Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My 21 fretter has a smaller fingerboard radius than any other Ric I've ever played (i.e. it's rounder). The bridge saddle unit matches this. Is this the same for all 21 fretters? Or is this the same for all basses prior to '72? (I've only ever played one other bass older than '72 - a '69 - but I don't remember the radius on that being any different to my '72). In connection with this, the screws on the screw top high gain treble pickup are a flatter radius; can the screws (i.e. the pole pieces) be adjusted? I don't want to try and find out the hard way that they can't!

One other thing; does anyone have a ballpark figure for how many of these were produced? I tried emailing Ric but got no reply.

henry5 wrote:In connection with this, the screws on the screw top high gain treble pickup are a flatter radius; can the screws (i.e. the pole pieces) be adjusted? I don't want to try and find out the hard way that they can't!

DON'T turn those! I did in my '73 and nothing happened, but it can tear the windings in the pickup...the poles are not supposed to be adjustable.

I think someone once said there's maybe 50 21-fret 4001s, all made between Jan. 70 and Jan. 71, or they did one batch in Jan. 70, and another in Jan. 71...something like that.

Thanks Jeff; I have to admit I got as far as putting a screwdriver in one of the slots and starting to apply pressure before chickening out. Talk about tempting fate, using pole-pieces with screw slots that can't be adjusted! It's kind of like the problem my friend has where he always wants to stick his finger in a moving fan!

50 eh? I wonder where they all are. There are only 6 in the Register......

BTW, mine's Feb '71 (exactly a year before my '72). Off the top of my head I think it's the latest one in the Register.

The late 60's neck seem to have the smaller and sweetest radius curve from what I can recall. The 71 I had was also slight, but not as those from 68/69. The 73 necks are slightly more fuller, but we're still not talking large by any means...

As ever, YMMV...

henry5 wrote:Talk about tempting fate, using pole-pieces with screw slots that can't be adjusted!

Probably why they changed them!Congrats on the 21...it's always been a dream of mine to own one. It was Kevin's, right? If only I'd waited a few more months to buy another!

Fretboard radius, while generally rounder the further back you go, seems to be pretty individual. I had a '74 with decent roundness, but my '72 has a radius like this '68: While my '73 here is nearly flat as a 480: ...very little radius at all. Maybe the guy doing fretboards that day went heavy with the sander, or that was just his style...

My April '73 4001FL has a fairly flat fingerboard. And, it also has slotted screw-type poles on the bridge pickup. I was advised by the good folks on this board not to adjust them. But, it sure looks like you can!

badeggs wrote:

henry5 wrote:Talk about tempting fate, using pole-pieces with screw slots that can't be adjusted!

Probably why they changed them!Congrats on the 21...it's always been a dream of mine to own one. It was Kevin's, right? If only I'd waited a few more months to buy another!

Fretboard radius, while generally rounder the further back you go, seems to be pretty individual. I had a '74 with decent roundness, but my '72 has a radius like this '68:

round.png

While my '73 here is nearly flat as a 480:

flat.png

...very little radius at all. Maybe the guy doing fretboards that day went heavy with the sander, or that was just his style...

What set me thinking was that the bridge saddle unit (i.e the bit the saddles sit on) is also a smaller radius than my '72, which suggests the smaller fingerboard radius was planned. Unless they were making individual saddle units for each individual bass, which seems unlikely.

The '69 4000 that I sold to Bryce has an even tighter radius.
I know of two '69 21 fretters. I don't know what month they were made in, though. Graham has one and Mr Squire has the other.