Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

rickaddict wrote:I have a couple observations of my own to add, Tim. No solutions though:

I have two '87 4003S's and an '88 4003 with BT. All three basses have the seven screw tail. All three are stock. The '88 with the BT is noticeably less bright than my two '87's with the chrome. I'm not sure if the difference is in the chrome vs. BT, but I've suspected it.

Of course the chrome is brighter than black! Just look at it.

Runs and ducks for cover!

It should be noted that the Aluminum TPs are brighter than the Zinc ones.
The new Zinc TPs have more material in the weak spots but Zinc doen't seem
to have the same tensile strength as Aluminum. So the new TPs lift in the same way
that the earlier Zinc ones do.
There has been much debate with the folks at Rick on this, but the proof is in the TailPiece;
All of my Aluminum ones are resting flat on the top and sound as resonant as ever, whilst my
Zinc ones are doin' the Skunk and sounding a little darker.....

Every RIC I have owned sounded different. Pluged in and unpluged. That for me is one of the reasons I love RIC's. They each have a distinct personality. It's not the bass (it doesnt hurt) Its you. I Dare say that no two XYZ (acme) Fender- whatever two or three basses sound exactly the same. It really doesn't matter what bass i play, I still sound the same(bad-lol). You adapt to each individual bass. If it doesn't work for you, dump it. Im still on the fence on my CII5, but it is totally up to me if it works for me or not. No two RIC's are indentical i guess is what I am trying to say. You know, that hand built thing. They either work, or they dont. (for me/you/anyone) Doesn't mean its bad, just different.
Please let us know what you think after you try the tail peice swap. I bet it wont change a thing

I pretty much came to the same, or at least similar, conclusion today. Spent quite a bit of time playing both and I had decided that there was really no way the tailpiece could account for such a difference in tone. They are simply different. Surprisingly different.

I can recall two or three different Rics I've had over the years that simply did not work for me. Just didn't have what I considered "it" I'm starting to really like the new one a lot now. The darker tone of the 4003s is also really growing on me which will creates a new problem as I really cannot afford to keep both.

To quote Jared: "Keep 'em both. Let the creditors decide!"

So...Just checking, Tim...You didn't try swapping the tails, right?

I didn't, Jeff. May still do so just out of curiosity though. While I don't think the basic tone would change, it would be interesting to see just how much effect that tail lift has on the resonance of the instrument.

I agree that it would be an interesting little experiment. I have a '73 4001 that has close to 1/4" of tail lift but is one of my best sounding Ricks. One of these days when I get around to it, I'm gonna put that high-lift tail on one of my 7-screw '87 4003S's to see if I can hear a difference.

rickaddict wrote:To quote Jared: "Keep 'em both. Let the creditors decide!"

That's a seed that really *didn't* need to be planted Jeff.

rickaddict wrote:To quote Jared: "Keep 'em both. Let the creditors decide!"

You mean you ONLY have two?

I have to agree about the individuality of the instruments, and I'll also say IN MY EXPERIENCE the S models sound deeper or darker or more bassy over the deluxe models. This might also be (partially?) attributed to the electronics, with the cap and tone pot differences over the years. I will say adding the 2 screws to the black tailpiece that was about 3/8" up on my '91 4003S solidified the sound and the sustain.

chefothefuture wrote:

rickaddict wrote:To quote Jared: "Keep 'em both. Let the creditors decide!"

You mean you ONLY have two?

C'mon, two is a nice even number!

Very nice....
You need more

tsarter wrote:C'mon, two is a nice even number!

True. But how about 4,6,8,10,20,......