What is the truth about Ric 4003 necks?

[lumgimfong]

Amid all the written and spoken info I have heard, I am still confused.

Now, you can slap just about any set of strings on a maple Fender neck, truss rod tweak and nut slot file later and you are good. No muss no fuss.

1. Same for Ric 4003 necks?

2.Or are their necks really that temperamental and delicate like people say?

3. If so, why? It is just maple, like a fender neck is.

4. And why the need for two truss rods?

[jps]

...Now, you can slap just about any set of strings on a maple Fender neck, truss rod tweak and nut slot file later and you are good. No muss no fuss.

Not in my experience. They need to have truss rods tweaked seasonally, and the 2003 AV '62 Jazz Bass I owned for a while had a c8r8a8p neck on it that I could never get the relief set on it. The truss rod nut max'd out in short order. I bought the bass brand new and it was ordered from Fender so I know it was a fresh as fresh can get. Within a couple of months of trying to flatten the neck out I had to put a 3/16" bushing under the nut to try and gain a few more useful threads on the rod. I sold the bass shortly thereafter. On other Fenders I had to deal with broken nuts, wonky electronics, ski jump necks, etc., not to mention the idiotic way to adjust vintage style necks by, at the very least, loosening the neck heel bolts if not removing the neck entirely to adjust the truss rod, then put it all back together to check the relief, then again, the remove the neck again to tweak it a bit more, loosening the strings every time too, to do so, ad nauseam..........

[59jazz]

I'm a long time Fender user and have had my share of "OK" & bad necks....my current USA Jazz and RB-IV have one piece flat sawn all maple necks with graphite rods....a very stable neck, compared to the other Fenders I've owned.
My '14 4003 has 2 pc laminated 1/4 sawn neck that's a bit thicker than any of my Fenders, and with the dual truss rods it's the most stable neck I have owned. I have it setup with EB flats and have been using it during the cold Iowa winters and humid summers, no change at all and it stays in tune while sitting in its Mono gig bag. I'm wondering if RIC uses a better quality of maple for their neck stock.

[Gilmourisgod]

The utility of double truss rods on a 4 string is debatable, the theory is that it allows a neck twist to be dialed out. I haven't read of any pro luthiers who think the double rods are worth the structural downsides of having the big TRC pocket right at a point of maximum stress on the headstock. The laminated necks seem a lot stiffer than the old one piece design, but they are also much beefier on average than the older basses. If the voice of the marketplace is any indication of best practice, a single double acting trussrod that allows both front and backbow adjustments, with or without CF stiffeners, is now the common neck design for 4 string basses. Ric has had great success ignoring the tides of instrument fashion and improving technologies, and a loyal fan base who has an affection for the quirks and less functional features, discourages change even when it might improve playability. People like the vintage vibe of the old models, but I think the current 4003 models are, on average, the best built they have ever made.

[henry5]

The last Fender Jazz I bought needed a new neck off the bat. I tried adjusting it as soon as I got it home and immediately ran out of adjustment (I like a very straight neck). The neck was replaced under warranty but I sold it on immediately.

I've never had a problem with any modern Ric basses, and to be honest most of the hundreds of 4001s I've played have been fine too, although there will be exceptions; it is wood and metal, after all. The main problems with the old 4001 basses was that the rods aren't adjusted like most other rods; due to a lack of knowledge rods were often adjusted incorrectly and problems occurred. That's where the "Ricks have problem necks" reputation mostly comes from. People would adjust the necks as they would Fender necks, which is incorrect. 4003 rods however are adjusted like most others and you shouldn't experience any more problems with them than with anything else. IME the large neck cavity is probably a bigger issue than the actual necks in most cases.

FWIW I've had a Wal with an incorrectly levelled board from factory and a Status with a warped carbon-fibre neck, so there can be problems with anything.

I will say that none of the many very highly regarded luthiers I've spoken to feel there's any benefit from dual truss rods and that they may even cause more issues; however the other well known manufacturer that uses dual rods is Alembic and my favourite basses are Rics and Alembics, so maybe that proves something.

[teeder]

The neck on my '58 reissue P-bass is the most stable of any bass I've ever owned.

[Kopfjaeger]

My 2012 4003 is tuned to CGCF with "bridge cable" gauge strings and there zero problems with its neck. A season tweak of the rods is all she needs to stay flat.

Sepp

[iiipopes]

Except for an experiment in strings last year, I have used GHS Progressives 45-60-80-105 on my 4002, with old-style truss rods, for over twenty years. Starting back then, and until now, after the initial setup when I decided on the brand, model and gauge of strings, the only time I ever had to adjust the truss rods was for the string experiments. I am now going back to the set I have always used; I will get a complete setup including some fret work needed after decades of gigging, and look forward to another twenty years without needing to adjust the truss rods.

[squirebass]

People CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH about Rickenbacker bass necks. I've never found Rickenbacker bass necks to be at all tempramental, and that's with years of using Rotosound strings on multiple 4001s. But judging from the number of early 70s 4001s I've seen with fretboard repairs, I guess the redesign that led to the 4003 was necessary. I would say they are generally as sound as Fenders....

[thisismusicinc]

My 2012 4003 is tuned to CGCF with "bridge cable" gauge strings and there zero problems with its neck. A season tweak of the rods is all she needs to stay flat.

Sepp

What strings are you using? I tune in C# and need slightly heavier strings.
Jon

[antipodean]

The issue I'm scared of is movement around the treble pick-up cavity, which the truss rods can't affect. It's rare but I have seen it on a handful of basses that have been subject to high string tension - a 4003S/8 being the most memorable example.