A 4003 neck is more like...

[Dirtyclinic]

I have owned a couple of Fender Jazz basses and I love the neck. I do not love the P-Bass neck. I own a Ric 360 guitar and love it. I would like to get a 4003 bass but no one around here sells one so I can't get my hands on one very easily. I would order a 4003 without trying it because I know it has a great reputation and I love the look. I was wondering what the neck is more like. A Jazz Bass or a P-Bass. I really hope it has a about the width at the nut of a Jazz bass. If it is wider, then i hope it is not as wide as the P-Bass.

[ilan]

It's more like a P bass. But in my experience with Rics, the fatter the neck, the better the sound.

[wim]

Neck Width at Nut 42.9 mm (1 11/16'') 4003
Nut Width: 1.625" (41.3 mm) PRECISION BASS

It's even wider.
Don't worry, a Rick is not comparable to a Fender.
If you like slim necks, go for a seventies 4001.
Somewhere on this forum there's a thread about girth which has lots of data on most production years.

[rickenbrother]

It's more like a P bass. But in my experience with Rics, the fatter the neck, the better the sound.

Yep, 4003 necks are nothing like a J-bass neck, definitely more like a P-bass neck. I'll take a thick neck Rick any day. I've never understood the skinny neck obsession that some guys have.

[crawlspacestefan]

I had only really played P-Basses before I bought my 4003 in May of 2011. I had tried some J-Basses recently and I thought I wanted something really skinny like that.

I had the opportunity to try my Rickenbacker before I bought it, and I was actually a little disappointed about how wide the neck felt at first. I had to go for a walk to give myself time to think about if I was going to buy it or not.

Obviously I decided to purchase it. And now when I try J-Basses they feel weird to me and not particularly desirable. I guess it's what you get used to.

Although the width is more like a P-Bass than a J-Bass, I think the shape of the neck generally is more like a Gibson than a Fender. I don't really know why, but that's my feeling.

Good luck with your purchase. If you give yourself some adjustment time, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Badanovski]

All this talk of necks is all well & good. They come in a lot of different feels over the years. But........ If you've never played a Ric bass before you're in for a completely different feel. The body is thinner & spread out more than your fender basses. It sits differently both standing or sitting. The first 2 basses I ever bought were a 4001 & 4000. They were both neck heavy & this was the 70's ( no ultra light tuners) my left shoulder was trashed. I moved on to Steinberger & fender basses. Recently I got the bug to have a Ric again. There is enough aftermarket stuff to make almost anything balance. I bought a 4003S & while it balanced beautifully it felt weird & I thought I'd made a very expensive mistake. I kept playing it & after a while I got used to it & now my other basses are quite lonely. Ric's are beautifully made basses & I think nothing can compare but they are a completely different animal.

[cassius987]

Sure a Ric neck feels more like a P Bass than a J Bass neck but it is still fundamentally different from the P. The profile itself is inherently different--maybe more of a D shape than a C shape, if that makes any sense. The taper is different. You tend not to feel any frets or bumps because of the binding. Etc. It's totally different. Remember there are two components here, the width/taper of the neck and its profile/depth. A lot of people make a huge deal over the first thing when really what their hand notices is the second.

Neck feel is a huge thing for players and varies a lot from instrument to instrument. When I first played a Mike Lull P Bass I could not believe how different it felt from every other P Bass I have ever played. The profile was totally different even though to my eye it just looked like another P. Rics also vary a lot as a group and so you really need to try before you buy if you can.

[rickenbrother]

Sure a Ric neck feels more like a P Bass than a J Bass neck but it is still fundamentally different from the P.

Right, its just more like P-bass neck because it doesn't have the taper, which is what I don't care for about a J-bass neck, besides being too skinny for my comfort at the nut.

[cjj]

A 4003 neck is more like...

...absolute perfection.



At least in my opinion...

[cassius987]

A 4003 neck is more like...

...absolute perfection.



At least in my opinion...

