Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

At the moment I like my 73 4001 as it feels very uniform from top to bottom.
But I love the super thin neck on my 68 4001.

Then again I love my 95 Guild Starfire II; the only Maxima strings I can find fit it and they are by far my favorite strings......
It does have a rather "Chicken Neck".....

Well, I may as well pop in and ask a neck question.


Which neck on a Rick bass is the most simmilar to a Hofner 500/1. Tight string spacing, thin width wise, but with some girth all the way around and nice filled out edges. Ignore the shortscale part, that would be a 3000.

Also, which year of C64 basses had a neck closest to what I described?

I think you're not going to find much difference in the width of Rick necks (at least at the nut). The Höfners are much slimmer width wise, and if they were as thin as Rick necks (depth from surface of the fingerboard to the back of the neck) they would likely be impossible to construct or to play. Höfners make up for girth with a deeper but thinner neck (width). I'll wager that girth measurements of each brand will be close, with the Rick being wider and thinner, the Höfner being more narrow and thicker. Sorry if my wording doesn't make sense. At any rate, Rick necks will not be at all similar to the Höfner necks in my estimation.

IvanMunoz wrote:Well, I may as well pop in and ask a neck question.


Which neck on a Rick bass is the most simmilar to a Hofner 500/1. Tight string spacing, thin width wise, but with some girth all the way around and nice filled out edges. Ignore the shortscale part, that would be a 3000.

Also, which year of C64 basses had a neck closest to what I described?

That's a tough one. Most 500/1's I've played felt sort of "blocky" ; a deep "D" profile but as you said narrow.
Since a Rick is wider, the depth can sort of get lost...
Having said that, my 73 has a D' ish profile.
I can't opine on a C series as I've never played one, but FWIW, my former '06 4003 had a really chunky neck.

john...you should try my '68 slimmo !!!

I've played a '66 Hofner Beatle and fellow forumite Jon Martinez's 2010 4001C64...the neck on Jon's C64 was definitely longer and a wider with a medium neck profile while the Hof was slightly (not too much) wider than a Fender Jazz bass, certainly not as wide as a Precision bass. The neck was also very slim and thin. The Ric was thin, too, fatter than the Hof but certainly not as hefty as his 4003 (sorry, Jon!).

I've played a couple of rick necks bass wise, A Mapleglo that I liked and a Jetglo that I didn't care for. Which basses compare best to a C64 bass neck.

bassduke49 wrote:I think you're not going to find much difference in the width of Rick necks (at least at the nut). The Höfners are much slimmer width wise, and if they were as thin as Rick necks (depth from surface of the fingerboard to the back of the neck) they would likely be impossible to construct or to play. Höfners make up for girth with a deeper but thinner neck (width). I'll wager that girth measurements of each brand will be close, with the Rick being wider and thinner, the Höfner being more narrow and thicker. Sorry if my wording doesn't make sense. At any rate, Rick necks will not be at all similar to the Höfner necks in my estimation.

You might want to try a 90s era Starfire.
They are super narrow at the nut as well as shallow.
Or, remember the "pencil neck" Vox's?

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:john...you should try my '68 slimmo !!!

Oh!
Well I've all ready got one....
Oh yes! It's a very nice-a...

Between my ’96 4001V63 and ’79 4001 I like the neck on the ’79 better. The ’79 is narrower (side to side) and thicker (front to back) with an evenly round back profile, while the V63 is wider and thinner with a flat profile. The narrower, thicker, round neck of my ’79 simply feels more natural in my hand.

To me the ’79 feels very much like the neck on my Hofner – same round profile, almost exactly the same thickness, only the ’79 is a of course a bit wider than the Hofner.

chefothefuture wrote: You might want to try a 90s era Starfire.
They are super narrow at the nut as well as shallow.
Or, remember the "pencil neck" Vox's?

If I recall correctly Mosrites also have a pencil like neck.

ken_j wrote:

chefothefuture wrote: You might want to try a 90s era Starfire.
They are super narrow at the nut as well as shallow.
Or, remember the "pencil neck" Vox's?

If I recall correctly Mosrites also have a pencil like neck.

Not quite Ken - Mosrite bass necks are incredibly shallow but reasonably wide. My '70s Mark 1 has a wider fretboard at the nut than a 4001.

antipodean wrote:

ken_j wrote:

chefothefuture wrote: You might want to try a 90s era Starfire.
They are super narrow at the nut as well as shallow.
Or, remember the "pencil neck" Vox's?

If I recall correctly Mosrites also have a pencil like neck.

Not quite Ken - Mosrite bass necks are incredibly shallow but reasonably wide. My '70s Mark 1 has a wider fretboard at the nut than a 4001.

I saw one a few weeks ago that appeared thinner than a Jazz bass. I didn't pick it up though. I will have go back and take a second look if I get a chance. Did they vary through the years? I really haven't come across too many over the last few years except the occasional one at Elderly. I remember seeing them in the late sixties but have no recall as to what they were like back then.
I seached a couple of forums that descibe the Mosrite necks as narrow and found this in the discussion:

well to me a mosrite neck is wide compared to an old VOX bass. those necks felt like a broom handle.

Since you have one I have no reason to doubt you.

RicOSoundMan wrote:My Sept 1977 4001 Jetglo.... Is the best by far. Even the quitar itelf is like feather lite to me anyways. I just love it!!!
Nice low action and narrow too... I might be biased though....lololol

That's because your other 2 RIcks are the 3000 and 3001. Boat-anchors!

rickenbrother wrote:

badeggs wrote:1974: YOU. CAN'T. GO. WRONG.

The necks on the ones built in '75 had the slim "D" profile as well.

My '75 is like that - very comfortable to play.