Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was just wondering whom amongst our brave forum bajonauts might have put large strings on their 4001? I ask because I am toying with the idea of stringing up my 4001FL for some good ol' rock-n-roll, with Circle K rounds. I know the fingerboard takes rounds just fine, but I don't want to put too much stress on the neck. The reason I have these concerns is because the truss rods are currently, and as far as I can tell may have always been, just barely tighter than slack. And yet the neck is literally straight. A set of TIJF344s on this neck causes incurable backbow. So my inclination, to get the slightest bit of relief going on and get away from the excessive "mwah" sound, is to put some large strings on the neck... but I don't want to push it. I feel like once I start pushing 50 lbs/string I'm in really dangerous territory, but I know some people do this all the time. I also feel like I wouldn't the sound of a string that taut.

Who has experience with this sort of thing? Any other stubbornly straight 4001 necks people have dealt with? What was your solution if you wanted to add a tiny bit of relief but the rods were already so slack they couldn't help?

My 1974 4001 can take any kind of strings in the strenght 45-105 , however in her first life she had a neck break, probably due to ignorance of her first owner. However, even before Jingle-Jangle refinished her, her neck was stable for ever !

I may be showing my ignorance, if I am please explain. Here goes, Since we put our 4001 necks into the plane we want, could you bend in a little relief you desired then set the truss rods?

My 70's Rick basses have not all been similar in what their necks seem to be able to withstand. I've had a couple weak ones that had relief with the TI jazz flats (and too much relief with anything else), and a few that are strong enough to have little or no relief with 45-105 Ernie Ball Slinkys.

It sounds like yours is pretty strong. My $.02 is to try the strings you want and see how it reacts.

You could put the strings on and keep it tuned down a few semitones, see how the neck and rods are reacting after an hour or so, adjust and gradually tune up if all looks good. If there is any doubt it's better to play it safe because if the neck bent badly all at once you might not easily get it straight again.... But then again, by the sounds of it your neck sounds like it could be stronger than average and might be just fine, as many are.

I'm with Jeff. Your neck appears to be a strong one so I would not be afraid of trying it. The 3-piece necks are really stronger and stable. Of course you'll have to set the rods but it really sounds like they are up to the task.

T.A.R. wrote:I may be showing my ignorance, if I am please explain. Here goes, Since we put our 4001 necks into the plane we want, could you bend in a little relief you desired then set the truss rods?

I just can't envision how this would work without any assistance from the rods. Maybe with big strings some relief will appear that I can work with.

A dead straight neck sure is hard to play rounds on! Lots of noise and so much mwah it would make Jaco embarrassed. Flats seem to do fine though.

The funny thing is that I bought PH5916 in January of 1977 and never paid any attention to what string size or tension I was using until I joined this forum. Now I pay attention although my neck is as straight as a string (thanks Mr. Hall).

I never thought about any of these issues until I joined the forum either; I never even thought about what roundwounds to put on my 4001 back in the day; I just bought the Rotos with John Enwistle on the package posing with his ugly angular alembic bass and plucked away.

I'd prolly just string them on another Rick bass-(you have a few, yes?), since even the newest 4001 basses are getting close to 30 years in age, but that's just me, and our fellow bassmen are mostly giving you a thumbs-up.

cassius987 wrote:.....A dead straight neck sure is hard to play rounds on! Lots of noise and so much mwah it would make Jaco embarrassed. Flats seem to do fine though.

mwah? Is that the same as fret buzz?

I had used the Rotosound Swing Bass RS66 set on my first 4001 without any problems. I eventually stopped using them because I had bought a few sets which I was dissatisfied with. Not because they had too much tension for the neck.

coolhandjjl wrote:mwah? Is that the same as fret buzz?

No, it's a sound that resembles the onomatopoeia of the word "mwah". Just listen to some classic Jaco and you'll hear it. It's a fretless electric bass sound that's somewhat ubiquitous. I hear it sometimes on Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz albums, I think he's a pretty big fan of electric bass. Here's "Come On Come Over", listen to how even though he's playing quickly the notes seem to "sing" a bit on their own... this is mwah that I can appreciate, not over-indulgent or distracting. There are much more extreme examples!



EDIT: Wow, you'd think sharing a YT video would be simpler. Well, above is now just the plain URL.


* Moderator edit: It IS easy! There, I fixed it for ya! - Joey

A different take on Mwwwwwwaaahhhhhhhhhh:

Jeff, that is more like my understanding of mwah. Your new fretless has it is spades. Hey, if I can get it out of that bass, it MUST be easy to get.

I was just playing the fretless Elfin; all you have to do is breath on the strings to get a great tone out of it.

Another, great, version of Come On, Come Over: