Skybone

So I crumbled and ordered one... fingers crossed that it'll be every bit as good as it's reputation. Looking forward to playing about with the sounds.

You do have to approach these things as though you were approaching a new amp / cab / effect. Start from the first principles and use your ears to find what sounds good to you. Can't really improve on that. Just ordered a POD Go too, so watching & waiting. Keeping the trusty HD500x though.

That takes me back... those "Hand Clap" pedals where everywhere in the late 80's, then they just seemed to disappear. Quite who bought them was beyond me at the time.

Second hand US made P?

There are a few options available: Search the small ads - FB marketplace, Gumtree, etc. for a small amp. I managed to pick up a little Marshall MB 15 for my son the other week off the local Gumtree, for the grand sum of £25. It was in great nick, sounds excellent too. Way better than my first amp, that cost me a lot more. Pick up something like a Hotone ThunderBass, a Phil Jones Headphone Amp or similar. Aternatively, something like a Zoom B1 Four.

That was truly painful. Reminiscent of the early rounds of X Factor, when the hopeful's are told they can't sing, and their Dad comes along fuming.

Cat Scratch Fever - Fudge Tunnel or Ted Nugent

All Friends and Kingdom Come - Monster Magnet

Boston Tea Party - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Television - Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

Not sure about this one. Always used to use the Roto 40-95 set many, many moons ago, but then went on to the "standard" 45-105's, in a multitude of makes. More than happy with them.

Mentioned in another thread. Loop:

Saw Citizen Fish loads of times. Great live band. Only saw Culture Shock once though.

I have owned a G&L L2000 Tribute in the past, and if anything, "old school tones" is not something I managed to achieve from it, which is why I used to own one. I would lean towards the Yamaha, as it's not only more Fender-y P/J, but passive as well.

Sorry, just assumed that was a common acronym. As Jus Lukin said, Reverse Wound Reverse Polarity. In split coil P pickup, one coil is wound in one direction, the other wound in the other direction so that they cancel hum. Likewise, as said, J bass pickups work together to cancel hum, but will hum if used on individually. The Nordenbocker is wound in the same way, that it'll cancel hum when used in conjunction with the neck pickup.

Not forgetting classics such as: "All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit" and "Seal Clubbing"

Must admit, although I prefer humbuckers on guitars, I prefer single coils on basses as they seem to cut through better in the mix. Again, horses for courses, YMMV etc.. That said, you can get Rick specific single coils that are RWRP, or work as such when put with a standard Ric pickup, like the Nordenbocker. Gemini Pickups in the UK make their's RWRP, not sure about the Classic Amplification ones though.

Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Taking the hum out of them is kind of taking a small bit of their "mojo" IMO. Of course, some people hate that they hum, and I do have to wonder why Ric still make both of the pickup windings in the same direction, but, it is part of the character of the 4001/4003 that it does this. I do find that rolling off the volume for the neck pickup a touch makes this less of an issue, but I also think that putting humbuckers on them robs them of some of their character. Of course, it is horses for courses (or YMMV if you prefer).

Superb album

Sheep Farming in the Falklands - CRASS

Another big difference between the 4003 & 4004 is the "sandwich" body on the 4004. The 4003 has solid maple body wings, where the 4004 has a maple / walnut / maple sandwich (you can just see it in 4000's pic of the 4004). Not sure about the difference in body thickness, but the 4003 is deceptively thin, but weighty due to the slab of maple. Walnut is a fair bit lighter. More obvious differences are the lack of binding and the inlays on the 4004.