St. Louis Luthier

[beacon]

I have always done my own set up and maintenance on my 4003's. I now have an issue I have not been able to correct on my main gigging bass. Looking for a recommendation for a Luthier in or around the St. Lous area that is good with Ric's. Right now I am leaning towards J. Gravity...many recommendations for him, but none of them for Ric's.

Thanks!

[aceonbass]

To clarify, do you need a luthoer or a guitar tech? A luthier wouldn't be needed unless structural work was required on the bass.

[beacon]

Good point....guitar tech would be correct.

[johnallg]

I wonder if Doctor Bob has a favorite? Maybe PM him. dr_bob

[beacon]

PM sent, thanks.

[ko stradivarius]

I'm sure you've found someone by now but I've had Jimmy set up all of my Ric's over the years. I do it myself now. Not sure if he's doing the work himself anymore though.
Otherwise try Dave Hinson over at Killer Vintage. Or, I'm sure Skip Goez can handle it but he's always so backed up you'll need to leave it for a month.

[jdogric12]

What's the issue?

[beacon]

With a recommendation from dr bob I took it to Killer Vintage. They did a fine job, back in less than a week. The problem was essentially a dead spot (serious dead spot) at the 9th fret, D string and trouble with intonation. When fretting that B it almost sounded like striking a harmonic. Sort of a "ping". This is a 2005 year bass and never had this till recently. I read all the history and what to do and try on this forum and the Ric forum. Tried everything with no success. I had removed dead spots before with a simple tweak of one or both rods. Not this time. New strings, no help. New saddle for the D string, no help. I was thinking I had one or more flat or worn frets maybe....

At any rate, had it set up, they managed to get the action lower than I ever was able to. Got the intonation back, neck is straight as an arrow, no fret buzz. The dead spot was better, not gone. I did notice something I had not really noticed before; the dead note sound gets worse as I play longer. Did a gig last Friday and it was fine at the first set, really bad by the fourth set. Not sure what that may imply.....