Rickenbacker Users

[acidbass]

Hello all,

I'm passing on this message for a friend of mine, hopefully there are some Rick users on here who can help -

"I recently have got my hands on a rickenbacker 4003 series bass. It plays like a dream and sounds good but it seems to be missing a kick. I used to have an active bass and I know that they are generally pack a harder punch than most basses but this rickenbacker is really losing a lot. I have the input and output up on my ashdown amp to nearly double what I used to have it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to maybe get a bigger sound out of it. Any pedal ideas, such as EQ's etc..."

So what do all you guys do? I know it's normally true that active basses are hotter than passive ones - does anyone on here use both a Rick and an active bass? How do you balance the outputs?

Cheers guys!

Danny

[Adee]

I have a 4003 and a Fender P and find the Ric lacks 'Punch & kick' even against the Fender P
I've now just got a MXR M80 pedal as it has Bass / Mid / Treb / Volume controls (Ideal to balance your bass output) but also a separate channel for a bit of Overdrive (if thats your bag)

But I have to admit if I want to cut more through I use the Precision

[DirkThrust]

[quote name='Adee' post='55286' date='Sep 4 2007, 02:27 PM']I have a 4003 and a Fender P and find the Ric lacks 'Punch & kick' even against the Fender P

But I have to admit if I want to cut more through I use the Precision[/quote]

This is exactly the experience I had with a Ric. I could never get a sound I liked out of it and it always sounded gutless to me. It's very difficult to describe a sound but it just seemed to drift in and out of the mix and never spoke with the authority that a P does. In the end I sold it for a Precision and I've never regretted it.

[Muppet]

well, totally the opposite for me. I have a number of Precisions fitted with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders and a Lakland Darryl Jones fitted with a J-retro preamp. The output from my 2001 4003 is greater than all these.

It is crucial to set these things up properly for relief and pick up height. If your mate has to turn the input and the output up double then there is something wrong somewhere.

[punksoul257]

My 1992 Ricky is similar, was thinking of changing the pickups on it for the seymour duncan ones but i've heard they arn't really worth it.
But i love my Ricky too much to even consider selling it.

[fleamail]

First try to screw the pickups a little higher and closer to the strings!

[movwkd]

I have a 4003 ric and the sound from it is massive, i also have a fender MIA precision deluxe with seymour 1/4 pounders and a warwick corvette proline 5 the ric blows them all over the mix !!
You need to look elseware for the problem as i run all my tools straight into a abm 500 evo 2 head with no problems..
Try the pickup height settings and the ric forum is good for tips..
Hope you get it sorted but if you sell it it will get you enough for any other top marque of bass !!..

[DirkThrust]

[quote name='Muppet' post='55564' date='Sep 4 2007, 09:50 PM']well, totally the opposite for me. I have a number of Precisions fitted with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders and a Lakland Darryl Jones fitted with a J-retro preamp. The output from my 2001 4003 is greater than all these.

It is crucial to set these things up properly for relief and pick up height. If your mate has to turn the input and the output up double then there is something wrong somewhere.[/quote]

Now I'm getting worried. I hope I didn't sell mine cos it needed a setup

[Gazm]

The output on my 4003 is definately hotter than my other basses (active or passive).
I think the pickup height route sounds the way to go.

Pete.

[KevB]

Same here. I have a US Jazz with S1 switch and a stingray with Nordstrand PU/J East preamp. My 4003 (manufactured in 2000) has a higher output than both of them. If I play both the jazz and the ric at a gig and soundcheck with the jazz on full I would have to turn the ric volume knobs *down* to about 2/3 or even 1/2 to get the same output volume.

