2025 Rickenbacker 4003 Neck G string side twisted and deformation

[SU XIAO]

So you are saying that the neck should be twisted , except the other way around ?

Generally speaking, the gap on the bass side should be larger than that on the treble side.

 

[Water buffalo]

It's an illogical twisted; it would be understandable if it happened on the bass side.

As previously mentioned, a wooden neck is going to move somewhat over time. A multi laminated neck is better, but even that will eventually settle in to where it's going to stay (hopefully).

Wood does what it does. It's pretty much a crap shoot. One of my favorite basses that I built does exactly like your bass, but worse. Honestly, it doesn't bother me. The bass plays great.

I'm sure if you looked at several basses, you would see the same. When I see a neck that has more relief on the bass side, I tell my customers that they got lucky. Lol.

If you are having playablity issues below the 11th fret, some light fretwork may solve you problem.

Each to their own, but that doesn't sound like a huge issue to me. No disrespect intended.

 

[JMacBass65]

oh christ, not another Ric issue...

hope you get it sorted under the warranty.

No. More like "another Ric issue" that isn't actually an issue. There are TONS of those.

I am in China, a country not covered by warranty........ Okay, I accept this harsh reality. I'll probably sell it at a low price before it gets worse. I'm really disappointed with the quality of this brand...

Your loss. Good luck in your search for absolute perfection. Hint, it doesn't exist.

 

[elgranluis]

I am in China, a country not covered by warranty........ Okay, I accept this harsh reality. I'll probably sell it at a low price before it gets worse. I'm really disappointed with the quality of this brand...

How much money are we talking about ? This might be a great opportunity to buy a perfectly healthy bass from someone that wants to see an issue where there clearly isn’t one.

 

[SU XIAO]

Does it stay "warped" if the truss rod is adjusted? Maybe back off all the way on the truss rod and re-adjust. Might settle back in straighter.

yes It's still bent. I've already had a repairman check it.

 

[Makten]

The different curvatures on both sides of the neck can cause buzz when playing the area behind the 11th fret in the high register of the G string.
In a properly tuned instrument, the neck should have a much smaller bend in the middle on the high-pitched side than on the low-pitched side. [A normal neck should have almost no gaps.]

"Can" cause buzz doesn't really matter. DOES it cause buzz on your bass?

 

[FRoss6788]

It's an illogical twisted; it would be understandable if it happened on the bass side.

Why?

The D string has the most tension of them all, and in fact the G string usually pulls more than the E string, so....

 

[SU XIAO]

"Can" cause buzz doesn't really matter. DOES it cause buzz on your bass?

Yes, and fret is also uneven.

 

[SU XIAO]

As previously mentioned, a wooden neck is going to move somewhat over time. A multi laminated neck is better, but even that will eventually settle in to where it's going to stay (hopefully).

Wood does what it does. It's pretty much a crap shoot. One of my favorite basses that I built does exactly like your bass, but worse. Honestly, it doesn't bother me. The bass plays great.

I'm sure if you looked at several basses, you would see the same. When I see a neck that has more relief on the bass side, I tell my customers that they got lucky. Lol.

If you are having playablity issues below the 11th fret, some light fretwork may solve you problem.

Each to their own, but that doesn't sound like a huge issue to me. No disrespect intended.

Okay, thank you for your suggestion. I will try it.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I see nothing looking like a problem there. Certainly not a twist shown in those pictures.
If you want to document the twist in pictures you need to take a picture up the side of the neck from
the bridge end. All problems will be easier to visually see and adjust to.

I would argue that it looked like that on day 1 when you got it, you might have not noticed.
Consider for a moment the diameter (gauge) of each string. And as mentioned wood moves seasonally, especially now in the Northern Hemisphere.

It seems to be what you're looking at, and having issue with, is that distance from the outside of each outside string to the edge of the fingerboard?

Also another thing to consider is that you can compensate the string height at the bridge end. Another option would be to cut the slots to where you want them.

