Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all, I'm trying to get some specs on the 4003 necks. Trying to compare it to my Ibanez GSR200.
I can only find the specs on neck width but I want to know the neck thickness and what shape it is. My ibanez is a pretty slim "C" shape up until the 12th fret. It's actually wider at the 12th fret than a new rick. After that it balloons to 62mm. ANyway, any info is appreciated.

There is no one shape for a 4003 neck. You are talking about an instrument that has been in continuous production for 25 years. Many changes / improvements have been made in that time. Also, there is the fact that they are hand made. Each tends to be unique. Some are Cs some are Ds. Some are chunky some are thin. There is no typical shape over the run of the model. The current production tends to be chunky while the older ones are more like late 70's 4001. There is a fair amount of variation in between. The only constant seems to be the width and taper of the fingerboard.

Ted is right . I have had literally dozens of 4003's 4001's too and all had different neck thickness . It just depends on who's running the shaver that day i guess.If you find a thin neck 4003 HOLD ON TOO IT !!

So there is no standard neck thickness like there is with width? I understand the deviation due to being handmade but isn't there a standard that they would have to approximate?

I would say they are all the 4003 necks are pretty close to the same size ... when people say one neck is slim and one is fat that are talking 1/16", 1/32" or 1/64" differences ... the basses are part cnc and part hand made so the hand made part will cause some variations ... the c64 neck is slimmer than a 4003 and a 4001 is slightly slimmer than a 4003 and the 60s basses necks have a very shallow D profile that feels great in your hand ... the 2030 and 4004 necks taper more from the nut to the body ... much like a Fender bass ... the 2030 necks are very thin at the nut ... kind of like a jazz bass ...

the 4001/4002 neck does not taper as much as most basses ... so your Ibanez neck will be slimmer at the nut and wider at the body ...

I like some of the Ibanez basses ... they are good medium quality basses ... some of them are ugly and weird ... I had a gsr305dx ... it had a nice slim neck for a 5 string and a very responsive B string ... it had active electronics and humbuckers but it buzzed louder than my single coil 4003 ...

Thanks Jeff, exactly what I was looking for. So the difference in necks among models is pretty much negligible. My Ibanez also buzzes alot. I incorporate it into my sound.