1986 Rickenbacker electronics

[pennex1]

Have a question to my fellow Rickenbacker owners. I got the itch to finally look what is behind my dials on my 1986 Rickenbacker 4003 bass. My intent was to look for the .0047 capacitor i have been reading about in this forum. The strange thing is i don't see it on my bass. I bought the bass new in 1986 from a local dealer and had to wait 3 weeks because i wanted a jet glow. They had a red color one in stock but i couldn't go for the red.

The serial matches the year but i was under the impression that my bass was suppose to have the .0047 cap. No one ever touched my bass excepted me. So my question is when did Rickenbacker started to install the cap? Oh, also, when did Rickebacker start with the single pickup guard? Because my pickup guard is 2 pieces. Is my a 4001/4003?

Here is a picture behind the pick guard.

 

[Randall]

http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Rick maint.htm#cmod
Lots of info here for you.

 

[Ric5]

The .0047 capacitor was used on the 4001 basses. The 4001 basses were phased out in the early 80s. The 4003 was introduced in 1980. The first few years the 4003 had the 2 piece pickguard and the .0047 capacitor. In 1986 Rickenbacker started producing the classic 4003 bass. It did not come with the .0047 capacitor, and it also had the one piece pickguard. The 4003 from 1986 to about 2006 did not have the .0047 capacitor. The newest 4003 basses have the capacitor but it is in a push pull circuit.

 

[pennex1]

The .0047 capacitor was used on the 4001 basses. The 4001 basses were phased out in the early 80s. The 4003 was introduced in 1980. The first few years the 4003 had the 2 piece pickguard and the .0047 capacitor. In 1986 Rickenbacker started producing the classic 4003 bass. It did not come with the .0047 capacitor, and it also had the one piece pickguard. The 4003 from 1986 to about 2006 did not have the .0047 capacitor. The newest 4003 basses have the capacitor but it is in a push pull circuit.

Thanks for the explaination. perhaps my was produced in between the change over being it has the older 2 piece pickup guard but lacked the .0047 cap in the electronic dept. I have owned the guitar since day one and no one has ever taken the guitar apart.

 

[Ric5]

The .0047 would not have come on the bass new.

The function of the .0047 capacitor is to remove all bass and low mids from the bridge pickup. By 1986 Rickenbacker realized that the .0047 capacitor was a tone sucker and that the 4003 sounded better without it. Also the best mod someone can do to their 4001 is to remove or bypass the .0047 capacitor.

The 1960s basses with the original toaster and horse pickups did sound better with the .0047 capacitor is was because the horseshoe pickup was a weak pickup and the capacitor helped it have enough treble bite.

The .0047 capacitor does not make the bass louder. It simply removes bass.