5 string maple fingerboard 4003 questions

[incubus2432]

Rather than messing with machining a special socket why not just use a wrench to remove the nuts? It may still be a PITA but less work overall.

[kssound]

Rather than messing with machining a special socket why not just use a wrench to remove the nuts? It may still be a PITA but less work overall.

I'll post a picture this evening. There is no room around the nuts to use a wrench, I tried several times. They are very close together and very close to the bottom of the pocket. You'll see.

[johnallg]

With something like these, could you work them loose then off?

[kssound]

ok here goes!
Truss rod nuts



neck to body joint


interesting and only marking I can find in the body cutout


frets, binding and wood grain on the neck



Electronics

some corrosion here

more corrosion

Bridge pickup wiring

Bridge pickup

Bridge, the other pics came out blurred, I will do them again tomorrow when I'm not so tired.


Now that I see the truss rod again and this time from both ends, its not going back together without being fixed. This is the first time I've ever had any of it open except for the truss rod cover.

[paul_yan]

Welcome aboard, Scott. You've come to the right place!

You've got a rare bird. Good luck getting her to sing beautifuly!

Carefully loosen and replace the flat thin oversized incorrect truss rod nuts at the headstock with factory ones and you should be able to adjust the neck easily.

Are the rod nuts at the neck's end turnable?

Looking at the last pic with the 8-hole tailpiece, I cn't help but wonder if the previous owner had at one time contemplated converting the bass into an 8-string?

[weemac]

You know I have this funny feeling.....
That this could be a Modded and repaired 4003 that has been converted to 5 strings. Even to the extent of modifying the headstock.
There is somthing funny about the spray pattern in the truss rod cavity that does not look factory (although the truss rods themselves were probably made and replaced when someone did the fretboard change)
Does the headstock look to be touched up?
How many poles are on the bridge pickup?
The routing to fit the poles of the toaster in the neck cavity is definately not factory styled, looks like the toaster may have been added later.
There are too many anomolies on this bass.... Although is certianly is unique!
Eden.

[kssound]

You know I have this funny feeling.....
That this could be a Modded and repaired 4003 that has been converted to 5 strings. Even to the extent of modifying the headstock.

The more I look at it the more I wonder about what was done and where. But it was only 3 years old when I got it, if it was a fix or somebody that couldn't keep their hands off of their toy, why would they give up on it so quickly. Of course I did get it in a pawn shop near the Air Force Base in Wichita, who knows the story of the previous owner.

There is somthing funny about the spray pattern in the truss rod cavity that does not look factory (although the truss rods themselves were probably made and replaced when someone did the fretboard change)

I noticed that the front of the body paint has orange peel that isn't anywhere else.

Does the headstock look to be touched up?

not at all. If anyting the front of the body is what isn't looking quite right.

How many poles are on the bridge pickup?

6

The routing to fit the poles of the toaster in the neck cavity is definately not factory styled, looks like the toaster may have been added later.
There are too many anomolies on this bass.... Although is certianly is unique!
Eden.

Tell me about it! I am curious about the scratched mark in the electronics cavity.

I went to re-take the bridge pictures and was devastated to see it this morning. I had left the case open and all the guts out and during the night, the cat urinated in the case. Oh the woe and misery. All the time researching and investigating and to have it all destroyed by a cat! LOL. The bass thankfully was sitting next to the case, maybe its time for a new case!

[kssound]

Welcome aboard, Scott. You've come to the right place!

Carefully loosen and replace the flat thin oversized incorrect truss rod nuts at the headstock with factory ones and you should be able to adjust the neck easily.

Are the rod nuts at the neck's end turnable?

My plan, which is completely mine, I thought of it all by my self without anybody else helping (thank you Monty Python), is to loosen the nuts in the pickup pocket, hopefully move the truss rods enough to loosen the nuts at the other end and then remove and replace them. I have the plate that goes over both rods which will be installed as well.
Are there any pictures available showing how the nuts should look at the base of the neck? I'm hoping that everything there is standard.

Looking at the last pic with the 8-hole tailpiece, I can't help but wonder if the previous owner had at one time contemplated converting the bass into an 8-string?

I spent some time examining the bridge, it was originally a 4 string and has 4 extra holes drilled in it that aren't well executed.
the front of the bridge

the back

[jps]

It looks to me that the adjustments should be done at the body end of the truss rods as those nuts look like the ones that would normally be at the headstock. Is this an early 4003 that should have a split pickguard?

[rickaddict]

It looks to me that the adjustments should be done at the body end of the truss rods as those nuts look like the ones that would normally be at the headstock. Is this an early 4003 that should have a split pickguard?

+1

I noticed this as well. The earliest 4003's (1980 to 1986) had a split pick guard and truss rods that adjusted at the body end. I've never owned or adjusted one of these, but I think yours is one of them.

[rickaddict]

Yours is a strange and rare bird, Scott. I'm not sure when RIC made the first 4003S/5, but I'm pretty sure it was after yours was built. Yours may have been a prototype as RIC studied the feasibility of producing a 5 string 4003, which eventually became the 4003S/5.

RIC had already produced the 4008 by the time yours was made, and very well might have reached into the 4008 parts bin for your tailpiece. In the earliest years of RIC bass production (late 50's), some of the 4 string tails were actually crudely modified 6-string tail pieces, so yours doesn't surprise me. I'll have to look at the tail on my '89 4003S to see if it's like yours with the 8 string holes. I've seen a couple different versions of the 4003S/5 tail piece, but both were basically the 4001 tail piece, slightly modified.

