Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'd like to hear what everyone's favorite Rick bass neck is.

Try if you can to narrow it down to one, and a specific bass if there is one. Ex: "my old December '74 4000", not "I think 4003s have good necks".

I would also like to hear any additional thoughts if you feel the need to qualify it with a statement. Ex: "the back was very flat, but it had a nice fullness to the edges".

Thanks!

My favorite for feel is my current '69 4001. Tiny and gracefully rounded and not as thin and flat feeling, front to back, as the 3 '71's I've had (though they were comfortable too). My favorite for being rock solid is my '93 V63. It's on the big side relative to other Ricks I've had, but it's like a rock and I believe it helps the sound a lot.
I've gone through a "handful" of Ricks over the past 5 - 6 years, but I don't see these going anywhere soon.

Well,i am somewhat picky about the feel of necks,to the point that i shy away from all necks with binding regardless of size. The "for example" you gave is interesting,because it is my '74 4000's neck that i would have to say is my favorite. Not only is it slender side-to-side,but it has a rather shallow "D" shape that is really fast and easy to play. But i also really like the completely different feel of my '04 laredo and '04 cii,which are not exactly alike,too. ( the cii feels slimmer,overall.) both of those necks are wider,but also have the slimmer D shape which seems to appeal to my left hand more. For contrast,i have a harder time with fender P and J necks,which usually are either more C shaped or too narrow at the nut,respectively. My frankenjazz bass has a hybrid size St.Blues neck that doesn't fan out or thin down as much as traditional Fenders. Errr,umm,sorry,i appear to be going on quite a bit more than intended...caffeination has been achieved this morning.....

Not at all Woody, thanks for that! The '74 4000 example was not a coincidence I'm sure...

One word you used is "wider". Going forward, please specify if wider means "wider nut" or "fatter/chunkier". Thanks.

Joey's black (of course) bass that he brings to local jams is the easiest bass I've ever played. I'm not a student of model numbers and options, so I'm not sure sure what model it is. It's been a while since I played it, but as I recall, the neck on that bass is perfect (at least for me).

Thanks Tom, I believe you're referring to his early 80's 4001S. Thanks.

I've played that one,too,it is very similar feeling to my 4000. maybe the neck is a tad thicker,but not by much. ( it's a set-neck,too!)
And my "wider" reference to the 4004's was for "side-to-side",not depth.

Nothing can compare to my old Jan. '69 BG. Wide, flat and that huge old radius. Of the current batch, the Mar. '74 WBT is the best.

While I prefer my 4003 as a whole, my 4001C64 has the better neck (for me). I haven't measured them, but the C64 neck feels just a tad narrower from bass side to treble side, and it has a D shape that is slightly more shallow than the 4003. The neck is super fast!

my '64 RM. like butta !

My '74 4001 - low profile "D" or "]"... next comes my '93 4004L almost the same shape as the '74 4001 with a tad wider fretboard.

My '86 Shadow has a nice , slim neck and is a joy to navigate.....but a close second is the '67 4005....both are slim at the nut up to the 7th fret or so.....

My '09 4003 is slim AND flatter on the bottom than any other basses I've owned....nice to play , not necessarily better, just different.

74 sure seems like it was a great year for necks...
my 74 4005 is the smoothest in my bunch.

I used to think the only neck I liked was my old '74 4001 (that I had to sell ), but when I came across my '76 4001, it had, as far as I could tell, a neck that was exactly the same and so was perfect.

I then got a 2009 4003 that had what I'd call a baseball bat neck, I couldn't stand it so I returned it to the dealer.

Since then I got a 4004Cii, which was a bit wider, and I thought I might hate that too, but somehow, it's wider but not a baseball bat and I've come to like it a lot.

And then (RAS sets in...) I've since gotten a few more 4003's, 1984, 2008, 2009, 2010, all of which have great necks, though different in small ways. I suppose maybe I've just learned to like different necks now and not have to have one particular shape. But I still think my '76 is probably the best by a bit (and probably my '74 if I still had it)...

The 71 FG 21 fretter that used to belong to Kevin Teed is my favourite neck, not just of those I own, but have ever played...so fast it's unbelievable.