I posted this on the Ric forum also.
Can one order a 4003 with HB-1's installed instead of high gains?
I like the sound of RIC humbuckers so much I was thinking of ordering a new 4003MG with them if I could.
I know my other option is to order a 4004 but I like the binding, pickguard, and fret markers on the 4003.

The price list in the service section lists "Custom Pickup Upgrade" as an option for $100/pickup and lists vintage and humbuckers. According to www.ricpage.com this option requires upgrading all pickups. I wonder how the humbucker would sound in a 4003. In the future, I might get crazy and order one like that, but I've got a 4004 on order right now and won't be buying anything for a while :)

the 4004 hb1 pickups can be installed on a 4003 by a user ... I would recommend using 500k ohm volume pots if you do go that way ...

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www.3dentourage.com/425

Done! I finally got my '89 4003S put back together last night. (2) HB1s wired vol/vol/tone like a J bass with all 500K pots. Those pups combined with the mondo brass Dipshot bridge make this one dark, mean sounding Ric. Funny thing is, there's still that classic Ric tone in there too. I haven't tried it with a band yet. Will report back when I do! My tastes in tone are always evolving, and I seem to be in a serious passive dual humbucker mode right now. My #2 bass at the moment is a '94 Les Paul with stock T-bird pups and the Bartolini circuit removed. I also have a '73 Guild JS II that I used on two songs on my bands new disc. You can see pics here:

http://www.tomthebassplayer.com/equipment.htm

Nice ecclectic collection. I especially like your mix-master helper at Mission Control - how may years experience does he have?!

The HB-1s are responsible for the "dark" tone, as I didn't seem to experience a tonal shift when I put the Dipshot bridge on my 4003FL.

Here's something interesting - I noticed when I turned on my distortion pedal I'm getting buzz from the neck pickup but not the bridge pup. After further experimenting with different settings, I noticed that the neck pup was actually brighter than the bridge pup. So I tapped on the tops with a small screwdriver and it seems that the neck pup is only operating on the coil closest to the neck. I don't know if it came that way, or if I crimped a wire or something during the install, but honestly, it works out great. I'd wanted a single coil in the neck to begin with, but I'm not into the high gains, and a toaster has too low of an output in relation to the HB1. This thing is about just as loud as the one running in humbucker mode. The combination of tones is perfect. Neck solo gives the classic Ric tone. Bridge solo is a darker version of the Ric tone. And both pups full up is a slighly scooped, modern-ish Ric tone. Good stuff! Maybe a push-pull coil tap option would be good for the 4004...