Loving my Laredo.

[ricmic]

Joey will be proud of me. I finally got off of my butt and purchased a brand spanking new 4004l in mapleglo. As much as I love my V63, I can see this one taking over the majority of the Bass duties. Thank You Rickenbacker. What took me so long? right. Mark

[woodyng]

Congrats,Mark! I'm a big 4004 fan myself. Looking forward to pix of your new bass.
I prefer the "laredo look" of chrome components on mapleglo,so much so i swapped the gold off my MG Cii for chrome.

[ram]

Congratulation!! Another convert! The 4004 series is the best kept secret in all of Rick-dom! While my '74 4001 is still my favorite neck of all time, my 4004C is now my main bass when playing and the 4004L8 is kick butt!!!

[edski]

Love my Laredo, too. Congrats!

I think a big reason that so few even see these basses is a combination of a couple things, but mainly they are are not very common at shops or in catalogs. I've never seen one at a guitar shop, and saw a Musicians Friend spot for a Laredo ONCE. This model is not really new, it's 22 years old.

Pics, please!

[rickenbrother]

Joey will be proud of me. I finally got off of my butt and purchased a brand spanking new 4004l in mapleglo. As much as I love my V63, I can see this one taking over the majority of the Bass duties. Thank You Rickenbacker. What took me so long? right. Mark

Yes, I am proud of you, Mark! Congratulations and enjoy it! They(4004s) are awesome. Now come to the jam on Dec 27th, so I can get my grubby mitts on it!

[s4001]

Yes. You should definitely bring it by for a hands on inspection by some of our top experts.

[guitfiddle]

Every 4004 gig is a good gig! Just sayin'. The the thing I kike the best about the 4004 is that the upper strings sound FAT! Really FAT!

[edski]

Every 4004 gig is a good gig! Just sayin'. The the thing I kike the best about the 4004 is that the upper strings sound FAT! Really FAT!

Was playing once at rehearsal and I switched to the neck and rolled off the tone. The drummer said "whoa, I felt that!"

I modified mine to have a pair of concentric pots, so I have V/T for each PU. While the original configuration was OK, with this set up the bass is extremely flexible tonally. I usually have the treble and upper mids raised on the amp with the Laredo, and it doesn't lack for any clank, either.

[donhank]

Or maybe my favorite all-time instrument configuration . . . a neck-thru 4000 with an HB-1 !!

[sloop_john_b]

Or maybe my favorite all-time instrument configuration . . . a neck-thru 4000 with an HB-1 !!

OMG WANT!

[woodyng]

Me,too!

[cassius987]

Dan Basica sold me his 2008 Laredo converted to a 4002 pickup spacing (sadly because he was terminally ill and closing his shop--several of us at RRF knew him). I'm super impressed with it, including all of his choices. Keeps me from buying a Fender ultimately. I wish everyone had as good an experience with 4004s as I have with this one, as I really can't find a fault with it other than the nut width being a bit wide for my taste. The tone is really smooth and silky and it definitely beats every 4003 I've ever played for that chased-after sustain.

[donhank]

Actually, it was a brief, passionate affair with a Laredo which helped me get up the nerve to modify my 4000. Absolutely loved the HB1s - - they had all of the tone across the entire spectrum and they were dead nuts quiet.

A friend of mine decided that he couldn't live without the Laredo and he had CASH MONEY. Done deal.

[woodyng]

Dan Basica sold me his 2008 Laredo converted to a 4002 pickup spacing (sadly because he was terminally ill and closing his shop--several of us at RRF knew him). I'm super impressed with it, including all of his choices. Keeps me from buying a Fender ultimately. I wish everyone had as good an experience with 4004s as I have with this one, as I really can't find a fault with it other than the nut width being a bit wide for my taste. The tone is really smooth and silky and it definitely beats every 4003 I've ever played for that chased-after sustain.

Glad to hear you're still digging the Laredo,Cassius! Did you ever post any audio/ video clips of it? Also,does your bass have the Schaller bridge? ( which is what i seem to remember...)
After a bit of a band hiatus since Halloween,i've been back in the swing last week,taking my 4004c to the last couple of practices,and am really loving the different sounds I'm getting,from clanky picked to Smooth fingerstyle,plus the oil finish feels fantastic to play.

[cassius987]

Glad to hear you're still digging the Laredo,Cassius! Did you ever post any audio/ video clips of it? Also,does your bass have the Schaller bridge? ( which is what i seem to remember...)
After a bit of a band hiatus since Halloween,i've been back in the swing last week,taking my 4004c to the last couple of practices,and am really loving the different sounds I'm getting,from clanky picked to Smooth fingerstyle,plus the oil finish feels fantastic to play.

I've really dropped the music ball since my new job has been quite time consuming. I hope my best gigging days aren't behind me, especially since moving to a great music city. But I do intend to record clips of this bass eventually once I really have time to breathe again. The bridge is indeed a Schaller and I really like it. I agree that there are lots of tonal varieties on the 4004, the HB-1s are definitely thumpier than single coils but there is still a lot of clank when you dig in (and it's not as harsh, which I like). I'd always noticed this in the stock pickup spacings but it may be even more true with the spacings Dan had this bass changed to. I'm pretty sure he was inspired by a bass of yours or Dane's.