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Rickenbacker 4001... tone-monster it isn't...

#62
Count me in as a lover of the cap. I had the push/pull tone pot installed on my '79 Rick 4001. With the cap disengaged, the bass has a wonderful warm, full tone but still retains the Rick signature. Engaged, however, is where all that wonderful trebly clarity resides, and combined with the neck PUP is undeniably classic Rick tone, IMO. Yeah, of course it's thinner sounding overall. So use your amp and compensate with some proper EQ, that's all. You'd do that for any other bass, wouldn't you? ;)
 
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#64
If you engage the cap and have both pickups on full volume and tone, toggle between the neck pickup alone and both on. What you'll notice is the sound is not THAT different. That's because the pickups aren't filtering each other like normal so you are hearing the true sum of their signals; hence it sounds similar to a soloed pickup that is not being filtered, either. With both on and the cap in it's basically the neck pickup with some extra crunch on top. If you want the bridge pickup to contribute more, while still avoiding the filter effect, use a bigger cap.

I believe this may also explain why RIC puts a bigger magnet on the bridge pickup, to compensate for some of the output loss. I could be wrong though.
 
#66
cassius987 said:
If you engage the cap and have both pickups on full volume and tone, toggle between the neck pickup alone and both on. What you'll notice is the sound is not THAT different. That's because the pickups aren't filtering each other like normal so you are hearing the true sum of their signals; hence it sounds similar to a soloed pickup that is not being filtered, either. With both on and the cap in it's basically the neck pickup with some extra crunch on top......
Click to expand...

I find that to be exactly the case as well. Nicely put.
 
#67
cassius987 said:
If you engage the cap and have both pickups on full volume and tone, toggle between the neck pickup alone and both on. What you'll notice is the sound is not THAT different. That's because the pickups aren't filtering each other like normal so you are hearing the true sum of their signals; hence it sounds similar to a soloed pickup that is not being filtered, either. With both on and the cap in it's basically the neck pickup with some extra crunch on top.
Click to expand...

exactly.
 
#68
Back to the original post ... If we haven't lost him ... He was dissatisified with the tone of his Rick ... not enough low end. To that end he would be better off without the capacitor, and he might also prefer all 250k ohm pots and the modern 4003 pickups.
 
#69
Ric5 said:
Back to the original post ... If we haven't lost him ... He was dissatisified with the tone of his Rick ... not enough low end. To that end he would be better off without the capacitor, and he might also prefer all 250k ohm pots and the modern 4003 pickups.
Click to expand...

Yes and the 4003 pups have individual pole hight adjustment so you can adjust the output from each string easily.
 
#72
Ric5 said:
And Geddy can get his Rick tone from his jazz bass ... listen to moving pictures ... it is half jazz and half Ric and it is hard to tell which is which.
Click to expand...

He can't really. It's easy to get confused between the two on Moving Pictures because the bass tracks were drenched in effects after they were recorded. Listen to Signals, where both basses were used pretty equally, and the tonal differences are great.
 
#74
PubliclyViewable said:
So... 1973 Rickenbacker 4001. Last year of checkerboard binding, full-width sharktooth inlays, and toaster pickup. Has the original wavy Grovers, bridge/nut/frets. The pickguard isn't original (tooled leather... didn't dig it at first, but now I realize that it was made when the bass was brand-spankin' new, and is pretty sweet). Had a dead bridge pickup, so that was re-wound by Curtis Novak (http://curtisnovak.com) The pickup ended up absolutely perfect. The neck pickup is original, and reads out in the 8k range... However:

The pots aren't original. They're from an audio manufacturer (the name escapes me at the moment...), and the wiring has been replaced in portions. Not pretty. I'm not positive if the caps are original, and those are unmarked, so I don't know their values.

Main issue:

The tone blows. The sound is ultra-thin, with a focus on muddy (and at the same time) nasally thin mids on notes E-B on the E-string, a distinct lack of definition on the A-string, and no volume (read: very uneven volume transition) or bass tone on the D- and G-strings (pickup height is not an issue; that is set as close as they get with no string contact).

I play over an Aguilar DB750 into a Phil Jones 16B, and my Precision is like... and, well, it'll make many of us come to tears it's so perfect through that! I've owned 3 4001/4003's in the past ('75, '78, '06), and they were pretty damn good. I really want to use this bass on the local gigs, but I've had a $50.00 pawnshop Kay bass sound better...

Main object:

:rollno:I know that it's sacrilege, but I want my Rickenbacker to emulate my Precision in a couple select ways:

1. Even tone across the strings. Now I know that won't happen perfectly on any bass (string gauge/string length/aperture of vibration, yadda yadda yadda), but if I'm playing a groove in D, I want to be able to use the high D on the G-string without loosing all tone and most volume.

2. If I am able to have my lows boosted on the amp in order to compensate for the lack of lows on the D- and G-string, I would like to keep my E- and A-strings from booming like a bad rap track next to you that rattles the dudes Buick apart. How can I balance that?

I'm wondering what impact the pots will have in this equation and what value (if any) caps to use.

The electronics are all aftermarket anyways, so tossing those in favor of a very well-executed custom job doesn't frighten me, and I'm not worried about 100% vintage accuracy. I do my own luthiery work (8 years and running), so getting the job done is no problem. I want to PLAY this bass and love the tone, not have a queen to keep on the damn rack!

PLEASE HELP!:hyper: Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

edit: didn't see the thread necro. Whoops.
 
#76
'73 Ric 4001.JPG Yeah, a zombie thread, but in case anybody's wondering about the situation with a 4001; I have the push-pull pot in my '73 4001. It fits fine, but I don't have a leather pickguard, either. But, pots are generally adjustable up and down - a little. And, yeah, sounds like a phase problem to me, too. The "Hi-Gains" in my 4001 really aren't (especially as old as they are), compared to the ones in my '01 4003; but it definitely is a Tone Monster...:whistle:
 

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