Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Greetings, everyone.

I bought a beautiful new 4003 (manufacturing date in January 2017) in walnut from Wunjo Guitars on Denmark Street in London. Wunjo includes tech work on all instruments they sell for two years, and Seb did an initial setup for me the day I took the bass home, with the caveat that the neck and strings might move as I played the guitar over the first couple weeks or so.

After two weeks, I found that the A string began buzzing against the pickup cover if I dug in as I plucked it. I know some prefer to remove the pickup cover, but for now I'd like to keep my 4003 as close to factory as possible...and I hardly think people remove the pickup cover *because* they are trying to avoid the strings striking it.

I tried lowering the string height at the bridge, to a point where the E and A strings were both at about 3/32". But that results in buzzing of the A string when plucked open or fretted on the first four or five frets.

I then of course wondered if the neck might have back bow, or need just a *tiny* bit of relief (though I have read dozens of times that 4003 necks should be "dead straight"). When I place a machined 24" straightedge against the frets, there's about a business card's worth of a gap between the 9th fret and the straightedge, which I believe is within the range of what is recommended.

I've tried increasing the relief a little more (1/8th of a turn on each truss rod) to see if that eliminates the buzzing against the frets. It does...but that always results in buzzing against the pickup cover when I pluck the A string digging in fairly firmly.

Essentially, I'm not able to find a degree of relief of the neck and a string height setting that avoids *both* fret buzz *and* buzz of the A string against the bridge cover when digging in. As the guitar is brand new, I'm forced to conclude (most likely) that I'm doing something wrong or (much less likely, I hope) that something about the bass is defective.

I took it back to Wunjo, where Oli (who was in to replace Seb that day) took a look and reduced the relief on the neck back to about a business card's width's gap between the 9th fret and a straightedge, and changed the string height. I still have fret buzz on the A string, unfortunately. Oli offered that "Ricks are known to be a little clangy in this sort of way." But that's not the impression I get on the forum.

So my question: can anyone recommend a luthier in the London area who knows the modern 4003 well and can get my setup to a point where there is neither fret buzz nor buzz against the pickup cover? I've found the following people, but am not certain about their experience with Rickenbackers and setting up the neck to be "dead straight". Recommendations based on experience with them most welcome!

Graham Parker (Lewisham)

LA Guitars (Haim Algranati and David Lipkin, North London)

Andy Gibson (Denmark Street)

Bass Gallery (Martin Petersen, Camden)

Thanks very much,
-Brad

Why not just raise the pickup? The handrest will raise, too.

Hmm. My impression is that the bridge (treble) pickup is already raised about as high as it will go. I believe that turning the large screws in the pickup cover clockwise raises the pickup. When I attempt to turn these screws clockwise I meet extremely strong resistance, to an extent that I fear damaging the treble pickup assembly. I had presumed that this strong resistance is a sign the pickup is up as high as the assembly allows.

Thanks,
-Brad

Maybe try a slightly heavier gauge string?

Maybe try a slightly heavier gauge string?

I've got the factory (new, Rickenbacker-supplied) strings on the bass right now. I'd hope they'd be the right gauge to allow a buzz-free setup. Sensible?

An update: it is indeed possible to raise the treble pickup further--I was being a little too timid about the torque required to do so.

And just as suggested (thanks!), raising the treble pickup raises the cover, as they are bound together in the treble pickup assembly. By raising the treble pickup, I find I can increase clearance of the pickup cover above the strings such that "digging in" on the A string doesn't cause the A string to strike the pickup cover. That in turn lets me raise the string height at the bridge enough to avoid nearly all fret buzz with a "nearly dead straight" neck.

BUT...raising the treble pickup height enough to create this much clearance of the pickup guard above the strings causes the treble (bridge) pickup to increase in volume significantly above the volume of the bass (neck) pickup, at equal pot volume settings for the two pickups. While I realize I can adjust the pickup volume pots to achieve the balance I'd like, having the treble pickup dominate the bass one so strongly with equal volume pot settings feels like an unusual setup to me. I'd prefer that the two pickups be much more balanced in volume at equal volume pot settings, as they were in the 4003's configuration as I received it.

...so I'm more or less back where I started when I began this thread: short of raising the treble pickup so much that I cause it to strongly dominate the bass pickup, I haven't been able to set up my new 4003 such that the neck is "nearly dead straight" without suffering either fret buzz (with low string height at the bridge) or buzz of the A string against the pickup cover.

I'd still be grateful to hear anyone's positive experiences with a setup of a Rickenbacker 4003 by any of the London-area luthiers I list above (or recommendations of other 4003-savvy luthiers in London). Because I'm new to the 4003 (and a novice bass player), I'd like to start off by having someone who knows the 4003 well validate for me that my 4003 is in good working order, and show me what a good setup of my 4003 looks like (so I can learn to replicate it myself).

Thanks,
-Brad

The pickup cover is just a piece of chromed plastic, it doesn't serve any shielding function. It looks cool cosmetically, but if it's causing you trouble, take it off, as many players do. I find it covers the "sweet spot" I like to play in. A company called Tubeampology makes an ABS plastic piece, either black or chromed, that infills the space around the pickup so you don't catch a finger in it. Looks good too, IMO. They also have a couple of options of raised or depressed thumbrest.
http://tubeampology.com/2501.html

I know it is a hassle, but if you need to have the pickup cover (guard) on, you can reassemble the unit so that the guard stays at maximum height and still be able to raise or lower the treble (bridge) pickup. When it is assembled so that the guard floats with the pickup, the springs (that the screws go through) in the assembly are placed on top of the unthreaded flanges in the guard and below the holes in the surround. The springs are needed to keep the pickup at the level you choose. To get it so the pickup moves independently of the guard, reassembly the assembly with the springs BENEATH the cover flanges. Then, when you turn the screws, you're raising/lowering the pickup only and the guard stays put at the maximum height. Well, maximum is a relative term; if you want it even HIGHER than maximum, reassemble with the guard placed on TOP of the surround. It's kinda unsightly, but some players like it that way.

One of the nice qualities of the old short cover is that it was mounted above the springs and stayed put at the ideal height.

I'm surprised you can't get a happy medium, but then I don't know how you play and most of my Rics have been old with fairly low output treble pickups. I play very lightly so don't get much string movement and I like to have the pickup cover close to the strings.

If you need someone to look at in London I'd go to Martin Petersen at the Bass Gallery. I've known Martin since '96, he does the work on all my basses and indeed built me 2 Custom Sei basses.