Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey Rickers,

So, as many of you who frequent this forum know, I recently acquired a beautiful '08 4003FL in MG. It's my first FL and the last time I played an FL was in '93 when a friend of mine had a Ken Smith FL, which I just noodled on and had no understanding of. Anyway, I have been the kind of guy who always takes his basses in for setups. Because Rics are different and no one in my immediate area knows how to work on them, I decided to study Joey's Bass Notes and get help here on RRF. The first thing Joey recommends is adjusting the truss rods. I was nervous about this given all the horror stories, but decided to take it slow and have been coaxing them along a bit everyday since last Thursday. I had come to find the FL had a good bit of relief in it. I have gotten the E side where it needs to be, but the G side isn't there yet.
Now, to the point of this post. I was a bit worried about this bass when I first got it as it just sounded lifeless, but figured since I am new to FL, that perhaps my technique couldn't bring this bass alive yet. But I realized tonight that Rics really need straight necks for a reason. I got out the bass tonight to give the rod its daily adjustment and decided to play a bit. I could NOT believe it! All of the sudden, this bass came alive and it was deep, resonant and finally had some real sustain. Now I can FINALLY hear the uprightish tone I have heard others get out of these basses.
I just want to thank everyone here who has helped me gain the confidence and knowledge I need to bring out the best in this bass. I feel sorry for this bass that it has been strangled for so long. Now it can sing! I just have to get the bridge height adjusted and intonation sussed (both in the bridge and my hands), but I feel I am just beginning to hear what this bass can do and I am encouraged and unlike the neck now, RELIEVED!
I suppose the moral of the story is that a good setup makes much more of a difference than I had ever imagined. WOW!

Have a good evening,

LEL (Jason)

Yeah, it sure opens things up when you get that neck flat. The 4003 is pretty forgiving that way - just don't try the same things with a 4001.

In any case, as for setting the intonation at the bridge - the saddle adjustments are a bit tough to get exactly where you want them, but with a fretless it's not nearly so important (assuming your neck is where it needs to be, and it sounds like it is). FIrst, if your bridge saddles look like this:
(that is, steep edge of the E saddle nearly flush with the tailpiece edge of the bridge, steep edge of the G string saddle nearly flush with the headstock edge of the bridge, with the A and D saddles more or less evenly-spaced between them [so you have a diagonal line where the strings break across the saddles]), you're more or less in fine shape.

If not, my recommendation would be to loosen the strings, remove the bridge, and set them up in this fashion using the set-screws. You'll need to use your left thumb to hold the saddles in about the right spot while you tighten the set-screws wioth your right hand. Over-tightening will move the saddles, so just snug them.

As for the bridge height, you can adjust it under string tension, but it's better for the little adjustment screws to have a bit of room to move while you do it. Loosen the strings until they are just getting floppy and use the allen wrench to gently adjust the height. Re-tune and you're good to go!

If one side is flatter than the other (G side versus E side), you may need to do a "manual adjustment" with Scott's help to apply not only force but torque to the neck, then lock the torque in place by tightening the rods 1/4 to 1/2 turn. They don't act independently enough to correct torque just on their own (without manual adjustment) in my experience. Have Scott help you with this.

Ironically my 2008 4003FL is both my favorite bass and the one that came with the most flaws... some indetectable flaws to the untrained but flaws nonetheless. I only just found out last week that the fingerboard was not planed very well at the factory so my luthier here is planing it so it can be set up dead straight and have perfectly even fingerboard action. I always compensated for the weird spots on the neck with technique--now apparently I won't have to. Funny, my 4001FL has none of these issues, so either it was planed correctly to start (the fingerboard finish looks factory) or it was improved by a luthier like my 4003FL. Getting back to the start of this paragraph though, it's quite ironic, I love this bass to pieces and know that I will never let it go, yet I have put more work into it than anything else (as far as Rickenbackers). And I have played some of my best recorded songs with this bass in its "flawed" state! Makes you wonder how many famous players had basses that were flawed and either didn't know or didn't care.

Jason, you may want Scott to see if your bass is like mine as far as the fingerboard goes--he'll be able to assess it better than you, I promise, he's got an eagle eye for it. He actually diagnosed my bass as having some unevenness a couple of years ago but I brushed it off since I was happy with it. I finally took it to my luthier here because of the weird "squonk" at the 6th semitone position, that turned out to be due to the hump in the wood. If yours doesn't have any audible problems like that it probably doesn't matter much; like I said I have already had more than two years of joy with this bass, so I don't think a bass has to be utterly flawless to be loved.

Following up on some details in my last post, I just got the FL back today and I'm blown away. Now that the fingerboard is planed evenly flat I find I barely have to think about technique and I can just play, play, play.

cassius987 wrote:Following up on some details in my last post, I just got the FL back today and I'm blown away. Now that the fingerboard is planed evenly flat I find I barely have to think about technique and I can just play, play, play.

Good news! I hope and pray there's nothing weird with mine. I am WAY over budget on bass stuff now. I just can't get the EBMM to move. It's a nice bass, but I guess the market just stinks right now. I'm afraid I am going to take a real hit on it in order to pay down the 4003FL.

Oh well...

LEL

I hope there's nothing wrong either Jason. My fingerboard could have been a fluke. My luthier thinks they just skipped the planing step at the factory though which may indicate systematic problems... just have Scott take a look.

As I said, I played the bass like that for over two years and was very happy. The problems were relatively minor which is why they escaped basic factory-level QC, however they still caused me some trouble. It was just when I finally realized, "Okay, it's gotta be the bass not my technique or setup," I wanted to get it corrected. Sure enough it is much improved, although it did cost me a little over $100. My luthier and I have a great relationship so I am really happy to give him that business and I knew he would do a quality job.

I guess I'm lucky this didn't happen to a fretted bass of mine as that would have been even more costly to fix.

Hi Joshua and others,

So now I'm wondering; did you opt for having the fretboard refinished after it was planed? I'm experiencing a similar situation to what you've described on my fretless across the 8th position, all strings but mostly the E. There a couple of good techs and a fabulous violin repair guy who used to play electric bass that I'm interested in consulting with in the near future.