Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I appreciate it may be a little sacrilegious to some Ric fans, but I've made a few mods to my 2013 4003, all through what I've read here on RR!

I've always kept my previous Rics stock, but for some reason with this one, thought I'd fix what I didn't like, or thought could be improved upon, for my own spec. So over the last 8 months....

First went the chrome pup cover, replaced by a Tube Ampology bezel.

Next went the bridge, replaced by a Hipshot.

Then it was the turn of the pickups. As recommended on here (and Chris' great review), I invested in a set of Classic Amplification 'Classic Ric', 70s era. These are amazing, and Brad is a top chap to deal with.

Lastly, it was the tuners. In came a set of Hipshot Ultralites, as mentioned by Cassius, again here on RR. Love these to bits....the weight saving is amazing. They're not a direct fit if you use the intended fixings, but as I'm not going back, my Luthier took care of all the fitting and drilling.

Again, I appreciate that it may not be to everyone's tastes, but it's my gigging bass, and it's my keeper, Took me a while to find it, and make a few changes, but I've never played a Ric, or any bass that plays and sounds like this one does now. Got a real Chris Squire/Jon Camp growl.

Here's a couple of pics -

You forgot to move the neck pickup to the 1/2" location and add a vintage style pickguard!

I love Ultralite tuners and have had them on a lot of basses over the years, including my July '73 4001 and Deb '67 4005WB. Yes, they do require some minor mods but, so what. the purists of the world can just look away and not say anything............ These are our instruments to do what is necessary to make them how we want them to be for us as we are the ones playing them. I have done some form of mod to almost all of the basses I have owned over the years.

Enjoy your great looking 4003.

Great looking bass,all those mods are going to make it a better player. I wouldn't mind trying a set of those tuning keys on one of my 4004's,but don't really feel the need to change the stock ones out.
Ps,every one of my Rick basses has been modded,sometimes extensively so to get what i want out of them,so thumbs-up!

Make your ric what you want it to be, personally i prefer mine stock.

Hey! It's your bass, do with it as you please. Some changes may affect resale, but as an original owner of a '74 4001MG (among others) I have never let that bother me. My 4001 has a push/pull bypass, Painted headstock wings (in 74 with black Testors model paint because it looked cool), Toaster in the neck pickup position and a Jason Lollar HS at the bridge position. 4003S5 has a stereo harness and jack. 4004L is now an 8 string and the 4004C is maybe going to get a new harness (still thinking on that one). Do what you want.... they are yours.

I would have gone with clovers/elephant ears on the Hipshots, but nevertheless those Y-keys look surprisingly nice on the Ric. Glad I could be of some help by suggesting those. Did you notice changes in the dead spots or resonance? I always do immediately after switching to the lighter tuners. I know I may get flamed for saying it but I wish Ric would switch to a lightweight clover key instead of the traditional tuner, except for the classic reissue-esque models.

Looks great!

I would keep the original parts Iain, just on the chance that you need to move the bass on in the future. you never know.

Thanks for the kind comments!

Cassius - you were a help indeed. I wasn't aware of the tuners until your postings about them. I've not had any problems with dead spots whatsoever. The luthier I use is fabulous, and when I got the bass back, it was great from the off.

I went for the Y style, simply to change the look ever so slightly. In the flesh, they're really nice.

A full +1 on Ric fitting lightweight tuners. The difference in the overall bass is amazing - I couldn't believe it. The bridge frees so much more of the playing position as well. I play this one so differently to my previous Rics.

As for the original bits, the bridge was sold some months ago, as was the pup cover. The pups and tuners are on their way too, as with the drilling for the tuners, I can't really go back!

jps wrote:You forgot to move the neck pickup to the 1/2" location

Oh, I could be tempted further down the line! Would it make much of a difference?

spongebob wrote:

jps wrote:You forgot to move the neck pickup to the 1/2" location

Oh, I could be tempted further down the line! Would it make much of a difference?

I think so, and so do many others around here. One is aesthetics (we just like the '60s looks better), the other has to do with tone since the current location places that pickup right under a vibrational node of the strings, this is a point with minimal string movement, dampening the pickup of harmonics in that location.
The red dots are the nodes with minimal sound production.

Of course that will change depending on where you are fretting the string at any particular time, but it does change the tone a bit. Try this experiment: solo the bridge pickup and pluck the harmonics of the strings at the 24th fret position right above the neck pickup. The harmonics ring out very nicely. Now do the same while soloing the neck pickup. What do you hear (or not )? As I mentioned, things vary as you play up and down the fingerboard, but some of us do use harmonics in our playing style and this can negatively impact that unless the bridge pickup is favored.

On a related note , put a toaster pickup in there, too.

As others have said, have at it. You have done tasteful things, and it isn't a rare model. They are meant to be played, and if this makes you happier, Mo-better!

To see what difference it makes in tone between the 1 inch and the 1/2 inch position, tune the bass down a half-step, capo the 1st fret, and solo the neck pickup, playing your favorite bass lines, disregarding the slight floppiness from loosening the strings. You will be able to hear some of the "hollowness" that goes with the 1/2 inch spacing. It still won't be totally the same, because the high gains with the single pole piece per string have more articulation than a toaster, but you will get the idea.

Interesting comments about the harmonic nodes. How does the neck pickup on the current 4004 compare?

Awesome looking bass!

I actually went looking for the Classic Amplification thread to see how you liked the pickups. Great