Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Anyone know if heavy gauge roundwound strings are okay for the 4001's trussrod & neck?

Does anyone ever use the bridge mute?

That's only two.

Sorry, had to do that.

a) yes, with a proper setup
b) ten people says John Hall.
In reality it's more like 11 to 12

And something like 50 who have tried it once... for a few minutes...

wim wrote:Sorry, had to do that.

a) yes, with a proper setup
b) ten people says John Hall.
In reality it's more like 11 to 12

Actually, JH said four, and he didn't ask me, so that makes five.

The Family Feud Survey I posted last week uncovered about a dozen more.

On my fretless 4001, it cuts the sustain to help the sonic characteristics further into the standup ballpark. Very cool effect.

wim wrote:That's only two.

Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wim...

What the neck on a 4001 can take depends on both the tension of the strings and the particular neck. Some could not handle heavy strings, most could.

My 1975 4001 was fine with Rotosound Swing bass light gauge (40-60-80-100) but I suspect that the regular gauge would put quite a strain on the neck and anything heavier would be out of the question for my bass. I did once put on DR Lo-Riders at 45-65-85-105 and they were slightly more than the truss rods could handle and so I immediately took them off again. Ric nickel 45-55-75-105 and D'addario XL nickel 45-60-80-105 are absolutely fine but this configuration does have lighter A and D strings (for more balanced tension). I should mention that I recently took the truss rods out and found that they were straight. After bending a considerable curve in them and putting them back in I'm finding that they now have MUCH more strength in them. Maybe they could now handle heavier strings but I'm happy with what I'm using now. If you are going to try a heavy set of strings I wouldn't tune them all the way up to EADG straight away but rather leave them at a lower tuning to start with and see how the neck responds, rather than bringing it right up to tension straight away and risking the neck.

I've used GHS medium boomers on my 70's 4001's since the 80's without a problem.

I must have an odd ball, because my 75 4001 holds up fine the the standard gauge Roto Swing bass 66's, the stainless steel rounds with the red silk- like the ones Geddy Leee uses on his Jazz I think

dricard wrote:I must have an odd ball, because my 75 4001 holds up fine the the standard gauge Roto Swing bass 66's, the stainless steel rounds with the red silk- like the ones Geddy Leee uses on his Jazz I think

No, I wouldn't say that's odd. I used those for years on my '74 4001 and on my '76 4001 too. I've even had a set of D'Addario Chromes on the '76. The ECB82 set with .050, .070, .085, .105 gauges which are perhaps even higher tension that the Rotosound 66LD's I've used for years (.045, .065, .080, .105). The '76 even has a repaired neck crack, but takes them all just fine...

Thanks to all for your answers - much appreciated!