Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just snagged my first Rickenbacker bass - a mapleglo 4001C64 at a really great price.

First impressions - surprisingly lightweight, well-built, nice growly sound with the stock roundwounds.

Question: the action on the strings is a little high, and I have lowered the bridge all that I can. At least I think I have -- the head of the intonation adjustment screws prevent the mechanism from lowering further (is it supposed to do that?)

Any advice would is sincerely appreicated,


Doug

Hi Doug,
How is the neck adjustment? If you've run out of bridge height adjustment it may be that the neck has too much relief. Site down the neck by looking down from the headstock. Hold the bass by the upper bout and not the headstock when doing so. You should be able to see which way the neck bows or if it's straight. If the neck appears to bow in a concave fashion the tension on the truss rods needs to be increased to correct this. Unless you are familiar with making these sorts of adjustments I would take it to a good tech for a set up.

First post? Welcome to The Rickenbacker Forum.

Thanks, Robert.

I sighted the neck last night and it seemed pretty straight, with just a little relief, what I could call "normal", at least from my experience with other basses (primarily fender).

Can you confirm that the intonation screws are supposed to stop the bridge mechanism from lowering any further?

No I can't confirm that one way or another. I have never run out of bridge height adjustment on any of my Ricks so I never really looked at that. Unfortunately I'm not home now to have a look at one of them either.

I'm sure someone here will chime in who can answer your question. By the way, congratulations on your new bass.

Doug, I had exactly the same situation on my 2002 4003: the action was too high after the bridge had been fully lowered and the neck adjusted. I ended up having a tech cut the slots in the nut lower, which solved the problem but was a pain.

Rics usually come from the factory with the strings set way too high ....

the truss rod and bridge adjustments on the 4003 are easy to do ...

4 of the 5 Rick basses I have were bought new and I found the action too high for my liking on all of them. I suppose they have the "average" player in mind when setting the basses up at the factory. I did take the slots on the nut down a little on both of my 4004s before I could get the action where I wanted it.

On my '78 4001 there are no heads on the bridge adjusting screws and they would bottom out in the holes that they thread into. I had to unstring, remove bridge, back the screws out a bit and the re-assemble which provided the screws room to move and adjust the bridge hieght.

On my '78 4001 there are no heads on the bridge adjusting screws and they would bottom out in the holes that they thread into. I had to unstring, remove bridge, back the screws out a bit and the re-assemble which provided the screws room to move and adjust the bridge hieght.

Sorry about the double post.
Paul Yan's post on the "Shiny Bridge" thread has a very clear photo of the bridge adjusting hex screws.

Hi Doug, I am in S. america with only one bass, a 4001, I can lower the bridge all the way until it bottoms out if I want, and I'm pretty sure my 4003's do the same thing, the screws on my 4001 have flat heads which are flush with the side of the bridge, and I think the 4003's are the same, I'm not sure though, I've been here for 5 months. usually if you can lower the bridge all the way down and the action is still too high you have neck problems, too much relief or the neck is bent where it meets the body, but I doubt if your neck is bent on a new bass with factory strings. You may have too much relief, I have bought several new Ric basses in the past few years and the action is usually too high for me too, but a lot of times the neck has too much relief, not that the bridge is set too high. I sometimes think that maybe they ship them a little too quick after they are set up. A neck needs time to settle after it has been adjusted.

I am attempting to load pictures of the bridge assembly, which shows the intonation screw heads, and a 2nd picture showing the height of the strings which the bridge as low as it will go. The neck is very straight, very little relief.The screws hit the bridge and prevent it from going down further. (Maybe they are supposed to do this?)

the neck:

Doug, the screws are not supposed to do this. Since RIC doesn't put a jam not on the other end of their intonation screws as they do on their six strings, the screws and their coresponding saddles can slowly back out over time causing this situation. Loosen the strings enough to remove the bridge from the bass and then push them back into the bridge. Re-assemble , lower your action to suit your taste and then re-set the intonation. I spend about 3 hours on each of my Ricky bridges modifying them so that they don't do this and are easier to intonate. E-mail me directly and I'll tell you how it's done. If you're local, I can do the work for you if you don't have the tools.

Im suprised to see this on a C-64. I mean, its not like they've been around for a long time.