Andy, I came across this post precisely because of a pressing question and concern I have: I'm considering buying a 1981 Rick 4001 bass that I saw for sale, however, the current owner removed the capacitor from the treble pickup. How might this affect the instrument's tone?
It’s gonna make the bridge pickup a little bit louder and give it a little more bottom end. Honestly? With roundwounds you’ll probably prefer it. If not, it’s a 2 minute/$2 fix to add the cap back in. Go play a modern 4003 with the push pull pot and compare the two sounds….its not a huge difference.
Even with a push-pull pot switch wired to my 1980 370, the neck pickup remained much louder than the bridge one. I then measured their resistance: bridge = 6 kOhms, neck = 14 kOhms! Have you ever seen such a difference? So I actually reversed the two, and now the pickups are finally balanced!
Andy, I came across this post precisely because of a pressing question and concern I have: I'm considering buying a 1981 Rick 4001 bass that I saw for sale, however, the current owner removed the capacitor from the treble pickup. How might this affect the instrument's tone?
It’s gonna make the bridge pickup a little bit louder and give it a little more bottom end. Honestly? With roundwounds you’ll probably prefer it. If not, it’s a 2 minute/$2 fix to add the cap back in. Go play a modern 4003 with the push pull pot and compare the two sounds….its not a huge difference.
Even with a push-pull pot switch wired to my 1980 370, the neck pickup remained much louder than the bridge one. I then measured their resistance: bridge = 6 kOhms, neck = 14 kOhms! Have you ever seen such a difference? So I actually reversed the two, and now the pickups are finally balanced!
Excellent information to help understand the differences in circuits. Thanks so much for clarifying including pictures. 👏👏👏
Treasure trove of info here Andy..! We appreciate it👍