SOME BACKGROUND: For the debut of Nordstrand’s latest and greatest (though some would say blasphemous) release, this reporter of sonic salubrity interviewed Adrian Smith, the progenitor of this hell raising idea. He had much this to say about the cognitive turns which led him to the blueprint that eventually became the NordenBocker, and it is definitely in the interest of the player to take a look at what this mad scientist has to say:

“‘Modification?! On such a potent yet illogical gem of weird, probably accidental creation?! BLASPHEMER!’ Yes yes, I know. But I did! So, why would I put Big Single neck pickup in my Rickenbacker 4003 bass? The reasoning is threefold:

1) To hum-cancel with the bridge pickup.
2) More output from the neck pickup.
3) My bass, my choice!

From the factory, the stock pickups are wound in the same direction with the same polarity. This is unlike a Jazz bass, so the pickups never hum-cancel, even when both are set to equal levels. Does 60 cycle hum bother me? Not really, but for noisy gigs this can be beneficial. My first thought was to do the RWRP mod to the bridge pickup, which involves flipping the magnet and swapping the hot and ground wires. 

Easy enough, but my second issue is the weak stock neck pickup. Oh sure, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks notwithstanding, but for my own tonal goals, the neck pickup just doesn't have enough guts to it. I play loud metal through a big amp, so in this case, more is indeed more. Since I always bypass the vintage tone capacitor on the bridge pickup anyhow, the neck pickup just can't keep up. Also, the stock bridge sounds great already, so why mess with it?

The third reason is about options. I love the way this bass feels and plays. But I can't ever leave well enough alone, and modify my basses to fit my own personal whatever. At the very least, it's fun! Sure, my tone is in my fingers, but it's also in changing things around to suit that thing that I do. And to the purists, if you'd like to see the rest of my bass collection, you'll notice I also have a passive Stingray. THE HORROR!”