[geofio]

if the 4003 is set up properly you wont have any problems with volume, i have never had any issues with that in fact the opposite is true, as one of the other members pointed out , a good setup on these basses is crucial to get the sound that you are after, i have been given 4003,s in the past that sounded dead, in particular the e string can be a problem, bridge height and also any rattling or buzzing remove all the saddles and start again it can take a while but worth it as once the bridge is set up properly it will usually stay that way, after that pickup height, you have to experiment here, normally you wont have a problem with the neck pickup maybe adjust the individual pole height to get an even sound across the strings, the bridge pickup is more problematic its a powerful beast, in my experience you have to get it just right with height adjustment, too near and the strings will not ring out properly, to far they will sound dead. the problematic strings on a ric are usually the E and G strings so raising/lowering the poles here if you have recent 4003, if not it can be more difficult to have an even sound across the strings just takes time and patience. if you take the time to set up properly then you should not have any problems with a ric, one other issue that comes up is dead sounding E strings i have found the reason for that to be loose screws on the bridge, make sure all 5 screws are fully tightened. i had a mate who had a 4003 and he was going mad that he couldnt get a decent sound from the guitar, it was down to loose screws on the bridge i tightened the screws and adjusted the pickups and put new strings on, rotosound swing 66 are the best if you are looking for the geddy lee thing!!!! and that bass just sung, my mate was blown away as to how different that bass sounded and it only took me 30 mins, so to sum up patience is the name of the game with ric 4003,s.

Edited April 19, 2012 by geofio

[vax2002]

If he has a compass, check polarity on pickups, they can be flipped on the magnets which does give more hum cancellation but a much weaker out put, use a compass, both should be the same polarity for maximum output, unlike say a jazz where they are opposite.
It was a common mod on older ricks as a lot of valve amps really hummed.

[OzzyGreg]

[i].[/i]
Check and see if you have a .0047 capacitor in-line with the bridge pickup. Most 4001/4003 Rickenbacker basses do.

To fatten the sound of (pre-2011) 4003s this capacitor needs to be removed or bypassed I'm led to believe.
It acts as a hi-pass filter on the bridge pickup cutting off the lower frequencies.

Apparently the latest 4003s have a push-pull setup on one of the knobs to engage and disengage this capacitor, giving what they call "Classic" (ie. trebly) and "Modern" (ie. full) sounds.

This capacitor is missing from my own 4001 (it was gone when I bought it second hand 20 years ago) and it sounds awesome! Somewhat "fuller" than my Fender in fact.

Greg

Edited April 19, 2012 by OzzyGreg

[Stacker]

Weak E? Try these: [url="http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D401"]http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D401[/url]

[Modulus]

holy necrobump batman!

[spongebob]

[quote name='OzzyGreg' timestamp='1334875565' post='1622925']

To fatten the sound of (pre-2011) 4003s this capacitor needs to be removed or bypassed I'm led to believe.
It acts as a hi-pass filter on the bridge pickup cutting off the lower frequencies.
[/quote]

I thought people stopped doing this after the late 80's? I'm aware of the mod for the 4001/early 4003, but you haven't had to do this to the newer Rics for years.

[bassmachine2112]

Hi ,check the relief on your neck.It should be pretty flat,if not refer to joeys bass notes.
If that,s ok then bring up the neck pup till it starts binding on the grommets,you,ll feek some resistance on the screws.don,t force them .
Next step balance the volume of the bridge pup to the neck one,you should be right now.
If the pick ups go too high then you get a really crap sound,hard to describe but you,ll know what I mean.
The single coil pick ups on a Rickenbacker have a different attack compared to other basses ,to my ear the note swells after you hit it.
As to loudness ,it,s as loud as my musicman.If this has anything to do with it it measures 12k on a meter,neck and bridge.
Try a sansamp or a behringer clone bdi21-settings-
gain-2oclock
presence-2oclock
bass-12oclock
treble-12oclock
blend-full on
level-9oclock
amp set flat.

[4000]

My Sei is much louder than my Rics, but that's what the input level control on my amp is for.

[hairyhaw]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1335010366' post='1624684']
I thought people stopped doing this after the late 80's? I'm aware of the mod for the 4001/early 4003, but you haven't had to do this to the newer Rics for years.
[/quote]

Correct - 4003's didn't come with the cap for a good few years but lots of people were putting the cap back in(!) so that's why after 2006-ish RIC put the cap back in but controlled via a push/pull knob so the player could decide to use it or not.