New Ric Owner(to be)

[dog]

I have been in the market for a Ric Bass for the past year, searching ebay and ever other source I could find(including this one) for used or new Ric bass's and tonight I finally pulled the trigger on one and have one on order from Musicians Friend.
I know they might not be the most popular place to shop but they are having an up to 20% off sale, ending tonight (if you mention 2008). and I was able to order a new 4003 in Midnight Blue for what I thought was an outstanding deal.

Congrats, Joe. I'd be curious what MF's regular price is on a 4003. But with 20% off and no tax to pay, I'm sure you got a fantastic deal. I couldn't resist the sale at MF either, and finally ordered a pair of these: http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... sku=601043

It would be nice if you could visit your local music shop, check stuff out in person, and then support that shop, but that's not always possible. It's hard to keep a Rick bass on a showroom floor and you'll soon find out why. You'll probably have to set it up yourself or find someone that can do a good setup, but that's not a big deal.

Nice score on the cabinets! At 30 pounds each they should be a breeze to move. MF's selling price for the 4003 is 1949.00. Kinda makes a guy want a new MB.

[JSpell]

Thank you to everyone that replied with all the congrat's and welcomes to the forum, it's really appreciated. Joey, thanks for the advice of waiting at least 24 hours before opening the box up so the finish can acclimate, I promise I will do that, although it won't be easy. Take care everyone and Merry Christmas to you all.

[rickenbrother]

You're welcome, Joe. If it's VERY cold at the time of delivery, wait more like two days before unpacking your 4003. You'll be glad you did.

[JSpell]

Hi, Well I received my new MB 4003 on 12/29. I only waited 24 hours to open it up since we had a brief bit of warm weather when it was delivered and it had sat in the UPS warehouse over the weekend.
The finish is absolutely beautiful, the metallic blue finish is really stunning.
I've spent the last few days familiarizing myself with all the tones I could attain and it is pretty amazing in that regard.
And now for the negative's, actually there is only one. The finger screws that activate the foam mute are locked up and will not raise up to engage the strings, I can back the finger screws off and they will raise up exposing the threads. Not a big deal for me really as I probably would never use that feature but it is something that should be addressed by Rickenbacker as to why that is occuring. I will investigate why this is happening on mine when I do a string change.
There is a fair bit of forward bow on the neck and the action is a little high . I haven't adjusted anything as of yet as I am letting the wood acclimate, and I am still not sure of what strings I may use, and there lies a whole new problem. I know what I would like to use but I wonder if anybody has ever used Fender Nylon 7120's on their Ric. I have them on my Squier VM fretless, Yamaha BEX-4, and Michael Kelly Dragonfly fretless abg and just love the tone but would love to hear from others who might have used Nylon strings on their Ric.

Thanks,
Joe

[rickaddict]

Hey Joe-

You're not alone with your mute problem. Most of them don't work well from the factory. But the good news is, it doesn't take much fiddling to get it to work.

The foam pad is too long. It should be just long enough to fit under the "comb" area of the tailpiece, but it usually extends farther to the point where it blocks the whole mute bar from being able to raise freely. So you need to trim its length to where it is only under the "comb" area. I also like to cut my mute pad's width in half so that it's about the same size as they used to be in the 60's and 70's.

Good luck!

BTW,
MID = Midnight Blue
MB = Montezuma Brown

[woodyng]

on the subject of the fender 7120's....these are the nylon wrapped roundwound strings IIRC, and the gauge is 40 60 80 100,which should work ok on the rick. i have put those strings on 2 of my basses (not ricks) in the past,and really liked them. a lot of forumites really like the thomastik flatwounds,which have a smaller gauge and lower tension like these strings,so i would think these strings would sound/play great on a properly set up rick. let us know what you think if you do install them. and congrats on the new bass! post picks if/when you can!

[keyznstringz]

I lurk around here quite a bit but do not post. I find the information on this board very useful. I too ordered a MID 4003 from MF and received it on 12/30. The 20% discount was too good to pass up. After being a Ric owner for many many years, here is what I found with mine. The MID finish is very nice. The grain on the fretboard is outstanding! Love the fact that Ric went back to the full width markers. The previous reply about the mute is correct. I always trim mine down as well. There was a bit of neck twist in mine but it was minor and easily corrected by adjusting the truss rods. Just be careful when adjusting and go slowly in order to let the neck adjust itself. Mine is perfectly straight now after just a few days. The action was way too high from the factory. Most of the later Rics I have worked on come with the nut not cut deep enough. I filed out the nut and was able to lower the bridge. The action is now nice and low and the beast plays great with absolutely no buzz anywhere. If you do not have experience in filing the nut I suggest you take yours to a good luthier and have it set up. I have been repairing guitars for over 30 years so it was an easy fix for me. The intonation on mine was perfect, even after the setup. I also had to spend some time adjusting the pole screws on the pickups to even out the overall sound. I have owned many Rics through the years and still love them more than any other brand. I still have a 4080 that I bought new in 1975. As anyone here will tell you, these basses are tough and their sound is unmatched. As far as strings go, I use D'Addario EXL170s. Congrats on your new bass Joe and welcome to the Ric family.

[rickenbrother]

Welcome to the forum, Chuck.

[dog]

Hi Joe, Glad to hear that your 4003 arrived and all is well. When I received mine there was also quite a bit of relief in the neck, but that was easily adjusted with a 1/4" nut driver.

[pflash4001]

I have used the Fender 7120's before and they were good, but a bit "stiff" for me. My 1968 4001 and my Squier Fretless Jazz have Rotosound RS88's on them now. They are also nylon tapewound, but the string has been buffed so that it doesn't feel like a roundwound like the Fenders. The RS88's are smooth. The Fenders are also roundwounds with nylon tape. The RS88's are flatwound with nylon tape. The RS88's are also much lower tension. I like them a lot. If you want something in between, check out the D'Addario Halfrounds. These strings are roundwounds, but have been treated somehow to smooth out the ridges on the outer windings a bit to make them feel a little bit more like flatwounds. A couple of people have mentioned them to me and my wife got me a set as a stocking stuffer this year, but I have yet to install them. Been too busy to check them out yet. I'll probably try them out this weekend. I hope this helps! Congrats on the new Ric. When can we see pics???

[jps]

I used to use Half Rounds all the time, they are very nice strings with more of a RW sound and almost a FW feel. The strings are ground down to produce the flat surface.

[JSpell]

OK I'm no photographer and I hope I'm posting pics on here correctly so here goes.

[JSpell]

Ok I see that worked. I have used the D'Addario half rounds before and to be honest I didn't care for them, but then again I didn't try them on a Ric either. so I may have to give them a second chance.

[s4001]

Congrats on the new bass. Play 'er well!

[jps]

Your pics look fine, the soft lighting on the bass shows the MID color very nicely.