lead insert in fingerboards?

[jacolyte]

some time in the 80s, i had occasion to see a 4001 in a state of destruction. it was enlightening to see some of the details of how they were made. one thing i saw was that there was a metal insert in the fingerboard, somewhere below the 5th fret, as i recall. square, with rounded corners, about 1/4" thick (just a little bit less than the thickness of the fingerboard), and heavy for its size - it may have been lead. the back of the fingerboard had been routed for it and it was held in place with a generous amount of some sort of glue. i actually saved that piece of the fingerboard and that metal insert for years, but finally chucked it at some point. i've always wondered what purpose it served, given that 4000 series basses are already a little bit neck-divey; my guess - and it's only a guess - is that maybe it was there for the truss rods to push against, instead of the wood of the fingerboard.

the reason it comes back to me now is that one of the new 4003 basses i've bought this year has a horrendous rattle, and it seems to be coming from that area of the fingerboard, so i wonder whether they still make them that way, what purpose it serves, and what can be done about it if mine is loose and rattly.

anyone have any insights?

[Clint]

Maybe it was added at some point to fix a dead spot. Just a guess, I have no idea.

[ram]

I believe this has been discussed before. Try searching

neck weights

That might get you some of the older threads.

[Gilmourisgod]

I knew I had seen this before, found it on Basschat, in reference to a Ric 4001 restoration. Apparently this was done at some point to cancel out deadspots, don't know if it was a factory mod, or done later. The Luthier discovered it while replacing the fingerboard.

[daveman]

Discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=273054

I think it's been discussed elsewhere as well in connection with the 3001 bass.

[daveman]

Here's another old thread. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=405771. In the middle of a discussion about something else, John Hall wrote:

Re: 3001 Bridge screws going into the body
Postby (johnhall) » Thu May 24, 2012 2:20 pm

The creation of this series [3000] was overseen by our chief electronics engineer at the time, George Cole. (He was also the architect of the TR amp series.) He is also a superb bass player and worked with many of the greats in the past. As such there were a number of little "quirks" or optimizations he proposed and/or introduced on these instruments. The pickup design is utterly elegant, with a single coil fitted around a bar magnet that rests against the steel frame, that then become two poles pieces at each our edge of the pickup. The design not only shields the coil very well, it has a pseudo-humbucking effect that doesn't change the single coil sound.

Some other features are the lead weights under the fingerboard to put extra mass precisely where needed to even out the notes across the fingerboard. (That technique was expanded to the 4000 series for awhile too.) ....