Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does he give a spec for the cold rolled, such as 1018? Maybe JH could enlighten us. I had always thought of trying to use a piece of stainless welding rod but after reading John's comment on resonance that would surely be a poor choice.

if you go back in this thread i stated that the truss rod system worked fairly well but could be better ,Dave we can beat this into the ground all day long the question i put to you is[knowing Ric's have had neck problems as long as i can remember]what would you do about Rickenbacker's neck problems on there 4003's thicken the wood or don't worry about it??

Ken j, no, he didn't give a spec. Google for: truss rod 3/16 diameter arnquist, then click on Cached and you'll see the whole post.

Ken, I'm not convinced that 4003s have any more neck problems than the average bass, but if there were and I wanted to change something, I'd probably reinforce it along the centerline with a strip of a stiffer wood like wenge. The tradeoff would be slightly more weight and a slightly higher price tag.

WHAT neck problem? Geez. These things are as strong as any mainstream production bass, and have the added ability of being adjustable for twist. It's very rare to see an instrument here for truss rod related repairs.

What's to fix? Well, I can think of a way to vastly improve it and maybe someday we'll do it- but it's related to nothing that's been discussed here.

I think this is why the neck got larger as i stated just to avoid any future problems-as for mentioning my thoughts on the truss rod system it sorta opened up a can of worms we all have are opinions based on fact or theory.ric although will never admit it has had problems with the neck being so thin and a one piece design,im sure for ric lovers like us its never been an issue,but your average jo might have trouble with adjusting the neck so often.in other words they made the 4003 more user friendly but added more bulk to the neck.

I worked at venamen music in Rockville MD in the late eighty's the only thing Ric's would come in for was rod adjustments on a constant bases more so than any other stringed instrument.a lot of them were becouse peaple did not know how to adjust the rods therefor would screw it up.fact.

Ken, I bought a good bit of stuff from Venamen's thru the years, I wish it was still there instead of being a Guitar Center franchise now, LOL.. I guess Levin's is the last big hold out in DC..

yea ,those were the good old day's bill brooks still works for chucks saw him last time i was there,he was my manager at venamens back in the day. remember the mayday sale .

The need for neck adjustments is not an indication of trouble. It is completely normal and expected.

what im trying to say for the average Jo Rickenbacker's can be a pain to adjust the neck and often,when i say problems i don't mean Major i mean pain in the butt, nagging....they are high maintanance neck wise.take one on the road sometime if you dare.

I took a road trip to California with a fender pbass and a 77 4001 in a convertible Chrysler la baron,when we got there the fender was as straight as an arrow the 4001s neck looked like a pretzel not that bad but bad,bad enough to the point i didn't want to drive back with it.

I understand what you are saying Ken. Yes, Rick necks require regular adjustments, at least where I live. Any wooden instrument will react to atmospheric changes though. Some do more than others but it is a universal condtion. I don't know if it is fair to say that Ricks are effected more than other brands. It is true that I don't have to adjust my Jazz Bass as often but there are probably Fender necks that do require frequent seasonal adjustments. No instrument is perfect. They all have their little quirks and personalities.

oh yea,Ted i am a die hard Ric fan don't take me wrong.But if your fender falls over you are like 'oh my god'your Ric falls over you go into convulsions.you are very correct now if Ric thickened there necks on the 4003 because of strength issues thats smart if they did it for players who like thicker necks thats stupid Ric's are known for there thin necks why not get something else thats less worry then.

Ted ,lets hope this topic never comes up again.ooh boy if i see any threads saying ,fat necks ,chunky necks ,wide necks, over sized necks,thick necks, big necks ,red necks,whale necks I'm staying far away......

Why? There's nothing wrong with discussing it. This is a discussion board. Peter would be very sad if we didn't discuss things. You don't want to see Peter cry, do you?

I think neck movement -- not neck problems -- is mostly just variable with individual pieces of wood. I've had different basses from the same brand, some of them almost never needed adjustment while others seemed to move a lot. And it doesn't seem to be related to thickness.