Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

hi i recently checked out a beautiful 1973 4001 and was ready to buy (at a great price) until i found two cracks running down the the neck from the head (each about 2 or 3 inches long) along the fingerboard. the bass also had terrible bridge lift. and poor intonation

so, how much would it cost to make a bass like this structurally sound?

any ideas would be helpful

jazzstick

This type of fretboard separation is common on Rick basses that have had their truss rods tightened, ah, too enthusiastically, by an uninformed owner or tech, at some time in the past. Before buying this bass, I'd pop the truss rod cover, and have a gander at how tightly the rods are cranked down, and whether they're bent. Off hand, judging from your comments on this and the bridge lift, I would say that this bass had spent a good deal of time with heavier-gauge round wound strings fitted. Sounds like it could have a pretty slim neck, too. Rick necks are very flexible and responsive, and techs used to meatier necks do have a tendency to over-tighten; time is money. Those early rods are no longer available from the factory, and would have to be procured used; Dale and I also make new ones to order, and Dale's are less expensive than mine.

How easy it is to repair the fretboard separation, depends largely on how long it's been like this. Of course it's possible to pull the rods, clamp the neck, and close the cracks right up, but depending on how much dirt and crud has gotten into the cracks, and how fresh the wood is in the cracks, this could be a cinch or it could be a pain. A lot of dirt would preclude adhesion, and you're back to square one.

Of course, you're going to have to carefully straighten out that lift (some players put a couple of extra screws in there) or replace the tailpiece. Bear in mind that newer tailpieces can have a slightly smaller "footprint" and may not completely cover the routs made at the factory for the old tailpiece.

Bad intonation? Get out your $20.00 tuner and check the octaves with the tuner. Write down whether they are sharp or flat. Check the string length adjustment--an easy thing to do. Do the saddles have some room to go either way?

Remember: too sharp at the octave--lengthen the string (move the saddle away from the pickups); too flat at the octave, do the opposite. Hopefully there's adjustment left. If not, I'd do some measuring and make sure that the geometry works out mathematically, and start looking for some lighter-gauge strings.

The effect that all of this will have on the price, depends largely upon how bad it all is, which is hard to comment upon without seeing some good pictures and getting a report on that intonation problem.

Maybe it was implied, but I'll state, too, that neck bow will impact your intonation. The RIC saddles don't have as much room to move as a more common Fender type saddle and the neck needs to be as flat as possible to get optimum intonation. That's my experience with my '79, anyway.

Somebody probably paid good money to get those cracks installed.

nukebass wrote:

Somebody probably paid good money to get those cracks installed.

Boy, ain't DAT the troof!

As Paul said, that is a common problem. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the guitar techs and repairmen out there still do not know the correct way to adjust the old style Rickenbacker truss rods. In the mildest cases, cracks as you described are the result. Sometimes the fingerboard separates cleanly and opens like an aligator mouth. Sometimes the neck spliters opens all the way around to the shedua stripe and down to the fourth or fifth fret. Very ugly business.

Well I told the owner about the problems with the bass and made an offer. He wasn't happy. He had the bass on Ebay and pulled it when it reached over $1500, I don't know why he did that, but he would have had headaches from any buyer who wants a playable bass. Should I notify the forum if it comes up again?
I'd hate to see someone buy this at playable market value and then have a headache.

jazzstick

If he documents the cracks in his description and includes a few pics, no one should be unpleasantly surpised at delivery time.

Another comment - the present intonation problem is probably caused or exacerbated by the tail lift - the bridge would rock forward and the scale would shorten.

Jazzstick notes that the saddles are all cranked to their forward-most position. Can anyone say, "Duh"? The seller or his "tech" has done the exact opposite of what should be done to flatten a sharp intonation.

Yep, that is guitar tech 101.

Buying any stringed instrument that's been meatballed like this at any time in its past is a **** shoot. Aside from the inherent risks that such a potential purchase entails, these may provide some negotiating room for a purchaser.

Although oftentimes the seller persists with an unrealistic idea of the worth of the item, based more upon ego or attachment, than upon reality...this is where skill in dealing with people without ruffling feathers comes to the fore.

Although at times a seller is so wrapped up in his own trip that humanity is lost. Ah, what's the bloody use?