Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

2016 4003 with HB1's, 500k pots, .022uf cap. three way selector, mono/dummy jack combo. WD pickguard.

The original Hi Gain pups were too noisy. Could not quiet it down.
Now with the HB1's and new harness, same sound, but no noise. To my ears the bass sounds the same, but I will say the neck pup sounds much better than the neck HiGain did. Very beefy and deep, but plenty of clarity and presence.

Kinda like the difference between hearing a voice on the telephone (stock electronics and pups), and then hearing the voice in person (HB1's and new harness).

But I still get that comb filtering chorusy effect when I play with both pups on like I did with the stock electronics.
It is ok though, as I only usually play with the bridge pup on anyway.

I went to two controls as I never blend pups and have spent all my bass playing years with two knob basses. 4 knobs and I constantly fuss with them as I play to make sure nothing ngot rotated the wrong way.

I like the simplicity of two knobs. No bezel needed with the bridge HB1. Looks nice and I just put my thumb on the pup.

I have the complete original 4003 harness/jacks/pups/pguard assembly to sell later or reinstall if. But I like it better the way it is now.

Here is a pic taken at night with indoor lighting so doesn't show off the paint/woodgrain very well. Whites look yellowed. But you can see the configuration.

lumgimfong wrote:...I still get that comb filtering chorusy effect when I play with both pups on like I did with the stock electronics...

That's pretty normal with two pickup instruments due to the strings being pickups in two different locations at the same time, kind of like a spaced pair of microphones compared to an XY pair of microphones picking up an orchestra, for example. Adding a high value cap inline with one of the pickups will mitigate the effect of the comb filtering.

jps wrote:

lumgimfong wrote:...I still get that comb filtering chorusy effect when I play with both pups on like I did with the stock electronics...

That's pretty normal with two pickup instruments due to the strings being pickups in two different locations at the same time, kind of like a spaced pair of microphones compared to an XY pair of microphones picking up an orchestra, for example. Adding a high value cap inline with one of the pickups will mitigate the effect of the comb filtering.

+1

It's no different from a Jazz Bass or any other two-pickup bass/guitar. If you lower the volume of one pickup a bit or put the cap in the circuit, this effect will go away, and there should be more mid-range presence. On the other hand the scooped sound of comb filtering can be desirable at times.

I dimed everything for years on both guitars and basses but the last couple years I've really relied on backing the bass tone down to about 7, the bass volume down to about 9. Magic.