Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

"nut is higher on the E side and the larger strings are a tiny bit higher off the fretboard. "

The E string is indeed higher, but when I eyeball the twist I am not using the srings as a reference, only the nut. The nut is the same height on both the G and E sides... I have measured it.

I would take a photo, but I do not personally own a digital camera.

Again, I am curious if more of you see the same thing or not when you look down the neck.

Off topic... but I picked up my jazz bass tonight, and the neck felt too thin in width at the top. I think my 96' ric has the perfect neck... slim, but wider at the top.

John, look straight down the fretboard from the headstock. Do the frets look parallel to each other or does it seem to change from the upper frets to the ones closer to the head?
This sort of view:

That is the view I am using... but I am lining up the corner of the nut with the trim line on the body... and comparing how they line up on each side.

When I look at the frets I think I can see the slight twist... but I feel it is more subjective since it is so close.

Of interest, the nut on my 4003 is black.

John, when you can, get the opinion of someone with experience. My Gibson Les Paul guitar gives me the illusion of having a twisted neck if I don't focus on the frets.
It is subjective, some people might see the twist if there is a slight one, where as others won't.
If the bass plays and sounds fine, don't lose sleep over it. I've seen guitars and basses with noticeable twists (nothing too terrible) that still played and sounded fine. Neck twists can be tricky to impossible to fix, depending on the twist and the guitar. Luckily Ricks have 2 trussrods which does help avoid twists that are tough to fix.
That 4003 you see in the pic had a bit of custom work done to it by the person who owned before me. That is not the original nut on that 4003. I sold that bass on ebay a few weeks ago.

If you are comfortable with working on your bass and feel that you would like to try to correct the twist, follow Ted's advise.

Thanks... I'm not losing sleep on it for sure... still plays like a million bucks. I figure if it can play well and there is debate over wether the neck is twisted or not, it can't be serious.

John, I'm finally home from traveling... I sighted my '03 4003 down the neck from the headstock and saw the same 'optical illusion' that you described and that I see in Joey's picture he posted above. I know my 4003's neck is super straight because I have recently set it up myself and triple-checked everything. I don't think you have anything to worry about!

I checked a couple of mine last night. I think they all have that similar illusion. It looks like the headstock is twisted slightly.

A couple years ago I noticed it on my V63. I was concerned and thought I owned a lemon. But she plays and sounds great, so I'm glad I didn't do anything about it.

Mine has that effect as well and this discussion has helped to ease my fears. Thanks for asking the question and thanks to others for answering.

-Dave Ricard

yeah... good info... thanks