Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Greetings, everyone.

I own a 2017 4003W, purchased new from Wunjo in London a little over a year ago. When I bought the bass, I asked for it to be set up with a low action. When I picked up the bass after it was set up, I noticed that the action didn't seem as low as I typically see on other basses (e.g., I own a Fender Jazz American Professional as well, and the string height is significantly lower on that instrument). I also noticed that there was some fret buzz around the 3rd and 4th frets, particularly on the E and A strings. I took the bass back for further setup work, but was told that the buzz and action were "normal for a Rick."

Fast forward a little over a year to now. I have become increasingly frustrated with the fret buzz and the not-so-low action. I decided to get a second opinion. I've heard the luthiers at The Bass Gallery in Camden widely praised, and I took the bass there for a setup. John, a luthier who builds new basses and has worked there for over 15 years, worked on my bass.

When I picked it up, he told me that he simply couldn't achieve a low action in setup because when he lowers the bridge further, the strings choke on the frets at the end of the fingerboard where the neck meets the body. He further said that when he tries to lower the action further, the buzz at the 3rd and 4th frets worsens. He noted that the neck is already very nearly dead straight, and thus that the truss rods don't need adjustment. He also said explicitly that adjusting the truss rods couldn't correct the two "high spots" on the fingerboard.

His conclusion is that the fingerboard itself is uneven--that it rises near where the neck meets the body, and also at the area of the 3rd and 4th frets. He told me that the only way to achieve what would widely been seen as a typical low action on this instrument would be for me to have a fret dress, which would compensate for the uneven height of the fingerboard by grinding down frets to achieve a uniform fret height.

I found this news most disheartening. From what I understand, the team at The Bass Gallery (where they make Sei basses) is of great expertise, and to be trusted. My impression is that manufacturing in 2017 at RIC is to extremely tight tolerances, and that a new instrument should not need a fret dress to achieve low action. Moreover, I've kept the 4003W carefully: it's been in my apartment in a climate-controlled environment the entire time I've owned it.

My questions to the community:

1) Would others agree that a 2017 4003W kept in climate-controlled conditions and treated with care should not need a fret dress to achieve a low action without fret buzz?
2) Is this unevenness in the neck/fretboard reasonable cause for me to make a warranty claim?
3) Would others encourage me to have the fret dress and "learn to live with" this guitar, or to look to exchange it under warranty?

Thanks!

-Brad

Lots of fretted stringed instruments (new or used, electric and/or acoustic, bass, mandolin, banjo, guitar, etc.) can and do benefit from a fret dressing no matter what the brand or price point. Get the frets dressed on the 4003W. I am surprised you would not have done so already. This is a pretty common procedure as part of tweaking the final setup. Individual luthiers may do such when building their instruments as they so not make massive quantities of them in a year, whereas in factory production thousands per year are made; fret dressing is a very time consuming job and would considerably raise the cost per unit to the end buyer. Just consider it as part of a normal setup when you first get a new, or used, instrument, if that is what is needed to achieve the desired action.

Perhaps, our "resident" luthier, Jim Merrill, can join in this discussion about fret dressing.

I'd simply try to exchange it at the original dealer. If they won't (like if it's got too much play wear now to be sold again as new) then maybe pursue the warranty option. I would not expect to have to do any work like that to a brand new instrument.

It sounds like your setup did not include having the nut slots filed deeper. Has anyone looked at the nut to see if it was filed deeper during the intitial setup?

aceonbass wrote:It sounds like your setup did not include having the nut slots filed deeper. Has anyone looked at the nut to see if it was filed deeper during the intitial setup?

I can confirm that the nut slots haven't been filed--not at the initial setup, nor at this one. I specifically asked the luthier this time about this. His response is that because I'm encountering buzz farther along the fretboard toward the body when fretting notes at the 3rd or 4th fret, the string height at the nut can't be to blame. Similarly, he mentioned that with the bridge lowered further, the choking of notes where the neck meets the body when fretting notes toward the headstock shouldn't have to do with the nut slot depth. This all made intuitive sense to me; does it to others? Thanks!

jdogric12 wrote:I'd simply try to exchange it at the original dealer. If they won't (like if it's got too much play wear now to be sold again as new) then maybe pursue the warranty option. I would not expect to have to do any work like that to a brand new instrument.

