2010 4003s

[cassius987]

My bass is made in November 2010 and it had very sloppy saddles on both, E- and A-string. That´s something I didn´t expect from my brand new instrument.

That's very odd. I thought the saddles were corrected--for good--in mid-2010.

[mikko]

I was surprised too. I knew about the quality problems and checked the manufacturing date before purchasing. According to my knowledge, mostly based on this forum + Rickenbacker.com forum, all these saddle issues were solved after the first half of 2010. Obviously I was wrong.



BTW, is it normal that mute pad does not come all the way up? Screws can be turned easily by fingers but they stop before pad hit the A- and E-strings. Neck is relatively straight and strings are about 3mm from top of the fret at 12th fret, so it should be quite normal.

[doctorwho]

... BTW, is it normal that mute pad does not come all the way up? Screws can be turned easily by fingers but they stop before pad hit the A- and E-strings. Neck is relatively straight and strings are about 3mm from top of the fret at 12th fret, so it should be quite normal.

The mute pad should be able to be raised so that it will mute all of the strings, as far as I know.

[heinpete]

BTW, is it normal that mute pad does not come all the way up? Screws can be turned easily by fingers but they stop before pad hit the A- and E-strings. Neck is relatively straight and strings are about 3mm from top of the fret at 12th fret, so it should be quite normal.

...this definitely happens, when the string height is excessive! But I don't see that in your vid. Sometimes the mute base plate hits some internal part of the tailpiece. Remove it and check!

[Billsbro]

Sorry to be slow on the uptake but what is the main symptom if they are not right? Is there a buzz or muting or some other auditory symptom? (I bought my 2010 in the summer of 2010 so wonder if I need to worry.) Thanks in advance!

[heinpete]

Sorry to be slow on the uptake but what is the main symptom if they are not right? Is there a buzz or muting or some other auditory symptom? (I bought my 2010 in the summer of 2010 so wonder if I need to worry.) Thanks in advance!

...the wobbling saddles usually give a buzz to the respective strings, in worst case it buzzes cross the strings .

[Billsbro]

Thank you! I think I am fine then.

[johnallg]

Wow.....

As to mute not hitting the A and D strings, you will have to remove it (pull the tailpiece off the bass) and arch it in the middle to mimic the curve of the fretboard/strings.

[cassius987]

Ugh Mikko. That is the worst saddle wobble I've ever seen! I hope you can get this resolved under warranty or something. Those have to be old stock saddles, the new ones fit extremely tight.

I'm sorry but I find this really frustrating (on your behalf) and that's all I'll say about it.

[aceonbass]

That was about as bad as all of the stock saddles have been for the past several years that's I've been dealing with them. The new ones are definitely a different and better fitting casting, so I guess some of the old ones slipped through.

[spongebob]

I had a Jan '10 4003, and the saddle wobble was ridiculous, especially for a brand new bass.

In fact, the bass was quite inferior feeling, playing and sounding to my Autumn '09.....so much so that I have actually sold it.

Just glad to read I wan't the only one with this issue. You'd have thought after making these basses for 40 years that this kind of stuff would have stopped happening a long time ago.

[Johntheson]

another 2010 owner with dead tight saddles. After I saw the video , I checked my saddles, and couldn't move them at all. My 4003FG was made in October 2010. What would make some saddles dead tight, and others move around?
John

[mikko]

The funny part in my case is that I ordered the bass from Germany so I probably need to send it back to Germany for warranty repair. Musikhaus Thomann gave it full 3 year warranty so that´s not an issue, but somehow it feels stupid to send back a brand new instrument that I just received and then wait weeks or even months to get it back. Let´s see what they say, maybe they can just send me new parts and I don´t have to send my bass anywhere.
Some of you are now wondering why I didn´t buy the bass from the local music store. The local store had only one MG and I wanted JG. Luthman, Scandinavian importer said they´re able to deliver new basses sometime between 1 month to 4 years. I thought that´s too wide time frame and hence I ordered from Germany. Musikhaus Thomann had one bass in stock. Luthman doesn´t import spare parts so I can´t get new saddles locally.
I have a -03 4003JG and it had some issues like beginning tail lift, bowed neck (problem solved now), rattling saddles, very stiff finger screws in mute + I had never bought a brand new bass, so I thought all those problems will be solved if I buy a brand new Rick. Like usually, I was wrong.
I also asked for advice from Rickenbacker Service Department via Rickenbacker website, but they haven´t answered me yet.

[cassius987]

If it's not expensive to call, maybe try to get a hold of Richard at RIC on the phone and explain your situation... maybe he can pull some strings. I know NORMALLY they don't ship out parts under warranty before inspection but it happened to me once for the exact same problem. If you can show them your video maybe they'll mail you new saddles.

I bought new saddles from the boutique in August of last year and they are rock-freakin'-solid. I would hope all new basses come with saddles like those.

[aceonbass]

What would make some saddles dead tight, and others move around?

The wobbly ones were a different casting. All of the saddles I was buying from RIC from around 2002 till last year were this way. There are various ways to tweak them to fit better, but I'm sure glad those days are over...for most of us at least. I'm not saying who, but I was flat out told by someone at RIC a couple years ago that their supplier made them wrong. I don't know why they weren't sent back, but it took till last year for a new casting to be made. One thing I've noticed is that with the downward string tension on them, they eventually settle down a bit.