd pickup in, reversibility is completely out the window. I may tackle things a bit differently in that case...

Thanks, all. I'm definitely going to do it, though the V/V/T configuration will probably give me most of tonal control I'm looking for. I looked at the wiring diagram on the SD site for a standard jazz bass and it looks like I can handle that!

coolhandjjl wrote:Since each coil is across all strings, I see no reason for series/parallel coils switch for each pup. On DiMarzio, Nordys, and other pups where the two coils go EA and DG, then a series/parallel makes sense.

Huh? Why does this matter to you, in the benefit of being able to switch between the two settings?

Series tends to be punchier and have fewer highs than parallel, in my experience. Parallel begins to remind you of a single coil but it sounds smoother. I almost always prefer parallel.

Hello Webspeare,
I too made the change to V/V/T on my 2008 Cheyenne & I find it most useful, in hindsight I would have spent a little more cash on the mod & gone for coil taps as well. I have a coil tap HB1 on my 4003, sounds great!

cjj - I'm looking at the third photo down that you posted, the interior of the back of the bass. I'm trying to determine which wire coming in from the picksups is which. My guess is the one further left (9 o'clock position) is the neck pickup and the one at the 11 o'clock position is the bridge pickup. Is that correct? (I'm trying to avoid actually loosening or removing the pickups to determine). Thanks.

webspeare wrote:cjj - I'm looking at the third photo down that you posted, the interior of the back of the bass. I'm trying to determine which wire coming in from the picksups is which. My guess is the one further left (9 o'clock position) is the neck pickup and the one at the 11 o'clock position is the bridge pickup. Is that correct? (I'm trying to avoid actually loosening or removing the pickups to determine). Thanks.

Yes, that is correct. The bridge pickup goes to the pot on the right, you can see the wire going along the top of the cavity above the pots. the neck pickup goes to the left pot, the pickup wire is the lower one from the corner, going directly over to the left pot. It's probably more obvious looking at it "in person" than in a picture. I didn't mess with the pickups at all.

Yeah, it's pretty tight in there. The switches barely fit beside the pots. My first try used individual wires and it was just too much to fit. I then went to using "ribbon cable" which is more compact and manageable...