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Fingerboard Radius
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:33 pm
by chefothefuture
Anybody know what the fingerboard radius of a pre '73
4001 ?
I know that there's a bit more than today's 10" radius.
Doing a re-fret of a de-fret and need to true it in...
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:17 am
by jwr2
my 68 had a different radius than my 73 and later 4001 and 4003 basses ... my 68 seemed to curve more ...
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:21 pm
by dale_fortune
I have a 1970 in my shop right now and the radius is 10 inches.
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:13 pm
by chefothefuture
Thanks Dale-
Now when you are finished sawing that neck off, what do you plan to do with the unused portion?
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:54 pm
by dale_fortune
I'm not sure yet, but Ken may want it left attached to his Bass. Actually that picture with the saw in the fret board: I'm cleaning up the slots before I sets the new frets.
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:54 pm
by rickfan60
My '63 is flatter than 10". My 12" radius guage does not fit perfectly everywhere on the fingerboard. The '63 is weird. Skunk stripe 4001's from '73 on seem to be always 7.25". My 7.25" guage fits perfectly on all of my 70's 4001s and every other one that I have tested. Somewhere along the line they widened again to 10"
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:49 pm
by ken_swearingen
My 70 has a real nice feel to it,the neck is kinda wide but flat much different then my other Ric's
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:02 pm
by dale_fortune
Ken, it's your Bass that I mentioned that has the 10 inch radius on the fret board.
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:10 pm
by ken_swearingen
Dale,how does it feel to you?
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 6:02 am
by david_schwab
Dale, what size fret wire are you going to use on Ken's bass?
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:16 pm
by dale_fortune
The neck is wide but has a nice flat/slim feel to it. It's not the rounded type. As for the fret wire: I will use a wire that has a harder alloy than the original specs that had a high Brass content which made them very soft. The measurements are: .085 wide and .045 high. This is almost the same as original 70's Ricks.
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:55 pm
by soundmasterg
On the one I made for myself I used a 10 inch radius also. The '73 that I had that I have since sold was closer to a 12 inch radius, and was a wider and flatter neck than many others I've seen, and than the one I made myself. Personally, I think they were all over the place.
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:11 pm
by rickfan60
I work harden fret wire with my fret bender. I first curve them into tight circle then straighen them out by hand. After about 8 cycles the wire hardens. I have not been doing this long enough to know for sure but I understand that this greatly extends the life of frets.