Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

One of the guys in other forums was asking if his bass guitars were 2 piece necks or neck thrus? One is a 2010 June 4003. The other is a 2009 September 4003. I said I would post it over here where the experts resided! Also if there is an advantage/disadvantage either way.
Jack

jack1953 wrote:One of the guys in other forums was asking if his bass guitars were 2 piece necks or neck thrus? One is a 2010 June 4003. The other is a 2009 September 4003. I said I would post it over here where the experts resided! Also if there is an advantage/disadvantage either way.
Jack

... they both are supposed to be neck trough!!! The 4003 from June 2010 should have the 2 piece neck through (a bit thinner neck) construction, the other just one piece neck through (a bit thicker neck).

Jack, I think you might be confusing the method of construction a bit. Right now, all Rick basses are "neck through (body)." The number of parts or pieces to make that neck-through-body unit is what is being discussed. Currently, RIC necks are two-piece (really a misnomer as the fretboard is another piece), but they have been "one piece" for many years, and if you go back further, "two piece" necks have appeared and disappeared.

4001 basses from 1972 to around 1980 featured a "three-piece" neck-through with a strengthening strip of shedua down the middle.

4000 and 4001S basses from about 1972 to 1980 had set necks slotted into slab bodies. These set neck Ricks had the shedua strip down the middle of the neck, but obviously not the body.

The 3000, 3001, and 2000 family of RIC basses have "bolt-on" necks (wood screws, really), and their method of construction may have varied as well.

The easiest way of telling what construction a current bass has is to look for a change of grain pattern in the middle of the back of the neck. Of course, you won't see this if the bass is Jetglo or Midnight Blue.

Any way to check this on a JG bass? My 1998 V63 for example?

Probably one-piece, right? I've seen pics of a couple of mapleglo v63's from late 90's, and they did not have the shedua stripe...

bassduke49 wrote:Jack, I think you might be confusing the method of construction a bit. Right now, all Rick basses are "neck through (body)." The number of parts or pieces to make that neck-through-body unit is what is being discussed. Currently, RIC necks are two-piece (really a misnomer as the fretboard is another piece), but they have been "one piece" for many years, and if you go back further, "two piece" necks have appeared and disappeared.

4001 basses from 1972 to around 1980 featured a "three-piece" neck-through with a strengthening strip of shedua down the middle.

4000 and 4001S basses from about 1972 to 1980 had set necks slotted into slab bodies. These set neck Ricks had the shedua strip down the middle of the neck, but obviously not the body.

The 3000, 3001, and 2000 family of RIC basses have "bolt-on" necks (wood screws, really), and their method of construction may have varied as well.

The easiest way of telling what construction a current bass has is to look for a change of grain pattern in the middle of the back of the neck. Of course, you won't see this if the bass is Jetglo or Midnight Blue.

Thanks Paul! I knew I could count on you to help educate this ole rookie!

Jack

ig55 wrote:Any way to check this on a JG bass? My 1998 V63 for example?

Probably one-piece, right? I've seen pics of a couple of mapleglo v63's from late 90's, and they did not have the shedua stripe...

"One piece" construction on all the 4001V63s, the shedua strip was only on the above mentioned 4001/4001S models. Of course, you do have the walnut headstock wings, as shown on these JG examples (neither of these are V63s but they do have walnut wings, trust me ).

I must admit my ignorance regarding what is a 1piece or 2piece neck.

I know what a "Neck through" and a "Set neck" is......but I don't have a clue as to what the above construction types are. Would someone please 'splain this???? And, how do you identify these????
What do you look for????


Lefty4003s8

We are talking about the main neck section, the piece that runs the whole length of the bass; a "two piece" neck has a joint down the middle of the longest dimension of the neck, a "one piece" neck is like that on a 4001V63, for example, with no seam down the middle of the neck, as most easily seen from the back side of the neck. A 4001 with the shedua strip down it's length would be a "three piece" neck. Of course, a neck has more pieces, as the fingerboard is a separate piece, and perhaps, there may be more internal pieces, such as in the truss rod channels, but the main distinction is the largest, longest pieces.

jps wrote:"One piece" construction on all the 4001V63s, the shedua strip was only on the above mentioned 4001/4001S models. Of course, you do have the walnut headstock wings, as shown on these JG examples (neither of these are V63s but they do have walnut wings, trust me ).

I do trust you Jeff And the walnut wings can be noticed from where they are joined to the headstock, as lines very slightly visible on the JG finish. Only if you look carefully under light, though...

...correct, you can also see the difference in the grain in the surface of the JG finish.

jps wrote:...correct, you can also see the difference in the grain in the surface of the JG finish.

Hahaha. Can I trust you on that, too?

Ok...I think I get it now!!!

Thanks Jeff

Oh, and by the way....you can also see the Walnut wings on Fireglo basses.


(A more enlightened) Lefty4003s8

Lefty4003S8 wrote:Oh, and by the way....you can also see the Walnut wings on Fireglo basses.


(A more enlightened) Lefty4003s8

Is there a clear cut reason why Rick makes some necks one piece and others two? Any advantages or disadvantages? I have both and like both, just curious.

It's not random. It's just like the shedua strip, based on vintage. 4003s made after April 2009 have the two-piece neck because it was determined to be stronger and make basses easier to set up properly. My two-piece neck 4003 doesn't need much tension from the truss rods to stay dead flat.