Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My 4001c64s has the best neck by far on any of the rick basses I've had. I had a 2002 4003 that was pretty much a baseball bat.

My 2000 360/12 has a nice neck but Paul W did redo the fretboard radius to make it feel more "vintage" (more rounded)... it's nice because it's a little chunkier than a vintage, but still has that vintage shape, if that makes any sense.

A few years ago at the 75th anniversary rick get together I played a 60's 330/12 (I think it was a 330) that Kenny Howes brought, and it was pretty mind blowing.

whojamfan wrote:

collin wrote:
...I am super picky about necks though. A bad neck shape can ruin a guitar fast.

I take it you're not a fan of 60s Fender 12s?

Actually, I love the Electric XII model.

The necks are enormous compared to a Ric, but I kinda find myself playing different styles with each guitar. The benefit to a small neck on a Ric 12 is playing comfortable chords etc, with the full 12 string sound, whereas on a wider neck Electic XII, I find myself playing leads etc.

...Still prefer a small Ric 12 neck though!

Guitar:
1961 Gretsch 6117

Bass:
1973 4001
1998 4001V63
2008 4003
(They all have virtually the same neck dimensions; if it had to be only one of those the '73 4001 would probably be it.)

My 1967 vintage 365. The neck is super slender, almost to the point of seeming delicate, and the fingerboard is nicely radiused. Of all of my guitars, it has the most comfortable and natural feel to my hand, as if it were custom made just for me.

Guitar: My 1989 250 El Dorado fits me perfectly. Honorable mention goes to my 1976 480 for it's ultra-flat fretboard.

Bass: It's a no-brainer - my 1967 4001. Love that super thin neck!

The 730S that Jingle Jangle built has the best neck of any guitar the I own.

Guitar - 1967 360F
Bass - 4001CS

I tend to adapt to a neck after a little playing to where I can get used to any guitar. I like Gibsons for blues due to the wide, flat neck and jumbo frets.....easier to bend and the shorter scale length contributes to that also. Having said that, the easiest scale length for me is the 25 inch since that is what my first guitar, a 1989 RIC 230 is.

My 230 neck can sometimes be too thin top to bottom. My other RIC guitars (350V63 Blueburst very narrow and short frets, 360 Blueburst just about right though short frets, 330/12 Blueburst too narrow for 12 strings and short frets but getting by) are not bad.

My Danelectro (25 inch scale) is a very nice neck and easy to play.

My Strats (two of them) and my Tele are very easy to play, and my Tele neck is my favorite (soft V).

My Gibsons (1993 LP Studio, Epiphone DOT) are similar but the DOT neck is massive, and it is my favorite blues guitar. Normally I don't like necks quite that big but I make an exception for that guitar.

For bass, I have an old Harmony H22 that is very nice and easy to play....a very narrow neck. That said, my copy of a RIC bass that I made myself has the best neck on it for me. It is narrow side to side but a little deeper than your standard RIC neck since I used a different truss rod arrangement and needed the extra depth.

Greg

'74 was a good year for necks apparently! I'm kinda partial to my '74 4001 too.

my 74 4000 has a great flat feeling radius slim neck that lends itself to fast runs and chordal playing. my 04 cii has a wider/deeper and more fb-curved neck that still feels wonderfully slim to me-i really do love it. the last rickenbacker i had, an 83 4002 had a somewhat chunkier feeling neck (strangely to me i thought the cii felt better,but i think that's due to my binding bias...),and a 93 v63 i had for about 6 monthes had what i felt has a fatter feeling neck than my cii,go figure....there certainly seems to be a lot of variation in neck size and feel......

1975 wasn't too bad either. My favorite neck is the '75 4001, followed by the '91 4003S. Interestingly, my '04 has quite a larger neck but I still like it and find it very playable, for me. My 4004C, though wider, is narrow front to back and also a player.

My favorite is my '06 360/6. I haven't played enough older Rics to know how necks have changed over time, but I do know that almost from the moment I picked up that guitar, it felt like an old friend. Neither an 80s 360 I used to have, nor a more recent 330 or 340, had quite the same intangible quality. (I haven't measured all of them to see what if anything is different.) I have a 650 that I like but not as much as the 360, and anyway, it's a whole different animal.

loendmaestro wrote:'74 was a good year for necks apparently! I'm kinda partial to my '74 4001 too.

My '74 360/6. SO slim and comfortable. Love it.

In my earlier post I mentioned my Gretsch! My favorite Rick in my stable is my '67 330.

I too love the 74 4001 Profile.....that's one amazing neck.

Also, and in order.....

88 V63
71 4001
95 4001CS