4003 pickups

hardrocker · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 7:01 pm Post subject: 4003 pickups

When glancing at the specifications for the 4003, I was suprised to see that the pickups are single coil. Until now, I had always thought that they were humbuckers. Are they, perhaps, humbucking when the three way selector switch is set to the middle, or was I completely mistaken?

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

Yup you were mistaken. They are both single coil pickups. They even have that distinctive single coil hum. Great pickups though. Those basses sound as if they are modeled after the tone of a piano. I own a 4001 which are very similar. Great basses.
_________________
Sometimes we ride on your horses
Sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear
are just songs of our own

-"Eyes of the World" Grateful Dead

bobyoung · Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:03 pm Post subject:

Yeah, they're single coil, but the new 4003 pickups are much hotter than the old 4001 pickups, they measure somewhere around 12-13 k on an ohmmeter and the old ones are around 7.5 k. They're great pickups, I like both 4001 and the 4003 pickups but they are different, and also the cap has been taken out for about the last 15 years so they also sound a lot bigger than a 4001 with a cap in place. Check one out, best sounding bass sold today.

Doctor J · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 1:23 am Post subject:

My 92 4003 just growls. It's really, really loud. Generally I'd have to put it into the "Active" socket on most amps. They're single coils but they're incredible single coils. Very Happy

Necromancer · Newbie Alert Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 1

I find it interesting that you think the 4003 pickups are that hot. Maybe mind are defective or something.
I have a 4003 and a Larado and the Larado pickups are humbuckers and are much hotter but still not as hot as two cheap Ibanez 4-strings that I have.
Anyone else care to comment?

Doctor J · Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 1:21 am Post subject:

I have an ESP jazz bass which is mellow and sweet, the Ric is loud as growly (in a really nice way) and I've just bought an Ibanez SR3006 with Bartolini's, but I only got it on Monday, so I'll get back to you.

But, even comparing the Ric to other players basses at gigs where we'd be using the same amp, I know just to turn it down before I even start. Maybe they're an exception, but they rule. Razz

_________________
"...exploring new depths in low frequencies..."

Rickenbrother · Not So Newbie Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 6 Location: USA

The Rickenbacker 4004 basses have humbucking pickups.
_________________
Throw that piece of firewood where it belongs and get yourself a Rickenbacker!

Crazyeelboy · Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:24 pm Post subject:

I've played a 4001 for many years (it is a 1974 and I bought it in 1978) and just got a new 4003. Lordy! The 4003 pickups are some kind of super charged! That baby wails.