'69, '70, and '71. Three basses, Sixty-three frets...

[teeder]

Amazing!
(Not sure why the factory was guessing where to place the tailpiece for intonating.)

[bassduke49]

My guess is that they weren't guessing. Don't forget at that time the bodies weren't built with the precision they are today and they probably had a fairly large "window" of area they had to stay within. As long as the bridge could be placed at the correct point, they were good. The body may have been a bit longer revealing more "wood" below the tailpiece, or shorter revealing less.

[inhuien]

I for one like the rug, the basses are OK too.

[rickaddict]

Hey! There's my old friend KA 017! I hope it's treating you well, John. Glad to see it has some friends there to keep it company!

It's tough to compare the bridge pickup placement on these three, 'cuz the size of the pick guard between the neck and the bridge pickup is different on all three.

[teeder]

My guess is that they weren't guessing. Don't forget at that time the bodies weren't built with the precision they are today and they probably had a fairly large "window" of area they had to stay within. As long as the bridge could be placed at the correct point, they were good. The body may have been a bit longer revealing more "wood" below the tailpiece, or shorter revealing less.

If they were basing the TP placement off the bodies and not the neck, then they were shooting at a moving target.

[bassduke49]

Exactly, and that's why we shouldn't think that it could be in the wrong place. They knew what they were doing.

[teeder]

They should have known what they were doing, but I've seen my share of these older basses with intonation problems, especially the 21 fretters. It's not uncommon to see the bridge leaning back with all the saddles back as far as they can get to get it close.

But, anyway, back to the beautiful basses!

[jayfbv]

I for one, am pretty sure I hate you....I mean, wow!

[chefothefuture]

When you compare the early 21r's with the later ones,
you find that the finger boards were placed a little further
into the body. This might have been to get more wood
contact at the body wings forward of the pickup cavity. On the
treble side there is literally 1/4" of wood on the 69 and 70.
On the 71 there's a bit more. Perhaps it was thought that there
was enough adjustment on the bridges to compensate and didn't
move the tailpiece...
It's also interesting that on the early ones, the treble pup
is in the same relative position to the bridge as the 20r's but on the
71 it's closer to the bridge....
The earlier position of the treble pup did necessitate the shortening
of the pickguard ....
Actually, the design of the 21r's might have been the reason for the shortening
of the headstock.
By shortening the headstock by the 1/2 inch it essentially was likely made it
possible for the factory to use the same neck stock.
It also did not make the neck longer and unbalance the instrument.
It may be pure conjecture , but in those two areas( the short guard and headstock)
the 21r 's might be the missing link.

[jps]

Actually, the design of the 21r's might have been the reason for the shortening
of the headstock.
By shortening the headstock by the 1/2 inch it essentially was likely made it
possible for the factory to use the same neck stock.

This would also allow using the same case as a 20 fret 4001, right?

[chefothefuture]

Actually, the design of the 21r's might have been the reason for the shortening
of the headstock.
By shortening the headstock by the 1/2 inch it essentially was likely made it
possible for the factory to use the same neck stock.

This would also allow using the same case as a 20 fret 4001, right?

That would be a reasonable assumption to make.
Interestingly, the cases were pretty similar ; the over all
length did not change much and even the interior padding
was similar though scant.

[wints]

Great photo's John.

Interesting to think that the 21 fret neck may have influenced headstock design. This was a period of real change and progression at Ric. The late 60's stuff is always really interesting in my opinion...

[seabass]

Wow (wiping away the drool). Where do you guys find these incredible basses? I'm glad to have my pristine '72 FG but damn! Absolutely beautiful

[chefothefuture]

Wow (wiping away the drool). Where do you guys find these incredible basses? I'm glad to have my pristine '72 FG but damn! Absolutely beautiful

Use the Force!

[henry5]

They should have known what they were doing, but I've seen my share of these older basses with intonation problems, especially the 21 fretters. It's not uncommon to see the bridge leaning back with all the saddles back as far as they can get to get it close.

Indeed. I like very low action and the 21 fretter I bought off Kevin just wouldn't accommodate the low action and still intonate (which was no fault of Kevin's I hasten to add). For me the bridge needed to be a near a half-inch further back, so I sold it.