I would love to exchange it for another 4003W with a flat fingerboard. I suspect that my having owned it for over a year will cause the vendor (Wunjo) to balk at taking it back. It's not worn at all, in fact, but my sense of Wunjo is that they're likely to argue simply on the basis of length of ownership.

Interestingly, the terms of the RIC warranty outside the US (recall that I'm in London) state that the selling shop is responsible for handling warranty claims. So it'd be Wunjo I'd speak to for a warranty claim, too. I'm not entirely sure if they'd be more receptive to a warranty claim as opposed to asking for an exchange--on some level, they may view these as similar requests (since ultimately, they'd themselves probably need to seek compensation for the "lumpy neck" 4003W from RIC).

In other news, I spoke to Martin Petersen (the owner of The Bass Gallery, who is the maker of Sei basses) today. He said that he fully expected the current 4003W would play with a very low action without buzz after a fret dress, which costs GBP 75.

So in a sense, my choice is whether to spend my time and energy trying to get Wunjo to make things right (when they might, for example, themselves offer to do a fret dress gratis, as opposed to an exchange--that would be, after all, a reasonable remediation under the warranty), or whether to pay Petersen GBP 75 for a fret dress without any warranty discussion heartache, in the hope of getting the outcome I truly want: a nice low action 4003W.

-Brad

ask about the warranty and see what they say... if noting is offered or suggested or it looks like real work.... then off to the luthier!!! good luck with it. keep us posted.

I think that an uneven fingerboard is possible and even likely (particularly with the issues happening in within the first 5 frets), but do yourself a favor and make sure that you've also ruled out a "ski ramp" neck, which is a similar problem to an uneven fingerboard but could have other causes. These are easy to spot if you run a mechanic's rule up the fingerboard and watch the change in action. (It should peak at 12th-14th fret and plateau there, in my experience. On a ski ramp, it will start to go down around the 15th fret.)

This is not a common problem, but I have seen it on a handful of both Fender and Ric basses. With Fenders being bolt-on, the problem is a little bit easier to address, but still takes a skilled person to solve. With Rics, I tend to see ski ramps most associated with older basses, or among newer basses on models that were less dialed in compared to the 4003 (I spotted it on a couple 4004s before RIC transitioned them to the new 4003 neck).

That said... I suspect your luthier is right, it's the fingerboard. This was also a problem on my 2008 4003FL, and I had to have the fingerboard planed and refinished for a similar amount of money to what you're looking at. The problem on my bass was not severe so I think it was easy to miss at the factory, but it made it hard to play low tension strings like TIs (that freakin' .070'' A string...) without them buzzing out. I'm a perfectionist so I had to get it fixed. Getting the repair done made playing the bass a joy again, and I still consider it one of the best in my lineup.

I see no reason why you shouldn't ask your dealer to help you out with getting the fret dressing covered. No need for heartache here. Just ask, and see what they say. Your luthier should be willing to join in the discussion if need be, as he's looking at a potential sale here. On the other hand, consider making an exchange if you can. RIC QC is really, really good these days (in my experience) and it's possible you got the odd lemon.

One more quick note: I have found that eyeballing things while trying to establish what makes a good setup is really dangerous unless you have hundreds of hours of experience... using the numbers published by Fender as a starting point, I can generally diagnose what's a realistically good bass setup. (My 2015 4003S, which is a real gem, sets up perfectly with just a little less action and relief than the Fender bass setup numbers.) Obviously you have professional opinion here, so this comment doesn't directly apply, but down the road, consider using some objective metrics any time you're wondering if your bass is set up "right". (A mechanic's rule should be in every player's kit.)

Good luck!