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NBD - Rickenbacker content

#21
Yeah baby! Welcome to the club! I love the grain pattern on yours. I love the grain pattern on mine more, but that straight walnut grain is beautiful!

Be warned, the fret board will develop dark marks on it from your fretting hand, but they come right off with a good wipe down of fretboard oil.
 

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#24
Isaac_James said:
I don't think it's actually gold, just the way the light reflects. You can see that one of the tuners is chrome in one of the photos, also I am not aware of any of these 4003Ws being sold new with gold hardware.
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Be a nice option, but I appreciate it, admittedly my Ric knowledge is limited.

Thanks for clueing me in.

JW
 
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#25
J Wilson said:
Be a nice option, but I appreciate it, admittedly my Ric knowledge is limited.

Thanks for clueing me in.

JW
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I agree that it would look nice, were it an option (it may be if you were to go with aftermarket hardware, I know hipshot makes gold bridges at the very least)

I bought one recently and went waaaaaay down the rabbit hole researching before I bought it so I know enough for two of us, always happy to share some knowledge
 
#28
Congrats! That's a great finish and one I'd most likely go with as well. The Ric is one bass that has eluded me. Not for any specific reason. I just haven't had the opportunity to try one out extensively and not many local shops carry them. I've heard them in a live setting by others, and they always sound great. I did jam on one for a bit at a friends house a while ago. It was strange at first because it feels so different than any other bass but nothing sounds quite like it either.
 
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#29
Thanks everyone! Yeah it's chrome hardware, I have large windows in that room so it must be reflecting the sunlight, making it appear as gold.

I played it last night for a couple of hours, still getting used to it but I noticed the output is kind of low..... maybe I need to raise the pickups a little, is there a spec. for how far they should be? I know Fender pickups like to be around 1/8" from bottom of string while pressed down at last fret.
 
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#30
Crusher47 said:
Thanks everyone! Yeah it's chrome hardware, I have large windows in that room so it must be reflecting the sunlight, making it appear as gold.

I played it last night for a couple of hours, still getting used to it but I noticed the output is kind of low..... maybe I need to raise the pickups a little, is there a spec. for how far they should be? I know Fender pickups like to be around 1/8" from bottom of string while pressed down at last fret.
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Yes, the output is known to be lower. You can raise the pickups if you like, experiment and see what sounds good.

Many people feel that the neck pickup is wimpy compared to the bridge pickup. You can even that out to some extent with adjusting height, but I took it a step further and stuck a cheap neodymium bar magnet on the back of the pickup to boost the output.

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You can see here that I've got a couple pieces of foam tape in between to give the wire coming out of the middle some space, but I haven't peeled the backing off, it's just held there by the pull of the magnet. Easy to take off of I ever decide I don't want it. But it works great, just a little bit of a boost in output without changing the character of the pickup noticeably.

Something to check if you feel the output is low is the tone pot for the bridge pickup - it's a push pull and when pulled up, it adds a capacitor in series which acts as a bass cut, and that will reduce the overall output. This is "vintage" mode as it's how 4001 basses were wired, but on the newer 4003s you have the option to choose vintage or modern sound from the bridge pickup.

I recommend playing around with different pickup balances too, I tend to prefer one pickup turned up full and the other one backed off just a bit. Experiment and you'll see that there's a huge difference between both pickups on full and one turned down just a smidge.

Have fun - there's a lot this bass can do!
 
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#31
Here's mine. Got it in 2020. Wish it had the Walnut skunk stripe, but otherwise I'm very happy. I had a couple of Mapleglo's in the 90's and one was stolen after a gig, and the other I sold out of stupidity and regretted it ever since. I decided it was time to get a new Ric, and for years, had my heart set on a Jetglo. Once I saw the walnut 4003's, my mind was changed. I just loved the looks of it. The satin finish was also a contributing factor. I didn't give any thought to the weight difference with the walnut, but it's a very great surprise.

As far as the lower output that the op is experiencing, I have my bridge pickup full, and the neck pickup just slightly under full, and it seems to be the sweet spot for it to sing.

I traded an overdrive pedal for a set of Seymour Duncan Ric pickups. I was going to put them in to see what they're like, but I like the way it sounds as is, and I'm also too lazy. Maybe one day.
 

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#32
shwabilly said:
Here's mine. Got it in 2020. Wish it had the Walnut skunk stripe, but otherwise I'm very happy. I had a couple of Mapleglo's in the 90's and one was stolen after a gig, and the other I sold out of stupidity and regretted it ever since. I decided it was time to get a new Ric, and for years, had my heart set on a Jetglo. Once I saw the walnut 4003's, my mind was changed. I just loved the looks of it. The satin finish was also a contributing factor. I didn't give any thought to the weight difference with the walnut, but it's a very great surprise.

As far as the lower output that the op is experiencing, I have my bridge pickup full, and the neck pickup just slightly under full, and it seems to be the sweet spot for it to sing.
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I also find this to be my "sweet spot" but sometimes I solo the bridge pickup (the 4003 is the only bass I really like the sound of a soloed bridge pickup on, sorry Jaco), or have the neck pickup on full with the bridge pickup just slightly rolled back for a thicker, warmer but still clear tone, or even solo the neck pickup for some old school Paul McCartney thump. But full bridge + neck at 9/10 is what I use well over half the time.
 
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#37
Crusher47 said:
This was a tough decision as I really like all of the currently offered finishes/colors but in the end, I had to go with this one.... On to the pics.....

First time ever seen a guitar shipped in a "Glass" box - It's a good idea actually, the Fedex driver even said he was really careful with it lol...
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Case...
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Nice...
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Behold...
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Body closeup - Looks so much better in person....
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Headstock...
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Back...
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Back of headstock...
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Very excited to have a Rickenbacker back in the collection. Nice and light at around 8.5 pounds
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Sweet! I didn't know they were still making the Walnut model or is that NOS? Whatever it is you got a real beauty! Now go play the snot out of it and growl growl growl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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