Fear of Heavy Gauge on a Rick 400X?

[CrashAlpha]

I use Elixir Nanoweb strings on my 2004 Rick 4003. 050 070 085 105.

I was afraid of putting heavy gauge strings on a Rick, which have a reputation for liking only flatwound, light strings. Of course, the Lee/Squire camp points out that the fact that you need RotoSounds to get their legendary tone. Then others come in with horror stories about fretboards popping off.

I went to the Rickenbacker.com forum and asked about this, and a few people said that this was solved with the Rick 4003. And then the Rick webmaster said,

A 4003 is perfectly capable of handling strings like these. That doesn't meant you won't have to make some adjustments to the truss rods, nut, and bridge, however, as these are all tension and size specific.

I set up my Rick nicely with these strings. I see now I have a bit of the infamous Rick tail lift, but since the strings have been on for a week and I just noticed, I doubt the strings are to blame. On the other hand, I was always suffering from my D string popping out of the saddle groove, and that seems to have stopped.

Interesting. I'm ready to close the truss rod cover and declare my experiment a success. I just wondered, does anyone have experience with this topic? Do you think Rick owners are too intimidated by their axes, or should they still be wary?

[Mastermold]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about string guage affecting the neck on a 4003, the necks are really solid. But bridge tail lift might be an issue. Most Rics have some lift--and it isn't a problem. But if it creeps higher then you'll have to come up with a plan B, like an aftermarket bridge or adding screws to the existing bridge to anchor it better. There are threads here on both options.

[CrashAlpha]

Is the tail lift is from the metal bending or the bridge lifting against the pull of the screws? If the metal is bending then solution would be a new bridge rather than more screws, wouldn't it?

[WaskoDS]

The tail lifting is happening where the bridge isn't screwed down.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by CrashAlpha

Is the tail lift is from the metal bending or the bridge lifting against the pull of the screws? If the metal is bending then solution would be a new bridge rather than more screws, wouldn't it?

Well the screws seem to work. Check out Ric5's comment in post #12. He converts his Rics to 5 strings and uses two extra screws to anchor the tail. The neck handles the extra B string no problem:

Ric 4003 bridge

[Ric5]

Fear of Heavy Gauge on a Rick 400X?

I put 5 strings on a 4 string Rick with no problems. So if the 4003 can handle 5 strings it can handle any 4 string set you use.

[CrashAlpha]

I'm sold. Love the all-black on top.

I put the heavy strings on as part of a remedy for a problem with uneven volume with the Seymor Duncan bridge pickup (i bought the bass used with this mod). The E & A strings were noticably louder than the D & G. I radically slanted the S/D pickup (as per S/D recommendation) and switched from medium to heavy Elixirs as the only difference was the gauge of the D & G. Then I had to adjust the truss rods - and everybody's like... "oooh, don't adjust them yourself - Rick necks are made with fairy-spun glass that only the anointed may adjust, take it to a qualified luthier. And even then, make sure you find one that's grauduated from Hogwart's School of the Rickenbacker Arts..."

And then of course, people chimed in about how even changing string gauges was dangerous. Ok, the Rick is an uncommon bird, but I wanted to put this idea to bed that they are magical creatures that dissolve in the rain if you do so much as put Rotosounds on them.

Thanks very, very much for the reassurance.

So far, my baby's fine and all my other basses are jealous of the time I've been spending fawning over it.

[bassmachine2112]

The neck on my 99 Rick is the most stable neck on all my basses.
Don,t worry.
I do all the work myself so no worries.
Plug it in and play-knock yerself out

[rekesbass]

don't worry about it....especially the '04 necks,they are the thickest of all the different neck profiles..you could put bridge cables on it and it would be o.k.

[Tarrbot]

To re-emphasize Ric5's statements, they are capable of taking the 5 strings. I've had some heavy gauge strings on my 4003S/5.

The difference on that bass, and I believe Ric5's basses, is that they have 2 extra screws on the tailpiece to hold it down.

Worse case scenario is to put two more screws in it or replace it with a different one that is capable of withstanding the tension.

The neck is fine, though.

[Floyd Eye]

The reputation Rics have for not liking heavy gauge strings is highly overstated. I have a 74' 4001 strung with heavy gauge Rotos and my neck is beautiful. From what I understand the 4003s are even more stable.

Watch that tailpiece though.