Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have tried HB1, HiGain, and Toasters on my 4003 bass.

The darkest is HB1. Almost veiled sounding. Like deep in the speakers.
HiGain is a lot brighter. Veil is gone and sound is more present, out in the front of speakers.
Toaster is the brightest. Most present and open, uninhibited sound.
Quest for brightness complete.

I found that, to brighten things up, tone pot and cap values changed almost nothing. String type/model helped, didn't change things drastically. It was the volume pot value and type of pickup that made the most noticeable and drastic change in brightness. With the Toasters and 1MEG volume pot combination making the bass outrageously, pleasantly (to my ears) bright and clear. Before , when I used 500k volume with HB1 and Hi Gain, I still had to peg the tone knob to get as bright as I wanted and still not enough. But the addition of the 1MEG pot helped, and then installing the Toaster took it to a whole other level of clarity.

Have you tried these, and what was your experience?

Not to be a smart *** but my Mesa TT-800 amp gives me more brightness/clarity than I can comfortably hear without the expense or hassle of changing pups on my Rics.

My take is that the HGs are very hot! They sizzle and are tantamount to being harsh (in a good way). The Toasters seem to be similar to HGs in sound but clearer and they tingle instead of sizzle. They do seem to have a bit fuller low end as well. HB1s definitely are the darkest of the three but still have the nice Ric top to their sound. I have them on two of my Rics (4004C and the 4004L8). These guys a tonal monsters. I have to disagree with the 500K circuitry doing little to the sound. I have that on my 4004C and while the darkness is still there, I find a noticeable difference. There seems to be a fullness not in the less hot circuitry and there is a bit more top end to the sound. Also I have the cores to the HB1s tap-able and this adds a new dimension to the pickups and sound. The only non-Ric pickup I have is a 'pre-lawsuit Lollar HorseShoe. It is just a sweet, warm trebly, almost microphonic sound from my 4001.