Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Andy-

At which fret are you taking these measurements?

I measured some of my Ricks a while back to compare them. I took a string and wrapped it around the neck to measure its girth right before the first fret. I don't remember the exact measurements, but I do remember that my '98 v63 and my '03 C64S were about 1/8" larger in girth than any of my older Ricks. The 1987 4003S was the smallest but was close to all of my late 70's 4001s.

Jass basses have those stupid narrow necks up by the nut... give me a P neck any day!

Fender, by way of example, makes a good instrument. And the one thing they've figured out is that some players just want the "original" Vintage configuration. Might not be the absolute best, but lots of players buy 'um. Those custom shop "relic" guitars and basses sell for big money. The point is that they sell.

I know some people won't agree with me on this. But I like the thicker 4003 necks,and the thinner necked Ricks, like my V63. I've never had a problem with either one, and I have fairly small hands.

I really enjoy the thicker necks. I have long fingers and like the extra girth to fill up my hands while I play

Jeff,

they were taken at the 2/3rd fret. I know that's not the proper way to measure, just trying to get an idea out there.

Ken, I don't have a radius gauge, but if I wrap a piece of string across the fretboard and neck tight, then straighten it out, it comes to 4 and 1/4".

Neck thickness/shape is not so key for me. I find I am most comfortable with what I play the most at a given time.

Before I got my rics I hated any neck that wasn't a jazz neck. Now that I have my rics and play them way more than the jazz... the jazz neck taper feels less like home, and I find the neck a little thick when playing higher notes. Still, a few bars into a song and I am not thinking about it anymore.

Andy-
By "2/3rd fret," do you mean halfway between the 2nd and the 3rd frets, or 2/3 of the way to the first fret?

End of 2nd and beginning of 3rd fret Jeff.

Hmm. What "relic" and "original configuration" have in common, I'm not certain.

"Relic" guitars are phoney. Fake. They are a cynical attempt by Fender's Marketing department, to fleece guitar players whose critical faculties are out to lunch.

And the attempt worked. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American guitar player. (Mencken paraphrased.)

I love the thinness of the J-bass neck at the nut. The reason I like Ric necks more than J-bass necks, despite the comparative thickness at the nut is that Ric necks change very little as you move towards the body. There's a very minute difference in thickness/width/whatever. On a J-bass, it starts out really nice and thin, and then suddenly, WHAM, it fans out like crazy. That and I can't stand bolt-on necks. They sound fine, but they just feel wrong in my hands. I wonder what a neck-through Jazz would be like . . .

While the discussion with regard to relics is an interesting one, within the context of neck thickness, the tone of the comments in a few posts became heated and hence they were deleted.

My apology to those who may have had legitimate comments. It is difficult to do partial edits and hence complete posts have been deleted here. Also, some posts made reference to posts that had been deleted and so seemed out of context. They too were removed.

Thanks Peter.