Technical Data
FX
I am currently using a Line6 Pod X3 Live. When playing the Rickenbacker I put the treble pickup into the Guitar input and the bass pickup into the Aux input. This allows me to have two different amp models/effects chains (one for the treble pickup and one for the bass). I generally have a fairly normal bass sound for the bass input and overdrive on the treble. This allows me to blend the two together or be able to switch to a different sound just by toggling the pickup selector. This also allows me to use a wah (or other effect) on the bass input but not totally swamp the overall sound. I will post the patches and details for the Pod at a later date.
Live setup:
- Rickenbacker 4003
- Using Rick-o sound (stereo) into guitar and aux inputs on the Pod X3 Live
- Blend of both channels in mono to the Hartke HA2500
(I am planning to use a stereo power amp into two cabs. That way I can output each pickup to a seperate speaker cab)
Recording:
- Rickenbacker 4003
- Using Rick-o sound (stereo) in guitar and aux inputs on the Pod X3 Live. Straight into two channels on the mixing desk
Rickenbacker 4003 Blueburst
When I am using the Rickenbacker I use the following setup:
Rick'O'Sound (the treble and bass pickups are routed to different amps via the following paths)
4003 treble pickup:
- Aphex Punch Factory (Optical Compressor)
- Jim Dunlop Bass Wah Wah
- Boss ODB3 (Distortion)
- Boss CEB3 (Bass Chorus)
- Boss BF3 (Flanger)
- Trace Elliot Twin Valve Combo (see amp section)
4003 bass pickup:
- Aphex Bass Xciter
- Hartke HA2500 amp (see amp section)
- Peavey 4 x 10 bass cab 700w 4 ohm
My Precission:
This originally started out as a Mid Eighties Jap Precission. Since 1995 I have made the following modifications:
- Machineheads replaced with Schaellers and 1 Hipshot Detuner.
- The bridge pickup was custom made for me by Kent Armstrong back in '95 (that was before he started makeing the off the shelf ones). I asked it to be "hot and vintage". Interestingly that's the name for his p-bass range now (I'll have to ask him if I gave him the original idea :-)).
- The neck pickup is a Bartolini Tri-bucker.
- The electronics have been replaced with a Bartolini 2 band active circuit.
- The bridge is an old Bassass mark one.
- The top Nut is brass.
Amp section
Trace Elliot Twin Valve Combo
I've had this amp for about ten years now. It's one of the very few all valve amps that Trace Elliot made and uses 2 KT88 power valves. It's only about 120 watts but it is really loud and overdrives beautifly (which makes it ideal for the treble pick on the 4003).
These amps appear to be incredibly rare these days. I've only been able to find mention of them twice on the internet. If you've got one of these hang on to it, it's the best amp I've had (and I've had quite a few)!
Hartke HA2500
This is a 250 watt solid state amp with a valve emulated preamp. Not much to say about this amp, I only use it for the bass pickup on the 4003 to fatten up the sound. It does the job OK but any amp would do for that. If I ever use it on it's own I'll let you know how it performs.
Peavey 4 x 10 bass cab 700w 4 ohm