Excellent job with this latest batch of photos, BTW. Could you take some photos of the side of the neck that show the area where the fret board meets the Jetglo? In your first batch of photos, it looks like this area is all ******** up by an incompetent re-finisher. Better photos should reveal for sure whether that is in fact the case, or whether it was just poor digital photos re-sized to fit on this website that only made it look like a ******** up re-fin.

[kssound]

Well now I have several questions on cleaning up and preserving this interesting bass:
1) how do I clean up the corrosion on the electronics?

2) do the electronics look right?

3) should I rub out the front of the body to get rid of the orange peel? I just answered that myself, no. It has the same orange peel on the front and back, it has the same orange peel as my 4001. That's what I get for focusing on one thing and getting tunnel vision!

4) is there any way to check with Rickenbacker and find out what the invoice for my serial number says it should be?

5) does anybody use the Rick-O-Sound box? I got one brand new about 15 years ago but in my impatience between ordering it and it arriving, I stole one of my TRS splitter cables from my pro-audio gear and used it instead. I have never even plugged it in but its much neater than having 2 cords going to the bass and plugging in to the Y cable a foot from the plug.

6) any suggestions for a stereo pre-amp or the rest of the amplification chain? I'm currently running my stereo setup to 2 di boxes, into a small Mackie mixer with a pair of lexicon 400's on the inserts, to a crown 2402 (520 WPC) and a single 18+10 box on the bass side and a 4-10+horn on the treble side. I'm sure there's a much better way to do this but except for the speaker boxes, I just stole surplus gear from my PA stash.

The date from the SN ZA0046 is January 86. There are no holes in the body to support it ever having had a split pick guard.
I can see the probability that the truss rods were supposed to be adjusted at the body end, boy does that make me feel foolish and not a good feeling sending it to "professionals" to get it done and they flubbed it up!

While I was at it I measured the neck, its quite a bit wider than my 4 string. At the nut its 1 3/4" and at the body its just over 2 1/4.

Thanks all. In some ways I'm more enchanted with this beast and in others rather disillusioned.
Scooter

[rickaddict]

BTW, someone asked above how many pole pieces were on your bridge pickup and you answered "6" with a photo of the neck pickup. All Rick Toaster pickups have 6 poles as they're actually guitar pickups.

So...How many poles does your bridge pickup have?

[rickaddict]

The date from the SN ZA0046 is January 86. There are no holes in the body to support it ever having had a split pick guard.

I don't think that yours ever had a split pick guard either. Yours was made right around the time when RIC switched back over from the split pick guard to the one-piece. Strange that they would put the truss adjusters at the body end and not have a split pick guard, but like I said...I think yours is a prototype, and strange things happen when you're brain storming.

I can see the probability that the truss rods were supposed to be adjusted at the body end, boy does that make me feel foolish and not a good feeling sending it to "professionals" to get it done and they flubbed it up!

There are very few guitar techs that really know their stuff with Ricks. You're best off learning to work on it yourself. Look on eBay at 4001's and you'll see that probably 1/3 of them have neck cracks from "professionals" that didn't understand how Rick truss rods work. And usually when they would crack a neck due to their own incompetence, they'd blame it on the bass, claiming that Rick bass necks are weak.

[rickaddict]

Well now I have several questions on cleaning up and preserving this interesting bass:
1) how do I clean up the corrosion on the electronics?

I use electronics cleaner spray from Radio Shack. I think it says "TV dial cleaner" on the can? The corrosion on the switch isn't a problem. If your pots are scratchy, you can spray a shot in the space on the side of the pot where the tab for the wires is attached and turn the knob back and forth a few times. If your jacks are scratchy, you can spray a little of the cleaner on a Q-tip and work it around inside the jack cylinder and on the tab(s). If your switch is scratchy, you can spray some cleaner on a thin, sturdy cloth and then slide it between the switch's contact points.

2) do the electronics look right?

They look good to me. They're not the same as my old 4001's and not quite the same as my '87 4003's...the caps and wires look a little different, but I don't have any '86 Ricks and they may have used different caps and wires then.

3) should I rub out the front of the body to get rid of the orange peel? I just answered that myself, no. It has the same orange peel on the front and back, it has the same orange peel as my 4001. That's what I get for focusing on one thing and getting tunnel vision!

Your call!

4) is there any way to check with Rickenbacker and find out what the invoice for my serial number says it should be?

No. Rick doesn't keep records like that.

5) does anybody use the Rick-O-Sound box? I got one brand new about 15 years ago but in my impatience between ordering it and it arriving, I stole one of my TRS splitter cables from my pro-audio gear and used it instead. I have never even plugged it in but its much neater than having 2 cords going to the bass and plugging in to the Y cable a foot from the plug.

I have one and I've used it, but I generally don't bother with it.

While I was at it I measured the neck, its quite a bit wider than my 4 string. At the nut its 1 3/4" and at the body its just over 2 1/4.

Very interesting! I wonder how my '89 4003S/5 and my 2000 4003S/5 would compare. My 2000 has a noticeably larger neck than my '89.

Thanks all. In some ways I'm more enchanted with this beast and in others rather disillusioned.
Scooter

You're welcome. Its fun for me and others here to see your unique Rick and try to figure it out, so thank you!