Moderators isaac42 Posted May 24, 2015 Moderators Share Posted May 24, 2015 The 4004Cii is the green bass the guys in one of my bands insisted I keep. I've been playing it in that band, but I haven't been as pleased as I might be with the tone. In particular, the bridge pickup by itself sounded thin and weak. Pretty much useless. Didn't seem right, especially as I was pretty sure that the neck and bridge were the same model. I made some inquiries, and everyone said that it shouldn't be that way. So I started investigating. The pickups are indeed identical, so their sounds should be similar, different only by virtue of their placement. Obviously, that wasn't what I was getting. Resistance measurements showed me that the bridge pickup was open. Amazing that I was getting any sound out of it at all! However, on a 4004Cii, the pickups are Rickenbacker HB1 humbucking pickups, so of course they have two coils. Further investigation showed that one coil was open, but the other was intact. So I did a little soldering, and now I have a single coil pickup in the bridge position and a humbucker in the neck. I expect I'll switch them out eventually, at least to see how that changes the sound, but for now, I'm going to be happy with it as it is and enjoy having a functional pickup in the bridge position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 24, 2015 Members Share Posted May 24, 2015 Nice troubleshooting story. The important thing is whether you're happy with how it sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted May 24, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted May 24, 2015 Seems okay so far. No gigs on the schedule this weekend or next, and the real test is how it sounds on stage, so we'll see, no later than 5 June. I really suspect that having the single coil in the neck position will be the better option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted May 26, 2015 Members Share Posted May 26, 2015 Were those the pickups you were messing with the magnets in awhile back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted May 26, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted May 26, 2015 Were those the pickups you were messing with the magnets in awhile back? Nope. That was the Mapleglo 4001. The reason for messing with that one was to make the two single coil pickups into a humbucking pair, much like a Jazz bass. The 4004Cii comes with humbucking pickups, which was why I was able to run one of them single coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 2, 2015 Trying it out at rehearsal this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 3, 2015 Rehearsal postponed. Water heater incident. Thursday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 5, 2015 Hellz Yes! Sounded great. Amazing definition in the tone that just wasn't there before. Maybe too much. I'll play it for a week or two, maybe three, then switch out the pickups, putting the single coil in the neck position and vice versa, and see how that goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted June 5, 2015 Members Share Posted June 5, 2015 Glad it seems to be working out for you. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 5, 2015 Gig tonight. I'll let y'all know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 6, 2015 Bass sounded great last night. Much better than before. Soloing the bridge pickup was useful, used it in a couple of songs, but it was not as loud as the neck pickup or both in parallel, so I need to find a way to adjust the balance. Not a lot of adjustment for pickup height on these basses, but I'll do what I can. I'm still thinking that switching the pups will be a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted June 7, 2015 Members Share Posted June 7, 2015 ^ Yeah, if you need the bridge to be much louder you'll have to put the humbucker in that position. Anyway, glad you're closing in on the sound you want. Good luck and keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 12, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 12, 2015 Another thought occurred to me. I could rewire the neck humbucker in parallel instead of in series. That would reduce the output, and might brighten the sound a bit. Should balance better with the bridge single coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 25, 2015 Rehearsal was canceled last night, so I had some free time. I decided to go ahead and wire the neck pickup in parallel. I also put in a switch to allow both single coil and humbucking operation. Worked great! The bass is much brighter now. The odd thing is that I couldn't hear any difference between HB and SC operation. So here's what I'm thinking. Two virtually identical pickups (the two coils of the HB) in almost exactly the same position on the bass really ought to sound almost exactly the same. In parallel, the output impedance is lowered, but the output voltages don't add together as they do in series. So I guess it makes sense that it sounds the same either way. Still, it should be a useful mod. In SC mode, the two pickups form a HB pair. When the neck pickup is soloed, I can put it into HB mode by itself. Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying it out in rehearsal and at a gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lug Posted June 26, 2015 Members Share Posted June 26, 2015 Rehearsal was canceled last night, so I had some free time. I decided to go ahead and wire the neck pickup in parallel. I also put in a switch to allow both single coil and humbucking operation. Worked great! The bass is much brighter now. The odd thing is that I couldn't hear any difference between HB and SC operation. So here's what I'm thinking. Two virtually identical pickups (the two coils of the HB) in almost exactly the same position on the bass really ought to sound almost exactly the same. In parallel, the output impedance is lowered, but the output voltages don't add together as they do in series. So I guess it makes sense that it sounds the same either way. Still, it should be a useful mod. In SC mode, the two pickups form a HB pair. When the neck pickup is soloed, I can put it into HB mode by itself. Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying it out in rehearsal and at a gig. Seems odd. When I go from SC to HB on one of my G&L's pups, it's a significant difference in tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 26, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 26, 2015 It seemed odd to me, too, but I checked the resistance, and it's definitely making the change. Maybe your G&L is going from SC to series HB? This pickup sounded considerably different when it was running in series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 27, 2015 Nice to see you, Lug, old boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted June 29, 2015 Members Share Posted June 29, 2015 ...so I need to find a way to adjust the balance. Not a lot of adjustment for pickup height ... Might be able to make a "gasket" to fit under the pickup(s) on the green monster, in order to raise them a few millimetres as required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 29, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 29, 2015 No need. Having rewired the bass, the pickup balance appears to be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 29, 2015 Members Share Posted June 29, 2015 I think it makes a bigger difference when you have more winds. I don't think Rick pickups are wound very hot being a bass pickup designed for clean tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted June 30, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted June 30, 2015 I think you're right. The coils' DC resistance is about 7.5K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted July 10, 2015 I'll be playing it at a show tonight. We'll see how it performs.Report tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 I look forward to reading your report. Knock 'em dead at the gig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted July 10, 2015 Thanks, Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted July 11, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted July 11, 2015 Had to make a few tone adjustments. The neck pickup is much less bassy now than it was. But the balance between the two pickups is much better, and the tonal differences between the pickups and the two combined are useful but not too extreme. Still no perceptible difference between single coil and parallel humbucking on the neck pickup. So the bass is useful, with more tonal choices than it had before I started working on it. I may still switch the pickups, putting the humbucker in the bridge position and wiring it for series operation again. That would give me one or two more tonal possibilities. But not today. I have another gig tonight, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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