The Ric 4001 ...

[hieronymous]

I'm wondering whether Hieronymous has the same issues with his eight string or whether his beast has found a more zen like tranquility in its neck stability (thanks, no doubt, to comforting words of its owner!).

I haven't noticed any problems, but my 4003S/8 is resting comfortably on the east coast at a friend's house. I only play it when I go out there, which I will be doing in June. Also, I am having the string courses reversed by our very own bostonguitarrepair - maybe he can have a look and give his professional opinion.

I also have an early '80s 4008 that has a really nice neck. If they have any neck tranquility I think they achieved it long before I came into possession - or should I say guardianship - of them.

Hmm, maybe it's time for an 8-string Rickenbacker thread...

[Dave W]

I mean only the "new" round type. They don't flip by themselves, this is helped by adjusting the rods even if you are doing it correctly. If you put a little mark at the end of the rod so that you can see if it's turning inside the channel when you are tightening the nut, you can see how easy it is to turn the rod itself. If it was straight this wouldn't matter, but some rods are curved at the factory, and the rod should be positioned so that the curve works against string pull.

I understand what you're saying; because of the replaceability, it has the acorn nuts (instead of an internal anchor like Gibsons have), so it's possible for the rod to turn instead of being shortened when you tighten the headstock nut. But even so, wouldn't the rod cavity have to be big enough to allow it to actually flip?

Maybe I'm just not visualizing it the right way.

[ilan]

By flipping I just mean half a turn inside the channel. Then the curve faces the opposite side (fretboard instead of back of the neck). The acorn nuts at the body end have serrated washers but sometimes that's not enough to hold them in place.

When the bent rod is inside the channel, it's straight. That's why it's easy for it to turn.

If you make a small mark at the end of the truss rod, you can see if it turns inside the channel when you tighten the nut. You don't have to remove the rods at all, just check if they turn. I remove the rods from the body just to see if they are bent at all.

Uwe: if the rods in your s8 are straight, maybe you can bend them like in the pic and insert them back inside the channels with the convex side under the fretboard. Do you still have the original rods? Why did you have to replace them?

[Dave W]

Okay, now I get it.

[uwe]

That's interesting - very much so. Also the John Hall tip of "doing it the old way". My 4003s/8 has new original Ric trussrods in it (I had to replace the old ones when one nut broke off), I assume my luthier mounted them right! But I remember his wary words when he returned the bass to me saying that "this bass will give you trouble again in the future, just the way the wood has grown there is too much relief even with zero tension ...". The neck goes straight quick enough when I adjust the truss rods - it's just that about half a year later the same amount of new turns are needed to restraighten it again. And of course you can only tighten a truss rod that many times before the nut will eventually break off as I have had happened before with this bass. I' ll just see how it goes and try your recommendations next time, Ilan, thanks.

The abilityto remove the trussrods from a Ric is a great thing, granted. It gives me the thought whether as an option for the future one of those channels could not be used for a really stiff graphite rod to stiffen the neck and let the adjustment be done by just one Ric truss rod.

Uwe

[ilan]

I'd try backwards-bent rods first, it's simple, reversible, actually you can do it yourself.

If this doesn't work, perhaps compression fretting will. This is something you would have to discuss with you luthier. The frets are removed and replaced with fret wire with slightly oversized tangs. This will give the fretboard a back-bow.

Sometimes the wood at the body end compresses, and the acorn nuts sink too much into the hole when the adjustment nuts at the headstock end are tightened. John Hall suggested a few drops of Super Glue to harden the maple under the acorn nuts. This should be done in 3-4 applications, letting each dry before the next application. (Needless to say, remove the truss rods before doing this!)

Your luthier could also try heat treatment to correct the bow. Or a combination of any of these methods.

[chromium]

Wow.  It's nice to finally understand the mechanics of what is going on inside that neck!  I had no idea you could service necks so easily on these. 

There is a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt out there as it pertains to adjusting Rics.  This really helps demystify that process.  Thanks, Ilan!!

[hieronymous]

I just had my '76 4001 looked at by a Ric expert in San Francisco - first time I had seen the rods pulled out of the neck like that. At one point, he had me hold the body down while he pushed down on the neck to straighten it!

[gearHed289]

I have a '93 4003S/8 that I've had for a year now with no neck issues. I've actually loosened the truss rods. This thing has the thickest fingerboard I've ever seen, but the overall neck thickness is pretty much the same as my '89 4003S.

And speaking of neck thickness, at some point in the late 90's, Ric got a new CNC router. This is when the neck shapes got weird (thick). They are now back to a slim profile.

Flats on a Ric = very cool! I had a V63 for a while that I strung up with some TI flats. Awesome Wings vibe.



They are much prettier in real life, especially the Fireglo! That thing's a gem. The black one is my #1, followed closely by my '94 Les Paul Special. The cream one rarely leaves the house. VERY rarely.....

[ilan]

Welcome... great looking Rics!

[Dave W]

Hey Tom, glad you found us.

[Chris P.]

Beautiful basses! And Welcome!

[gearHed289]

Thanks guys. It's been a while - probably since around November - since I've been on any bass message boards. Got busy with my new car ('08 Mustang GT). Got that all tweaked out, so I'm nosing around again.

[Chris P.]

Well, post your car too at the Outpost cafe.

[OldManC]

This was my first 'real' Ric. Nice bass but I wanted the slimmer neck, so this one went to Germany (I think). I won't post a pic of my Greco 4001S copy (I know that gives some guys palpitations in a Ric forum  ), but it's pretty nice. I'll tell you Scott, I lust after your C64...