Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I got my 4004Cii BBR back in January of 09 (it's either a November or December 08 build) and I have never been able to get it playing like I hoped it would. I love the looks of the bass, but haven't ever been able to get it to play without buzzing. I swapped the strings to a set of Fender rounds and finally, a couple of weeks ago, sat down and really tried to set it up correctly. In the process, I'm working on learning Joey's string tapping method for determining neck bow.

I determined I had back bow in the neck so I added a bit of relief and lowered the action a lot. I wound up adding a little bit of relief to get rid of some buzzing and it seemed to work okay. I played it at church on Sunday and it felt pretty good, but when I played it earlier this week, it had terrible fret buzz again. I took some of the relief back out of it (since it didn't help with the buzzing long term) and raised the action. For right now, that seems to be doing okay, except the E string has a bit of buzz that I think I can live with.

Has anybody else experienced anything similar? Part of the problem is probably that I'm used to the really low action on my 79 4001 and won't be able to replicate that on much of anything. If this is going to be a "high" action bass, that's okay, but it does make playing higher on the E string a little more difficult.

I'm finally coming around to this bass and hope I can finally get it setup where it doesn't annoy me.

I'm sure if you keep working at the setup it will come together for you. I had a 4004Cii that took awhile to finally settle but when it did it played perfectly.

Ryan,

Mine did the same when it first arrived.

Joey suggested "RESETTING THE NECK", if you do a search you might find some mention of it.

Basically, we backed off ALL the tension off the truss rods, removed the strings and put it in the case for about 3 days.

We then put the original factor strings back on, adjusted truss rods, which was to barely set them on so they wouldn't rattle, and I was fine for years. NEVER had another issue with it, but I ONLY used the factory strings on it.

The factory strings seemed a bit loose to me. The strings on the MID I bought not too long ago feel loose, too. I haven't tried the new ones yet. If this doesn't work I'll reset the neck and see what happens. I may even try the new factory strings. Hey, it couldn't hurt. Thanks!!

Most of my 4004s have been easy to setup but I had one that took a little work, like your BBR, but after some frustration it settled in and is a great player. I disagree on only using the factory strings.......get it setup with whatever strings you prefer. Starting from scratch with the tension off the neck and tweaking in tiny steps sounds like a great way to go.

I also recommend getting a known straight edge, one you know is totally flat. Using the string fretting method is good for a quick check, or if you have a really great neck that gives no problems, but if you're having a continuing buzz issue as you are a flat will show if there is still backbow or a high spot/fret(s) (it will "rock" down the length of the neck). Really helps sort out the issues. I will say once you get the neck to behave and how you want it, you will love that bass. The right setup always makes the difference between aggravation and bonding with a bass.

I have one of those fancy notched straight edges, but Rickenbacker had to be different and couldn't use a normal scale length

nukebass wrote:I have one of those fancy notched straight edges, but Rickenbacker had to be different and couldn't use a normal scale length

So, you're implying that what Leo came up with is normal?

nukebass wrote:I have one of those fancy notched straight edges, but Rickenbacker had to be different and couldn't use a normal scale length

It's the top of the frets that matter not the fretboard itself.

My Mapleglo 4004Cii was set up just about perfectly (for me) from the factory, but my trans. purple Cii (no longer owned) required quite a bit of tweaking, including removal of the bridge "spacer plate" to get the action low enough, but that bass had sat in the store for almost a year & also had dead strings when I purchased it. Interestingly, my Mapleglo did not come with a factory installed bridge spacer plate, and this is one of the very few I've seen that didn't.
As far as neck relief goes, I've found that I require just a hair of relief on my Ric necks to avoid string rattle, necessitated by my rather strong right hand attack, similar to Mr. Entwhistle's. I found the 4004 to be a bit dull & dark sounding for my purposes until I began using stainless steel D'addarios on it, and now I absolutely love the way it sounds.

I have DR sunbeams on my cii,and the laredo i got from forumite John Luke was strung with circle k strings,which i think sound and feel fantastic. I am not sure how much to attribute to the strings versus the very different basses,but the laredo is Very lively sounding compared to the cii.

I played it again this weekend and it seemed to do okay. Here's hoping...