"A 4003 neck" describes a bunch of different neck profiles though. I think RIC varies on this more than Fender both in the long and short views, but I'm not certain.

But in my experience with Rics, the fatter the neck, the better the sound.

I think that's true to an extent. In any case the neck has a huge impact on the tone. I did have a 2009 4003 that had a neck so thick it couldn't be adjusted by the truss rod, and the sound was sub-par to me--way too much bottom end, very little of the rich harmonics. My replacement was made a year later under warranty and has a skinny two-piece neck--it has THE classic Ric sound with a bit of low mid scoop and lots of growl. My 2007 is somewhere in between and probably what works best for me, or at least it's what I'm most attached to as my first fretted Ric.

[cjj]

A 4003 neck is more like...

...absolute perfection.



At least in my opinion...

"A 4003 neck" describes a bunch of different neck profiles though. I think RIC varies on this more than Fender both in the long and short views, but I'm not certain.

Well, you are right about that. When I got my 2nd Rick bass, an '84 4003, I was so used to mid '70s 4001 necks that I thought it was horrible. But, after playing that one and a few I've obtained since, I find they are really more alike than different, at least different in the sense of going to another manufacturer.

Now, I can tell the difference, and I still like my early/mid '70s 4001's a bit better, but the 4003 it essentially the same, at least to me. My 4004Cii is a bit different too, but I find it more similar to other Rick basses as well, and quite a pleasure to play...

[cassius987]

I'm with you CJ. I think I have played most of the "major" neck profiles Ric basses have had at this point and they all have their advantages--all but my 2009 that couldn't be adjusted! That was a bit extreme. But RIC took care of me and the resulting bass has gotten a lot of positive comments in person and on YouTube so I think they treated me perfectly well! I believe Scott Pope told me his 4002 has a thicker neck than some of the other Rics but I never really noticed; like my 2007 4003, it is an empirically thicker neck but it doesn't play like that. It plays fast and easy.

When the modern two-piece neck was getting established, the first basses I encountered it on were a 4004Cii and a 4001C64S at Wildwood Guitars. In both cases I wasn't totally sure what to make of it. The one-piece neck instruments they had sounded better to me (a couple of 4004Ciis), although they didn't necessarily feel or play better and their necks were a bit thicker/had more depth. But my 4003 with its two piece neck sounds and feels great. Maybe the transitional period just produced some oddities. The 4004Cii that was purple with a two-piece neck had a sound unlike any other 4004 I ever played... it was almost like a Jazz Bass on steroids. I didn't like it much but I could see how someone else might have.

[Dirtyclinic]

Thanks for all of the comments. I really do want to pull the trigger on the Ric but the wide neck still makes me nervous. I have fairly small hands and the Jazz bass neck is a nice size for me. I know there are people with smaller hands than me using necks that was very wide (5-strings and wide 4-strings) so I think I can adapt. I will for sure post a pic if I get the 4003.

[johnallg]

Thanks for all of the comments. I really do want to pull the trigger on the Ric but the wide neck still makes me nervous. I have fairly small hands and the Jazz bass neck is a nice size for me. I know there are people with smaller hands than me using necks that was very wide (5-strings and wide 4-strings) so I think I can adapt. I will for sure post a pic if I get the 4003.

With your neck likes, I'd go for a new later 2011 or 2012 4003.

[songdog]

I have owned a couple of Fender Jazz basses and I love the neck. I do not love the P-Bass neck.... I would like to get a 4003 bass... I was wondering what the neck is more like. A Jazz Bass or a P-Bass.

It's more like a Rick bass

I have a '72 4001, and while the neck is wide, it's pretty thin. That gives it a different feel compared to a Precision (they tend to be thicker). I haven't played a newer 4003, but I understand they're thin like my 4001.

Keep in mind the Fender Jazz may be narrow at the nut, but it gets wider up high.Ricks don't taper like that. By the 12th fret I bet they're both about the same width.