Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have had my Ric 4003 since march of 2001. Bought it brand new from a local distributor.

The neck is fine. I adjusted it once back in 2002 and it is still the way I like it.

my problem is I have always had a clank when I play like the strings are hitting the frets or something.
It doesnt come through the amp but it bothers the hell out of me.

I used to have the strings practically laying on the fretborad but recently I raised the bridge a little and it took "some" of that clank away but not all of it.

also when I raised the bridge I lost some volume on the E and G strings.

I resolved that tonight by raising the P/U's.

is the clank normal?

what would you guys recommend?

also, is it normal for the G string at the top 3 frets to be so close to the edge that fretting the string can sometimes make it slip off the edge?

thanks

also, is it normal for the G string at the top 3 frets to be so close to the edge that fretting the string can sometimes make it slip off the edge?

No it's not. This indicates to me that the G string saddle is cut off center. The solution is to get another saddle and re-slot it so the string remains about 1/8" from the edge of the fretboard all the way down.

aceonbass wrote:

also, is it normal for the G string at the top 3 frets to be so close to the edge that fretting the string can sometimes make it slip off the edge?

No it's not. This indicates to me that the G string saddle is cut off center. The solution is to get another saddle and re-slot it so the string remains about 1/8" from the edge of the fretboard all the way down.

Sounds more like the nut needs to be recut if it is up at the top of the neck.

I was wondering what song he was playing that required the 18th, 19th, and 20th frets on the G string!

[As I was writing this, the third freight train of the night zipped by ... no relevance, but I felt that I had to share ... ]

Dane, I knew what you meant it was just the other end...lol

I have seen lots of pictures of Rics on this page and a lot of the G strings "look" dangerously close to the edge so I never gave it a second thought.

Besides maybe thats why Chris Squire named the Album as such...lol

I am not brave enough to change a nut on my 1 and only Prized possesion.

Anyone have any recommendations in the Mid Hudson valley NY on who to see?

Do you think the factory would repair this? It is out of warranty but I wouldnt mind so much having to pay for the repair

doctorwho wrote:I was wondering what song he was playing that required the 18th, 19th, and 20th frets on the G string!

[As I was writing this, the third freight train of the night zipped by ... no relevance, but I felt that I had to share ... ]

I dont thing Entwhisle even played that far down....

Can you post a photo, Christopher? Not that I disagree with Dane and Jeffrey...they're spot-on of course...but I thought that RIC bass nuts were all pre-slotted by machine by the time your bass was made. So I'm curious about what happened to yours.

ricnbacker wrote:

doctorwho wrote:I was wondering what song he was playing that required the 18th, 19th, and 20th frets on the G string!

[As I was writing this, the third freight train of the night zipped by ... no relevance, but I felt that I had to share ... ]

I dont thing Entwhisle even played that far down....

I'm partial to having this hi-E available from time to time.

teeder wrote: I'm partial to having this hi-E available from time to time.

Show off!

+1 to Dane. Mine would have to be machine made and there is no such slippage at all.

rickaddict wrote:Can you post a photo, Christopher? Not that I disagree with Dane and Jeffrey...they're spot-on of course...but I thought that RIC bass nuts were all pre-slotted by machine by the time your bass was made. So I'm curious about what happened to yours.

I have some photo's around somewhere. I see which computer they are in or just take a new shot. I have a better camera now anyway.

I would have thought that in this day and age or at least when I got mine in '01 that they would have been pre slotted too.

I am going out to jam with it right now, I'll post a pic laer or tomorrow.

thanks Jeff

aceonbass wrote:Assuming that the nut is one of the machine cut nuts, perhaps it was glued on just a bit off center. If you've got more room on the E string side, you might try popping the nut off and re-gluing it. Just a drop of glue on the face of the fretboard will do it.

It seems centered. but that is a good idea. Now if I can only find the guts to pop that off....lol