need advice on Rickenbacker pick-ups

[William K]

hey y'all,
I've been obsessed with rickenbacker basses since for ever, owned a few in my life, sold some, bought new, old, etc.

I presently own an all original '75 4001, sounds and feels absolutely amazing. Very "ric" sounding, though more in an aggressive Geddy Lee-ish kind of way. For some time now I've been wanting to get another ric for that more oldie "throaty" Paul McCartney sound, so obviously my choice was to get a 4001v63 or 4001c64, or any ric bass with toaster pickups.

Unfortunately, these are extremely rare and expensive, so I thought of another plan; get the cheapest ric possible (that has the no-binding body type) and put toaster and horseshoe pickups in it. It so happens that the cheapest new ric one can get is the 4003s. I just pulled the trigger on a walnut 4003s (4003sw, actually!) on eBay. I dont care much for rickenbacker's modern sound, I used to own a new 4003 and ended up selling it...so modding this new ric with older style pickups is now issue to me (though I will keep them, if ever I need to sell the bass with all the original parts).

I'd like to know if someone here has already bought a new 4003 and put a toaster and horseshoe pickup in it. Does it work fine? Is putting the toaster in the neck but keeping the original bridge pickup a winning combination or will volume difference be too drastic? Any input/advice is welcome! I don't mind the bass having an overall lower volume output after this swap, but having 2 very different volume from each pickup might be more of a problem..!

Thanks!

 

[HOOLIGAN]

Really won’t be that big of a noticeable difference.
You’d do better with just trying out some flatwounds on it.
Pyramids seem like a logical choice, I like Rotosound Steve Harris flats, or Fender flats for a cheaper option.

 

[William K]

Really won’t be that big of a noticeable difference.
You’d do better with just trying out some flatwounds on it.
Pyramids seem like a logical choice, I like Rotosound Steve Harris flats, or Fender flats for a cheaper option.

I'm a chromes guy myself (for the time being, I got into them mostly because they are cheap), but I'm indeed open to trying new flats

 

[Axstar]

I think this is a string choice thing, not a pickup thing. A 1975 4001 should do Macca sounds with thumpy flats.

 

[woodyng2]

Don’t listen to these guys-you NEED a 2nd Rick so you can have both rw and flats sounds readily available!
(Yes, i am a multi-Rick enabler,lol).
Congrats on getting the walnut S, that’s exactly the one new Rick i would buy myself,and also would be doing the same mods. I’ve found a Classic Amplification 60’s flattop bridge pickup pairs beautifully with a Rick scatterwound toaster. You would likely want to change the wiring harness for optimal matching with those pickups as well. (Call Dane Wilder if you’re not handy with that).
Modern higains,and the reissue horseshoe pickups are much hotter than the toaster,so the CA pickup is a great match in ouput and tone. I’d also swap the stock bridge for an aluminum hipshot,and the stock metaltop knobs for vintage ones,but those are my esthetic preference.

 

[William K]

funny you should say that, I was planning on getting vintage black knobs asap..! I'm really going for the old 4001 look and sound (so getting the 4003s is at least getting me the body shape!). too bad about the very big volume difference between the vintage toaster and all other options...
BTW, will show pics of the bass as soon as I get it (normally next week)

 

[9mmMike]

pics?

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I have a ‘93 4003S that I outfitted with a Ric re-issue horseshoe a Ric toaster. I did a bit of chiseling and mounted the toaster in the 1/2” position. Pickguardian made me the back-painted white pickguard.

I have used lots of string on it, TI Flats, Pyramids, EB Slinky Flats (cobalts) and many others. All were winners in my book.

The ones I like most, and the ones on now are Roto 88 Tapewounds. Those give me the most versatility. Macca? No problem. Geddy? All set. Heck, with just the toaster, I can even get Barry Oakley’s tractor bass tone and that was a Jazz.

 

[mapleglo]

Before I converted this to a 5 string, I swapped the pickups. It worked fine. I liked it better then the stock pickups. A bit more aggressive to my ear. I use Rotosounds.