How well do current 4003s do with high-tension flats?

[woodyng]

that's interesting,jeff berlin pretty much says to do the same thing. i have both my ricks strung with 40-100 rw's,nickle sunbeams on the 4000,steel hi beams on the cii. it can sound a bit thin on the 4000,but i think the lower gauge strings really sound great with the hb-1's,and it may be that the ease of playing them has made me not be bothered with the fatter neck of the cii. i did notice when i had the v63 (strung w roto rw 45-105),that i really liked the tension/thumpiness of that bass,but it really is just a matter of adjusting your plucking hand technique.

[rictified]

I've had Fender medium flatwounds on many newer 4003's and V-63's (9050M's), they seem to stress any bass I've put them on including Fenders (imagine that), but I agree they do sound and play good. I use Chromes now instead which also sound and play well and they seem to stress the necks a little less. Incidentally not all 4001's have weak necks, I once had a 75 with the old style very thin neck, Grovers, half inch spacing, small headstock, etc. and it was completely flat when I first got it, and I wanted a little bit of a bend in it so i put the medium Fenders on it for a while, the neck didn't budge at all for at least a month. I think the wood they use is more important than the thickness of it. Some necks are soft and some are hard, at least that's my take on it and I've owned a lot of basses over the years.