Chances of repairing a bowed 4003 neck?

[plasticman_88]

Hi all,
Bit new to the RRF, mainly because I don't own a Ric yet, but I've been looking for the past couple of months for a 4003 I can afford in Australia.

Long story short, there's a Jetglo 4003 at a local second-hand guitar store that I tried the other day and it sounds AMAZING! Only problem is that the neck is really bowed and so it has horrible action up high. Just wondering what the chances are that that kind of thing is repairable, or is it just not worth it?

[kiramdear]

I would ask the seller to give the bass a setup and tell them I'd buy it on condition that the problem is fixed.

[antipodean]

Welcome Adrian,

There is a very good chance that the bow can be mitigated... one of the many the great things about the 4003 is that the truss rods can be replaced fairly easily so even if it has a broken truss-rod, the bass can be salvaged without removing the fingerboard and chalking up a huge bill. If the rods are working but maxed out it is likely that the anchor points have compressed and this is also fixable. The chance that the bass is a total write-off is remote, but anything is possible, given the way some people maintain their instruments.

It may be that the guys at the store just haven't set it up properly, which may sound odd, but I've seen it happen quite a lot. You probably want to check under the truss rod cover to make sure the rods are working in any event. If the rods aren't broken or maxed out, there may well be no issues at all with the bass.

If you need a guide on price, please feel free to PM me.

[doctorwho]

Welcome, Adrian!

I agree with what Evan said. If you use the Forum Search function for "truss rods" or "neck adjustment", you will find a wealth of information. discussion, and advice on the topic.

[rickenbrother]

Welcome to the forum, Adrian. I also agree with Evan. The neck should very likely be able to straighten with a good setup as long as there are no out of the ordinary issues like a broken truss rod, etc. Broken rods and worn anchor points can be repaired by a good luthier.

I've also seen guitars of all different brands, new and used that are poorly setup in music stores that have bowed necks. You would think that especially in these times, all the guitars in the shop would be setup well to help sell them better.

[ricmic]

Joey, that has always amazed me. It is like trying to sell a new car with the front end out of alignment. Mark

[plasticman_88]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

The reason it's not setup properly is that it's being sold on consignment, so I'd have to pay for the setup. Trouble is that I don't think I'm ready to gamble on having to replace the truss rods since he's already asking a relatively high price for the bass.

You know, so uhm... if anyone has a spare JetGlo 4003 lying around that they want to get rid off? Just saying...

[cassius987]

How about this. Bring a small phillips-head screw driver and a 1/4'' socket driver just to verify the truss rods work and can be tightened--tell them you just want to see if they'll budge or not. If they will tighten a bit (clockwise turns), you're probably good. Even if they don't have enough strength left to tighten all the way, you can always "reset" them. Totally slacken the rods, and follow up with a very slight tightening down--no more than a quarter turn probably. Then you manually push the neck down to where it should go and tighten the rods as much as a full turn. Repeat two or three times (without slackening the rods again!) and it should stay put for you.

A busted rod should be loose enough to wiggle if necessary--I know because I busted one of mine on my 2009 bass (I deserve all tomatoes hurled at me for this because I was doing the adjustment sloppily and in haste). The replacement rods I ordered from RIC were installed in under 15 minutes by a Denver luthier named Christian. The bass is working great now.

[plasticman_88]

Hi Joshua,

I like your thinking, but I'm not sure I have the prowess or the nerve required to tinker with a Rick. I'd be too scared of catastrophically breaking it. I know it's an unlikely scenario, but I think I'd rather leave it to the pros.

[cassius987]

Maybe you can turn that to your advantage and get the price lowered by voicing concern, and then have a pro do it based on the money you saved.

[jps]

Hi Joshua,

I like your thinking, but I'm not sure I have the prowess or the nerve required to tinker with a Rick. I'd be too scared of catastrophically breaking it. I know it's an unlikely scenario, but I think I'd rather leave it to the pros.

It will serve you well to learn to to your own screw/nut turning on any instrument, it is not hard to learn how to do the these adjustments.

[johnallg]

http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Rick%20maint.htm#tra

[cassius987]

To be honest, learning to service my own guitars for 99% of their needs has also made me a little more handy around the house--the tools I have acquired are useful for lots of other stuff, especially the soldering iron!

[rickaddict]

Given that you have no experience adjusting truss rods, I'd just tell the shop that you're very interested in the bass, but the banana-shaped neck is preventing you from pulling the trigger. If the owner of the bass and the owner of the shop want your business, then they might want to get off their dead @$$ and put 5 minutes of effort into sorting the problem out. If not, then assume the worst and look elsewhere. I've seen Rick basses with banana-shaped necks and truss rods that were completely loose--tighten them up and problem solved. So it may just be that easy, or you might have a serious problem bass...You won't know until you try adjusting the rods.

I'd also be curious as to what year 4003 we're talking about. If it's from before 1985 (or so), it will have a split pick guard with the old-style, folded rods that adjust from the body end of the neck. Adjusting them is done differently from adjusting the rods on a 1986 (or so) and up 4003 (See Joey's website listed above for adjusting instructions on each type).

[RicOSoundMan]

John Beat me to the response I was thinking of and that is the site "Joeys Bass Notes" very informative site regarding set up.

I Think it is a fixable issue and heck use it to your advantage. Could probably tell em to knock off a few bills due to the condition of the neck. Then get it set up proper man and WOW !!!! Jam away