If it bugs you so much simply replace the nut and cut the nut slots where YOU think they should go.

 

[mikecd1]

My jazz bass is strung with flats and the gap on the G string is noticeably greater than that on the E string. I attribute that difference to the string tension of the D&G strings of 100lbs to the string tension of the E&A strings of 85 lbs. I don't know if the OP would get a balance gap if he tried buying a set of balanced tension strings, but I'd venture that differences in string tension are the root cause of the difference in gap between both sides and not sure if a double truss rod would effectively balance side to side tension.

 

[SU XIAO]

I see nothing looking like a problem there. Certainly not a twist shown in those pictures.
If you want to document the twist in pictures you need to take a picture up the side of the neck from
the bridge end. All problems will be easier to visually see and adjust to.

I would argue that it looked like that on day 1 when you got it, you might have not noticed.
Consider for a moment the diameter (gauge) of each string. And as mentioned wood moves seasonally, especially now in the Northern Hemisphere.

It seems to be what you're looking at, and having issue with, is that distance from the outside of each outside string to the edge of the fingerboard?

Also another thing to consider is that you can compensate the string height at the bridge end. Another option would be to cut the slots to where you want them.

If it bugs you so much simply replace the nut and cut the nut slots where YOU think they should go.

I see nothing looking like a problem there. Certainly not a twist shown in those pictures.
If you want to document the twist in pictures you need to take a picture up the side of the neck from
the bridge end. All problems will be easier to visually see and adjust to.

I would argue that it looked like that on day 1 when you got it, you might have not noticed.
Consider for a moment the diameter (gauge) of each string. And as mentioned wood moves seasonally, especially now in the Northern Hemisphere.

It seems to be what you're looking at, and having issue with, is that distance from the outside of each outside string to the edge of the fingerboard?

Also another thing to consider is that you can compensate the string height at the bridge end. Another option would be to cut the slots to where you want them.

If it bugs you so much simply replace the nut and cut the nut slots where YOU think they should go.

No, the treble side is indeed slightly curved towards the bass side. I've already had a repairman check it. The height of the G string at the 12th fret is 1.75mm. I think I'll have a repairman sand the fret behind the 12th fret.

Thank you for your suggestion.

 

[SU XIAO]

My jazz bass is strung with flats and the gap on the G string is noticeably greater than that on the E string. I attribute that difference to the string tension of the D&G strings of 100lbs to the string tension of the E&A strings of 85 lbs. I don't know if the OP would get a balance gap if he tried buying a set of balanced tension strings, but I'd venture that differences in string tension are the root cause of the difference in gap between both sides and not sure if a double truss rod would effectively balance side to side tension.

The string size is the standard 45-105.

 

[groovaholic]

The D string has the most tension of them all, and in fact the G string usually pulls more than the E string

I was about to make this point - most standard bass string sets do not have equal tension; the strings that are higher in pitch are also higher in tension.

Here's a common set, showing the DG side of the neck under 90.9 lbs of force while the EA side of the neck is under 74.8 lbs of force:

These strings exert a total tension on the neck of 165.7 lbs.
54.8% of that tension comes from the D&G strings, while 45.2% comes from the E&A.

If your bass is strung similarly, the 9.5% greater force on the DG side of the neck could reasonably be expected to cause slightly greater relief on the DG side of your bass' neck.

Before you give up on the bass, you might want to re-string with a set that has balanced tension across all 4 strings.
You probably need to assemble a custom set to get that result and doing so is an extra effort.

But if you are selective enough to be concerned about a .08mm difference, balanced tension should be a worthwhile experiment for you.

 

[SU XIAO]

I was about to make this point - most standard bass string sets do not have equal tension; the strings that are higher in pitch are also higher in tension.

Here's a common set, showing the DG side of the neck under 90.9 lbs of force while the EA side of the neck is under 74.8 lbs of force:
View attachment 7394607
These strings exert a total tension on the neck of 165.7 lbs.
54.8% of that tension comes from the D&G strings, while 45.2% comes from the E&A.

