Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Do neck profiles on 4004s vary a lot?

I tried out a used 4004Cii at Guitar Center in Manhattan today, and the neck was pretty huge! It reminded me of my old '53 Precision Bass, although it wasn't quite that large. The depth of the neck was a lot more than I expected.

Interesting, it was a Mapleglo with a walnut core. 'Twas a very nice looking bass!

What year was that Cii made? The older ones had a neck blank that is wider than the current ones.

I had a Blueburst 4004Cii made in November 2008 that had the largest (circumference) neck of the 20 Ricks I had at the time. The newer ones should be much smaller and now have the same taper as the stock 4003 necks.

The original 4004C had a very different profile from the current models also.

My 2008 4004L has a neck like a might redwood compared to almost any other bass I've played, including modern P Basses. Lots of real estate for the strings and great tone, but not as easy playing without some warm up time.

Not surprisingly,this was a 2008. Maybe it's just that year.

It was hefty, big, huge, seriously in need of a diet.

I had a '02 4004 CII, and a '08 4004 Laredo. Both had very wide necks.

What was the reason for the wider taper necks on the early 4004's?

Probably just to have the 4004 be a little more different from the 4003. If cross-sectional area can be equated with strength, the somewhat wider taper near the body made up for the shallower (top to bottom) area there. That 2008 I had wasn't wider than the then-standard 4004 neck, but it was deeper.

My 2004 Laredo has what folks would call a "chunky" neck, especially compared to my 75 4001. When I had a custom made I wanted to mimic the Laredo neck, and took a lot of measurements from many different basses.

Comparing the Laredo to the 4004, here are the major differences:

1) The Laredo neck shape starts out as a "D" shape and then transitions to a "C" shape at about the 4th fret. The 4001 remains a "D" shape until after the 1st fret, so in essence you never feel that transition.

2) The Laredo has a thickness of 24 mm up near the 17th fret (where the neck shape is not longer affected by the neck heel), and decreases to about 23 mm by about the 12th fret, and stays constant from there. The 4001 is a consistent 22 mm thick all the way down.

3) I did not detect much width difference at the nut - both are just about 1 5/8" wide, with the strings 7/16" apart center line to center line.

4) The Laredo is a bit wider at the 20th fret (can't remember and I have not found the file I kept the data on my old computer), but I do recall that the string spacing at the bridge was slightly different - the 4001 has a 23/32" spacing at the bridge, the Laredo 3/4". This will make a very, very slight difference in string spacing at the higher frets, but probably not enough for anyone to notice. Of course my Laredo has the older bridge and you can adjust that string spacing there.

Did they vary over the years? You bet!
Did they vary even the same production year,probably,and yes.
2008 seems to be the year of the fattest,roundest,neck profile.
I have a '98 Ci,which has a really nice shallow neck,an '04 Cii that has a wider,shallow feeling neck,and an '04 Laredo that has a thick,deep more rounded neck profile. (I love all 3 of them,so they fall into my preference range i guess.)

My 2015 4004CII is a bit on the chunky side compared to my '91 V-63 or '72 4001. Not huge but a bit thicker. Still a nice bass.

LenMinNJ wrote:..and the neck was pretty huge...

My Cii is just like the one in your pics, a 2008 with the old ABM bridge and a great big neck. But I don't dislike that; I quickly got used to it. Feels right for the great big sound of the bass.

bluewhale