Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

John, with my GK 200MB amp I've found that if I leave the contour off, high boost off and have all the eq controls set to flat except for a slight bump to the lower mids, the FL's sound best.

I used to have a 200MB, great little amp!

My opinion on Chromes is that 45-60-80-105 long scale is the best set you can get.

cassius987 wrote:My opinion on Chromes is that 45-60-80-105 long scale is the best set you can get.

That's fine for a 4003FL, but might be too much tension for a mid '70's 4001FL.

Rickenbacker basses that have been modded to fretless are welcome here also!!

I think we've seen one factory 4003S/5FL on the forum a few years ago.

I played a 1972 4001 once; are 4001s really all that flimsy? This one had seem pretty tough strings on it. I also noticed that the headstock angle was a lot more shallow-looking, is that related to this perceived flimsiness?

You can scale down all of those gauges by .005'' and still get a similarly well-balanced set, albeit the mean drops by about 5 lbs/in^2--which may be what you're after. The E can also be scaled down to .095'' if you must and still get a decent balance, although the highest tension strings are G and D, so I don't see the point of targeting the E for reducing tension in place of those. Sadly I dunno if D'Addario makes a .035'' string for the Chromes.

I'm all about highly balanced tension so that each string sounds very close to the same in terms of timbre--I don't want one to stand out by being brighter or duller, or more choked, etc. Experimenting with my 4003FL got me to this point and now I have applied the results to my other basses with a lot of success.

cassius987 wrote:I played a 1972 4001 once; are 4001s really all that flimsy? This one had seem pretty tough strings on it. I also noticed that the headstock angle was a lot more shallow-looking, is that related to this perceived flimsiness?

Though the necks of the 4003 are stronger than the 4001, I've never found the 4001 necks to be flimsy. Most 4001 necks that warped were just not adjusted properly. Many of the 4001 necks are very tough and will withstand just about the same tension that a 4003 neck can as every piece of wood is different.

The headstock angle of the '72 4001 that you saw has less of an angle because that's the early 4001's were made that way, not because of flimsiness. I think it was in '74 that the 4001 headstocks got more of an angle back.

I can't speak for all '70's 4001s, but the '74 I had never had any problems with Rotosounds. My '76 4001 (sorry, it's not fretless) is now sporting D'Addario Chromes in 0.050, 0.070, 0.085, & 0.105. Yeah, that's even higher tension that the set Joshua mentioned above, but so far, no problems at all, it's been 2 months that they've been on. It was set up for Roto's before, I didn't even need to adjust the truss rods. So, I guess it must not have a flimsy neck...

CJ, if you ever get bored and want to experiment, I think you should try to get a .110'' for the E and a .065'' for the D. That would really smooth out the average tension per string and possibly improve the tone (or the relative tone via improved tonal balance). Not saying you aren't right to do what you do already--this is just a friendly suggestion. Try it sometime if you like.

Yeah, I was thinking this wasn't the optimal set. It's the ECB82 set from D'A, and the only reason I have it is that another forum member was selling it really cheap. I wasn't sure I even wanted to go with flats as my only experience with them was 35 years ago on a non-Rick bass I had (it came with them) and they were so dull and lifeless I just couldn't stand them.

I have to say, the D'A Chromes have a lot of punch and tone, not even close to what I remember. I mean, I was pretty much dead set against ever using flats again, but I've changed my mind. I still like the sound of rounds, but these modern flats have a lot going for them. Needless to say, I'm a small bit worried about the tension with this set, so I'll probably get a bit lighter set to ease my mind. Heck the neck on this '76 4001 has already been cracked by someone who didn't know how to adjust Rick truss rods. But I guess the repair is pretty good since it's had no problems since whoever fixed it did the job (before I got it)...

If you're looking to change sets I think the ECB84 is the best set "out of the box" for balance. I have to resort to buying singles to really get what I'm after, however.

ajish4 wrote:

paul_yan wrote:One. Dec. '72 FL MG

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Sweet indeed!

Thanks, Tony and John. She's indeed a sweet fretless to play. And I love the sound and feel of the RIC tapewound strings on her. The sound has an acoustic double-bass vibe when the toaster pickup is used alone. I'm having a luthier make a plexi pickguard with white under-paint to match the plexi TRC. I believe she's going to look even sweeter with the new guard.

Yes, like Joshua and Joey mentioned, the headstock has a much shallower back angle, but it sure doesn't feel flimsy at all.

Paul, your photos are awesome, post more of them!

On the subject of the relative strength of 4001 necks...my '74 FL was sitting on its stand on stage just before a gig in the mid-80's, when a sound man walked past it and knocked it over. Its terrifying collision with the stage produced a nasty 'divot' (bare, splintered wood showing through the finish) in the end of the headstock, but the neck was fine. I played it during that set, and have done so ever since, without even having to adjust the rods. That's strong enough for me...

I never have fixed the headstock 'wound'...to me it's as endearing a feature as any of the many scars I carry on my own body: physical evidence of having 'lived a life'...

So far, we have 23 Rickenbacker fretless basses shown or mentioned in this thread.
There are a total of 70 Rickenbacker fretless basses entered into the registry, which includes two 4002FL and two 3001FL basses. Many of the same ones found in this thread are in the registry. I did not find Dane Wilder's modded 4004/02CiiFL or whatever he calls it in the registry. If it's in there, it was listed before the mod was done.
There are 18 owners of Fretless Ricks in thread who have posted or where mentioned, one "I want one!...

...and one "I had one!"...