Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Ken,

On consideration, there may well be some variation on neck width, as Semie Moseley was never renowned for the consistency of his product specification. My mark 1 is '70s bass (post the Mosrite bankruptcy shake-up), but I also have played a late '60s Mosrite mash-up ('68 neck - post the Ventures endorsement deal - attached to a '90s body) and the neck shape is very similar. Oddly, the string spacing is narrow relative to the width of the neck- there is a lot of space between the outer strings and the edge of the fretboard, and there is about a 2mm gap between the edges of the neck and the edges of the metal string guide above the zero fret. There is no such gap on my '66 Ventures guitar. This suggests that earlier basses may have had a narrower neck. I'd love to get my hands on an earlier model to see if there was a major change in width.

After careful consideration, I realised my list of favourite Rickenbacker bass necks omitted the all-time champion - Eden's RM1999!!!! I would rate the neck as "perfect"!

FretlessOnly wrote:Tony, do you still have that '74 BG 4001 you bought here about a year ago?

Hey John,

SO SORRY for the delay in my response. To answer your question, YES. I still have it.

It's got a thicker neck than my other 74's had, but it is just a great playing bass.

I know this will make me appear silly to some but I love the FAT neck on my 2008 4004 Cii. Many years ago, I had a 1975 4001 that had a thin (as far as depth goes) but kind of wide neck and it always crossed me up for some reason.

I also like the not so wide but semi-baseball bat bat shaped neck (very round in the back) neck on my 2009 4003. I guess I'm in the minority on these pages however.

guitfiddle wrote:I know this will make me appear silly to some but I love the FAT neck on my 2008 4004 Cii. Many years ago, I had a 1975 4001 that had a thin (as far as depth goes) but kind of wide neck and it always crossed me up for some reason.

Same here for my 4004Cii Fireglo. I tried a bass guitar once owned by Gary (doctorwho) the neck was extremely thin, metal reinforced. I think was made by Bunker. I couldn't play it. It almost felt like my fingertips were reaching into my palm to fret the strings. I like a real bass guitar neck, not a broom stick.

Hey Tony! How's my old '74 BG treating you? That was a superb bass!