Skybone Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Bloody typical eh? Spotted an advert on FB for a 2011, Jetglo 4003 for a very good price, not too far away either. Got in touch with the seller, only for him to say he'd just taken a deposit on it. Bum. Yesterday, the seller gets in touch to say the deposit guy had backed out of the deal, and asked whether I was still interested. At the asking price, I wasn't going to turn it down, deposit paid. Arranged to meet up at around the halfway point, deal done. First impressions when I got it home, is it must have been kept in a garage or something, the paint's cracked in a few places and there's a few dings. It also looked like it'd not been cleaned since it was came away from the shop it was bought from. The case had seen a bit of wear as well, with one of the feet missing, and an indentation on the underside. Spent a bit of time cleaning it up, and put a fresh set of strings on, sounds great though. Toyed with the Vintage circuit, it's a bit trebly-er than the standard sound, I didn't hear the "classic" 4001 "clank", but it did sound good. No pics yet, I'll get some later. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 (edited) The case/foot thing is annoyingly common, especially given how much the cases cost. You’d think it would be easy enough to address. So far as I’m aware, the “vintage circuit” just puts the 0.0047 capacitor back in the circuit, thus cutting the bass output on the treble pickup. It doesn’t actually add treble so much as lose bass. The old 4001 basses used to have the cap permanently in (unless of course you removed it), then they removed the cap for the 4003, until they came up with the switch. Worth bearing in mind that an old 4001 would normally have 500k tone pots and less hot pickups. I think the 4003 originally went to 250k pots, and then 330k. So between the hotter pickups and the pot values, you’ll generally get a darker-sounding bass. I have found though that the extra warmth/girth of a good 4003 can be beneficial in a band setting, although of course it depends what you’re after. Edited September 29, 2020 by 4000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Certainly my Rockinbetter Fakers were great in a band setting. I've only been able to use my Custom Walnut Faker (with Gemini Waverider pickups) with the band once because of the Covid restrictions, but it too sounded great (need to suss out the pot values on that). This one sounds similar to my old, pre-Vintage Circuit 4003, so all good there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 I had a 4003 some years back too. I found the same thing with the "vintage" switch. Sound was a bit more "twangy" especially in the treble and mids, but not really vintage sounding, to my ears anyway. I've always liked the look and sound of a Rick bass. I'm now thinking I wouldn't mind an old-ish 4001 - but I can't justify it, and I need to thin the herd anyway. Glad you've had a NBD - enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 (edited) A lot of that “vintage” clank is down to eq too of course, and in some of the classic examples, the entire rig the bass was played through. The attached video is good reference for “that” sound. Even though he’s using stereo and I use mono, I’ve adapted some of my settings since watching the video. Note how relatively warm/ bright the neck/treble pickups are. I’ll add that I’m not going for exactly that sound; my sound is a bit warmer and darker. Edited September 29, 2020 by 4000 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted September 30, 2020 Author Share Posted September 30, 2020 (edited) Pics as promised. Not pristine in any way, but a very nice bass none the less. But it certainly need a deep clean! Edited September 30, 2020 by Skybone 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Nice bass! My first ever bass, a Jetglo 1980 4001 serial number TC915, looked quite a bit like that after I changed the scratch plate for a black one. Didn’t have a black trc though, and of course some of the details were different as per a 4001 from that period. That bass was stolen from the band van in 1985/1986 (think it was ‘86). It wasn’t insured. Especially poignant at the moment as my dad paid for the bulk of it and he died last week. Would have been nice to have still had it. They also took my amp (Fender Bassman 135), a Marshall Superbass head, a HH 2x15 bass cab and the drummer’s drum kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 17 minutes ago, 4000 said: That bass was stolen from the band van in 1985/1986 (think it was ‘86). It wasn’t insured. Especially poignant at the moment as my dad paid for the bulk of it and he died last week. Would have been nice to have still had it. I'm sorry to hear that. 18 minutes ago, 4000 said: They also took my amp (Fender Bassman 135), a Marshall Superbass head, a HH 2x15 bass cab and the drummer’s drum kit. Bastards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 (edited) Anyway, sorry for drifting off topic. Enjoy the bass, I’m sure it’ll scrub up nicely. Got to say, I do love full-width inlays, vintage or modern. it’s definitely a looker. Edited September 30, 2020 by 4000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted October 1, 2020 Author Share Posted October 1, 2020 The full width inlays do look fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 Still loving the 4003, Great playing and sounding bass, did have to set it up a bit & drop the action, but it wasn't that far off. Bizarrely, finding the back of the neck a tad "sticky", heard a lot said about it on the other US based bass forum, but never experienced it before. Thankfully, guitar polish, buffing and playing it has helped. The case is more knackered than I though. The inside really smelled bad, Febreze spray worked for a bit, but it's starting to smell again. Noticed even more damaged bits recently, so a new case is on the Christmas list. Love it, but still loving my custom Faker too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoire Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Nice looking bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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