4004 CII question on changing hardware..

[Brams77]

Hi guys,

In a few days time it looks like I will be the very happy owner of a 4004 CII in black.
It is however modded to VVT which is no problem for me..
Ive been looking for years to find one for a good price/condition and it looks like I finally made it my first Rick ever!

Most of these are trans colored or clear coated but this one is solid black.
The question I have is and this is purely cosmetic but I would love to have this with chrome hadware instead of the gold.
The only problem I see arrizing is the jack plate is gold too where the serial is.

So question would be is there anyone with a 4004 Laredo that rather wants gold hardware istead of chrome.. Inc the trussrod plate.. Ofcourse if it all possible to swichout everything, which I think it is.

Its a bit of a strech I know but it never hursts to ask;)

Cheers

[jps]

Hi guys,

In a few days time it looks like I will be the very happy owner of a 4004 CII in black.
It is however modded to VVT which is no problem for me..
Ive been looking for years to find one for a good price/condition and it looks like I finally made it my first Rick ever!

Most of these are trans colored or clear coated but this one is solid black.
The question I have is and this is purely cosmetic but I would love to have this with chrome hadware instead of the gold.
The only problem I see arrizing is the jack plate is gold too where the serial is.

So question would be is there anyone with a 4004 Laredo that rather wants gold hardware istead of chrome.. Inc the trussrod plate.. Ofcourse if it all possible to swichout everything, which I think it is.

Its a bit of a strech I know but it never hursts to ask;)

Cheers

Welcome, Bram, on your fist post, finally!

Why didn't you just buy a Jetglo 4004L? That is basically what you want, right? No need for the maple/walnut/maple sandwiched body if it is Jetglo.

You will be hard pressed to find someone willing to switch out the jack plate given that has the S/N of the bass on it.

[Brams77]

Well I can easily explain why as Im buying it second hand for a really amazing price, if I would have had the choice
yes ofcourse 4004l would be the thing I would go for.

Yes the jackplate will be an issue for sure..

Maybe I should just sandblast al the gold hardware... Oh well we will see;)

[jps]

You could get the jack plate re-plated in chrome, or if the part is stainless steel just take the gold plating off and polish it.

When I got my first 4004, a 2004 Mapleglo Cii, I replaced most of the hardware for chrome, except for the jack plate and screws that hold it in place. I also did the VVT mod (I was the first to do so on the 4004 model), and replaced the HB-1s with scatterwound toasters, along with putting a plexi TRC on the bass. For knobs, I put the vintage style RIC knobs on the bass, and I replaced the Schaller tuning keys with Hipshot Ultralites, and the ABM bridge with a Hipshot A Style bridge.

Photograph Copyright © SAW 2004 All rights reserved.

I have, subsequently, gotten three other 4004 models, all Laredos. A late 2011 in Ruby (the 2012 NAMM Show Laredo), a 2013 in Snowglo, and a 2015 in Jetglo.

Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2014 All rights reserved.

Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2015 All rights reserved.

I have only done one minor mod to the Jetglo 4004L SPC by adding a mid '60s TRC to it, the Ruby and Snowglo are stock, other than strings (TI Jazz Flats).

Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2016 All rights reserved.

Pay no attention to the ORIS Artix GT Chronograph, this photograph was made for a watch forum.

[bottom4]

I've owned my share of 4904's, all trans colors... personally, if I had a black one regardless of model I'd be going with black hardware. Have you considered that? Sonically the L should have more of a bite than the Cii...

[Lemmy4ever]

What year is it? If it has an ABM bridge, I'll be interested in buying it after I get back from Japan.

[bassduke49]

A note of caution. The older ABM tail/bridge is mounted with four screws, the newer Schaller has three. So if your hardware change includes the different tail/bridge unit, you'll be drilling new holes.

The Schaller isn't really "newer" as it was used on the previous 2030 and 2050 models from the late '80s.

[woodyng]

Personally i like gold hardware on JG. (And every other color except mapleglo-).
I'm getting my 2015 modded JG Laredo back from Dane later today,(says Fedex tracking), but i don't think your gold parts would work too well with the big chrome piece now in the middle of the bass......
I swapped the hardware on my '04 Cii and '04 Laredo custom,and was really pleased with the results for both basses.i did the same as Jeff,though,in that i did not swap out the input jacks. I guess i'm wasn't that concerned with the appearance in that regard.
If your cii has a schaller bridge,you could of course just buy new chrome parts,and try to sell your gold parts online.
(Does RIC sell the chrome rings for hb pickups separately?)
Good luck!

[woodyng]

When I got my first 4004, a 2004 Mapleglo Cii, I replaced most of the hardware for chrome, except for the jack plate and screws that hold it in place.
......and I replaced the Schaller tuning keys with Hipshot Ultralites, and the ABM bridge with a Hipshot A Style bridge.

Hey there,Jeff,
Do you have any back-of-headstock photos of that Cii with the ultralights installed?

Your Cii was an inspiration and a major GAS inducer for me when i first found the RRF about 8/9 years ago.
I had never seen a 4004 of any kind before checking in this forum.

[aceonbass]

The gold plating on the gold jack plate will rub off if you either..A. Polish it with a somewhat abrasive polish, or B. Sand it with 1000 grit sandpaper. It's made of stamped stainless steel, so you can polish it out when you're done. The ABM bridge cannot be adjusted as low as the Schaller bride, so I wouldn't change it out. The fingerboard sits a bit higher on the older 4004's, so the ABM bridge wasn't a problem till some of the basses developed negative neck angle issues.

[Brams77]

Well alot of reactions!

@jps love those rugby and snoglo 4004's really cool!

I think Ill just have to deal with the hardware being gold.
Also because of the the price this stuff is when buying new.. And secondly the serial on the input don't forget all the gold screws that need replacing aswell.

If I don't get along with the gold eventually maybe I can sell it later on or trade it against a 4004L but for now I'll just enjoy the New bass, and worry about the appearance later.

Cheers

[jps]

Hey there,Jeff,
Do you have any back-of-headstock photos of that Cii with the ultralights installed?

The closest I have is one of my old FG 4001 with Ultralites on it, none of the back of the Cii.

Hope this helps.

[woodyng]

Hey there,Jeff,
Do you have any back-of-headstock photos of that Cii with the ultralights installed?

The closest I have is one of my old FG 4001 with Ultralites on it, none of the back of the Cii.

Headstock Back_1200a_6804.jpg

Hope this helps.

I was actually more curious to see if the ultralights covered the mounting holes for the mini schallers.
Looks like they didn't for the Grovers......but one would expect that.

[aceonbass]

I've already checked this out, and verified that using UltraLites will leave the Schaller mounting screw holes exposed. This isn't that noticeable if you dowel the holes, and touch it up with a black Sharpie. However, the holes in the headstock need to be reamed oversize to 9/16" for the HipShot tuners to fit.

[woodyng]

I've already checked this out, and verified that using UltraLites will leave the Schaller mounting screw holes exposed. This isn't that noticeable if you dowel the holes, and touch it up with a black Sharpie. However, the holes in the headstock need to be reamed oversize to 9/16" for the HipShot tuners to fit.

D'oh! Sometimes i have a short memory.