Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello!

I am confused by the construction of the 4004 CII from what I've seen on the net. On the rickbeat site (http://www.rickbeat.com/modelslibrary/4004cheyenne2/4004cheyenne2.htm), the natural finish guitar has a maple top and walnut wings on the back, yet other pics I've seen on ebay have a maple top and back, sandwiching a piece of walnut.

I emailed Ric about this and the answer I got said they didn't know how a new bass would be configured (this was in regard to a natural CII/5). Does anyone have any further insight into what the standard is for the natural finish basses? Is the rickbeat example an oddity or the norm?

Also, from the pic on the new brochure, it looks like the 5 string won't have pickup surrounds on it, which is kind of a shame.

From what I understand the 4004 the neck is a solid piece of maple wood then 2 pieces of walnut are glued to the neck and they are the body ... then the laminate a nice thin sheet of maple to the whole body ...

I'm not an expert on wood working but it seems they wrap the laminate around the curves of the wood and the stop and expose a stripe of walnut ... all done with the usual excellent Ric workmanship ..

Here's a picture of one with the maple veneer on the back as well ...

http://www.the-music-connection.com/r247b.jpg

That isn't veneer, it is solid wood. The Music Connection one is the way I think these are normally being made, but even the Ric service guy I contacted didn't know for sure.

I know the neck goes all the way through the body, my only quastion is whether the wings are maple top/walnut back, or maple/walnut/maple.

The three layer version seems like the standard for the colored finishes.

I've never seen a 4004CII in person. Looking at the pictures from Bjorn's Rickbeat site, it seems the saddles are of the "roller" type. Are my eyes working properly?

Another ignorant question: What's the reason that the natural finish 4004CII has the "curly quilted maple" while the ones in red, blue and green are made of straight line texture "flame maple"?

Anyone in the know?

I have a 4004C-II in Trans Blue and the body wings have a walnut core with flame maple top and back. I estimate the laminate thickness of the maple for the top and back to be 1/4" to 3/8", I'm at work now so I can't measure to be sure. The neck is maple and thru the body with a bubinga fretboard. The bridge is a roller type. It's really a beautiful bass.

I would guess the curly maple is used on the natural finish basses because it shows thru better than it would with one of the Trans colors and I think traditionaly the most highly figured wood has been reserved for natural finished instruments.

It's possible the picture of the natural finish 4004C-II with the maple top and walnut back is a prototype I suppose.

Thank you very much for the info, Robert.
The 4004 CII is actually the only bass I (now) know of that features the roller bridge. What are the advantages of it (sound and playability wise) compared to a conventional bridge design?

Paul,
You are quite welcome. It's nice to have a place like this to trade info and experiences. The 4004 bridge is a very nice design and it's simple to make intonation and individual string height adjustments. The rollers themselves allow for lateral fine adjustment of the string spacing, which is a nice feature. My '91 M*d*l*s 5 string's bridge has this same feature so it's not an original concept, but my thanks to Rickenbacker for designing and building a new bridge for the 4004 line of basses. I love my traditional Ricks too, but that bridge is a pain sometimes.

The roller bridge has been used by Rick since the 80's...first introduced on the 2030 hamburg bass as seen here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2502699032&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebaylargephotohosting
I think they are German made Shaller bridges made for Rick and they are indeed a great bridge and certainly top line with 3 way adjustment.

ps. Paul that's what I got for my project bass because finding a floating bridge with wide jazz bass neck spacing was impossible so, I went with the 2030/cheyenne fixed bridge which my luthier is going to install this week along with the warmouth jazz neck...I had to switch to a body blank (cut to the 330 shape) because of the 34" scale...so the project continues. I'm taking pics along the way and i'll send you some when it's completed....David

Yeah groovy David!
My best wishes for your soon-to-be-born baby.

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Robert, thank you again. I truly cherish a place like this as you do.

You can see the evidence of the 3rd axis of adjustment in that Hamburg 2030; the distance between the A and D string is disproportionately wide.

I don't think I care much for the top of the headstock. Maybe if it was a bit shorter?

I am pretty sure the roller bridge on the 4004 is made by ABM also German.

I believe John Hall said it is made in Germany to Rickenbacker's specifications, but he didn't name the manufacturer. My guess would be Schaller.

You may be correct but the bridge looks exactly like an ABM roller bridge. I haven't seen the latest Schaller bridges with the exception of the 2000 model but the ones I used to have on basses in the '70s and '80s looked different, these bridges look like the ABM bridges on Pedulla basses.

Jeffrey-- It's strictly a guess on my part, but I'm with you on this one. The 4004 bridge looks A LOT like an ABM.