Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi All, Very glad I found this forum, I have a 1965 FG 4005 bass and one thing I've noticed is the bridge
pickup has nowhere near the volume of the other pickup at the neck, I always believed this was just the
way it sounded , has anyone else noticed this?, could it be the pickup?, I've always assumed it was just
because of the position so close to the bridge and it's not like you can try other 4005's to see if they are all
sound this way!, has anyone else had this experience with these old 60's Toaster's & is this common ? ,
any help would be appreciated , Cheers

Jaime: This is a common complaint of vintage basses. Please go to the "Ask A Luthier" Topic where this problem has been discussed in some detail. Basically, you need to remove the .0047 capacitor which adds brightness but sacrifices volume as a result. While there may be other explanations for your stated problem, this is probably a good place to start. Mark Arnquist will be stepping in here or under the Luthier topic.

I did the capacitor bypass modification Friday, the day after I brought my new/old pawnshop 4001 home.

Yes, it tremendously increases the output of the treble pickup, but (in my opinion) it completely changes the character of the bass. I think I prefer the original tone!

I'm thinking I should rig up a temporary switch and snake a longer bypass wire out from under the pickguard, so I can do A/B testing and decide. My sound memory is very short - much shorter than the time it takes to do the modification.

Also, I shunted the cap with a short run of insulated wire, and didn't remove it. Electrically, it shouldn't make a difference - comments, anyone?

Jamie
Hi,I have a '64 4001 with a toaster. It's output is soft in comparison to most other pickups. Your 4005 should have two identical pickups. Could one have weaker magnets in it?
FYI coil resistance on mine is 7.4k
Maybe try swapping them over?

While we are talking about the Model 4005, Feast your eyes on this.

Ooooh! Now That's a dangerous Fireglo!!