If your bass is strung similarly, the 9.5% greater force on the DG side of the neck could reasonably be expected to cause slightly greater relief on the DG side of your bass' neck.

Before you give up on the bass, you might want to re-string with a set that has balanced tension across all 4 strings.
You probably need to assemble a custom set to get that result and doing so is an extra effort.

But if you are selective enough to be concerned about a .08mm difference, balanced tension should be a worthwhile experiment for you.

I'll try switching back to the original strings. Thanks

 

[shwabilly]

When I first clicked on this thread, I was expecting to see something a lot worse. A difference of 0.08mm is not something I'd define as problematic. As others have stated, this is wood we're talking about. It's probably settled now.

I own several basses, including a 2020 Ric 4003w. I've had to make a small truss rod adjustment once in the 5 years I've owned it, and it was pretty early on. I live in southern Ontario in Canada, and the temperature fluctuates on a daily basis. Due to that, a little adjustment on some of my basses is required from time to time.

I certainly wouldn't notice the difference the op is concerned about. When I make adjustments to truss rod, I just go by how it feels and plays. That's the defining factor for me.

 

[mikecd1]

The string size is the standard 45-105.

Looks like at least about an extra 10 lbs of string tension on the treble side of the neck with that gauge so it seems normal to have some extra relief on that side. You should be okay. You could look for balanced string tension sets like LaBella makes, but it ain't no thing but a chicken wing.

 

[SU XIAO]

I think you are looking at a very minor difference. The neck is made of wood. It will change with either temperature or humidity and a change of .00315”, which is less than the thickness of an average sheet of paper, could occur with very little temp or humidity change. I’m sure Rick uses CNC machining to cut out their necks and I wouldn’t be surprised if .00315” is less than their tolerance for a neck. Once again, you are dealing with a product that was once growing vegetation. It doesn’t behave like steel or aluminum. You could send it back, but the replacement might have a greater difference in neck relief on the “E” side than on the “G” side. I don’t think I own a bass that doesn’t have difference in relief on opposite sides of the neck. I also don’t believe I could consistently measure a difference of .00315” with a feeler gauge between a fixed object (fret) and a movable object (string) which appears how you measured it in the pictures. Did you measure it with a precision straight edge?

No, what I mean is that if it's a very straight neck, the gap on the treble side should be almost nonexistent, or about one-third the curvature on the bass side, roughly 0.1mm. At least that's how it is on my Fender and Musicman basses.

 

[SU XIAO]

When I first clicked on this thread, I was expecting to see something a lot worse. A difference of 0.08mm is not something I'd define as problematic. As others have stated, this is wood we're talking about. It's probably settled now.

I own several basses, including a 2020 Ric 4003w. I've had to make a small truss rod adjustment once in the 5 years I've owned it, and it was pretty early on. I live in southern Ontario in Canada, and the temperature fluctuates on a daily basis. Due to that, a little adjustment on some of my basses is required from time to time.

I certainly wouldn't notice the difference the op is concerned about. When I make adjustments to truss rod, I just go by how it feels and plays. That's the defining factor for me.

No, what I mean is that if it's a very straight neck, the gap on the treble side should be almost nonexistent, or about one-third the curvature on the bass side, roughly 0.1mm. At least that's how it is on my Fender and Musicman basses.

 

[micguy]

3 thousandths of an inch difference in relief from one side of the neck to the other isn't much of a "warp" - that's pretty benign. With the truss rod, you can adjust either side to be whatever spec you want, the other side will just be a tiny bit off that number. Your E side currently has about 12 thousandths relief - that's a pretty decent setup. I aim for about 10 when I do setups, which would put you G side at 13 thousandths. OK.....

Seriously, this is not a big deal. I do a lot of setups for folks, and that small of a difference is well within what I'd consider normal.