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How Exactly Has Rick Quality Went Down

#61
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#67
Nah. That would be pretty special luck; most of the basses I have owned over more than 4 decades had a dead spot somewhere on their necks, in varying degrees of deadness. Same with a whole lot of other basses I have played, not to mention the many threads on TB relating to the subject. Can you let us know what basses you have played, this would be very enlightening to those of us that would like to have basses made of wood that are totally devoid of dead spots? Even my ZON basses with CF necks (three of them) had small, barely noticeable, but definitely there, dead spots.
 
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#69
True confessions - in 1976 I moved from a 1972 Jazz Bass to a Rickenbacker that my singer at the time happened to own. The jazz bass was riddled with dead spots on both the G and D strings - it was unfixable and my band got so tired of it they made me sell it. The singer's Rick was a nice one, and unknown to me, the Rick was slightly shorter scale and due to that fact - it felt much more comfortable to me than the Jazz bass ever did.

I wanted my own and he didn't want to sell me his fireglo. We were in the process of being signed and there was a lot of noise about the band at that time in DC. I called a couple of buddies at Chuck Levin's and told them I was looking for a mapleglo Rick. They told me straight up that even then - the quality was all over the place and if I could wait a day or two they would bring all the mapleglo's down from the warehouse and make sure they were playable and I could have my pick. I was thrilled and a few days later I went in and spent an afternoon playing them all.

Must have been 9 or 10 and 4 or 5 were simply flawed. Mostly unacceptable dead spots in the necks and blemishes in the finish, but also the shoddy workmanship was represented - as mentioned in these threads - in various descriptions. The other 4 or 5 were all pretty nice. What we marveled at was how different they all felt, especially in the width and thickness of the necks. I ended up choosing the one with the widest, thinnest neck and it was a real beauty. Really perfect.

But I must say, it is still amazing to me that even 40 years ago they had a big reputation as having sloppy workmanship and marginal quality control. But if you can find a NICE one, definitely an instrument you will fall head over heels for.

PS My name is Rick and I refuse to spell it Ric for that reason.....:):):):):)
 
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#70
BassHappy said:
True confessions - in 1976 I moved from a 1972 Jazz Bass to a Rickenbacker that my singer at the time happened to own. It was a nice one, and unknown to me, the Rick was slightly shorter scale and due to that fact - it felt much more comfortable to me than the Jazz bass ever did.

I wanted my own and he didn't want to sell me his fireglo. We were in the process of being signed and there was a lot of noise about the band at that time in DC. I called a couple of buddies at Chuck Levin's and told them I was looking for a mapleglo Rick. They told me straight up that even then - the quality was all over the place and if I could wait a day or two they would bring all the mapleglo's down from the warehouse and make sure they were playable and I could have my pick. I was thrilled and a few days later I went in and spent an afternoon playing them all.

Must have been 9 or 10 and 4 or 5 were simply flawed. Mostly blemishes in the finish, but also the shoddy workmanship was represented - as mentioned in these threads - in various descriptions. The other 4 or 5 were all pretty nice. What we all marveled at was how different they all felt, especially in the width and thickness of the necks. I ended up choosing the one with the widest, thinnest neck and it was a real beauty. Really perfect.

But I must say, it is still amazing to me that even 40 years ago they had a big reputation as having sloppy workmanship and marginal quality control. But if you can find a NICE one, definitely an instrument you will fall head over heels for.
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I bought my first new bass late '70s, an Autumnglo 4001.

Same story, was a newish store trying to make s reputation with instruments that weren't as commonly sold next door at Steve's.

The buzz was all about Music Mans and Rics, the word on Fender was you bought s vintage one if you wanted to go Fender.

Anyway, he took out his whole stock and we both played all the ones whose colors I liked.

We both thought the one I picked was a standout. Also the thin wide neck and the finish was flawless. A lot of the others had cosmetic issues and bits falling off like the knob discs.

He threw in a set of Roto Piano sound rounds, set up the bass for me with a super flat neck and it's been a dream to play since, I've never even touched the setup and it plays beautifully.

I can't get the sound to work for me though, it sits in its case mostly.
 
#71
Jeff Scott said:
Nah. That would be pretty special luck; most of the basses I have owned over more than 4 decades had a dead spot somewhere on their necks, in varying degrees of deadness. Same with a whole lot of other basses I have played, not to mention the many threads on TB relating to the subject. Can you let us know what basses you have played, this would be very enlightening to those of us that would like to have basses made of wood that are totally devoid of dead spots? Even my ZON basses with CF necks (three of them) had small, barely noticeable, but definitely there, dead spots.
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Sure Jeff

Not really interested in re-kindling an old worn out topic, a search on TB or the web will reveal resource after resource, commentary upon commentary. But since it has been brought up.....

And of course, you deserve the opportunity to provide your obligatory defense, which I am sure you will. I have this pet peeve - long scale players love to talk about how ALL basses have dead spots, and it simply isn't true. It's definitely true on many long scale basses, I owned one with horrible dead spots. I am talking about noticeable, audible dead spots - the kind where you can't even get a nice four count sustain at a ballad tempo from a note. It's a myth that is perpetuated in these threads time after time.

So please, when you are in New York, come on over and play my medium scalers. I have 20 with three more on the way, 11 of them Fenders. If you happen to be one of the few willing to admit that it matters to you - you will be delighted and amazed at the lack of dead spots and wolf tones on mine. They are clean as a whistle. i will be happy go put the coffee on.

From a Fender Tech article:

"Bolt-on 34" scale electric basses seem to be the most prone to dead spots. Dead spots are caused when a standing wave is created in the neck at a certain resonant frequency. This issue is usually blamed on the instrument having a bolt-on wooden neck but the issue has also shown up in neck through basses and on graphite necks. They are far from being exclusively a Fender issue as it happens in all brands and in all price ranges. It seems to almost never happen on a short scale bass. As was mentioned, you will often find a dead spot living around the fifth fret of the first string on a 34" scale electric bass, but they can happen anywhere in playing range. It depends on the resonant frequency of the neck."

More on my site here: Primer on Deadspots...
 
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#72
Hah! Small world. Chuck's is an institution. I used to hang there all the time. It's been over 10 years since I've lived up there now.

I bought my 4001 Ric at Venemanns in Rockville in '78. I was lucky. I didn't know anything, and I picked a "good one", which I still play today.
 
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#73
Goatrope said:
Hah! Small world. Chuck's is an institution. I used to hang there all the time. It's been over 10 years since I've lived up there now.

I bought my 4001 Ric at Venemanns in Rockville in '78. I was lucky. I didn't know anything, and I picked a "good one", which I still play today.
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Yup

Paul Reed Smith was actually on staff as a guitar tech/repairman at Chuck Levin's around that time. I spent a good amount of time in Veneman's too - both were good stores!
 
#74
Jeff Scott said:
Nah. That would be pretty special luck; most of the basses I have owned over more than 4 decades had a dead spot somewhere on their necks, in varying degrees of deadness. Same with a whole lot of other basses I have played, not to mention the many threads on TB relating to the subject. Can you let us know what basses you have played, this would be very enlightening to those of us that would like to have basses made of wood that are totally devoid of dead spots? Even my ZON basses with CF necks (three of them) had small, barely noticeable, but definitely there, dead spots.
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Three Washburns, two Squiers, and various Schecters.
 
#75
OP's grammar aside....I have an 83' 4003s bought from a local player who seriously needed money....it had issues many and varied..all of which I fixed over time including the dreaded tail lift.

ricinternet.jpg


flash forward to 2015.....just recently acquired a 2014 Mapleglo which is simply perfect across the board....not a single issue anywhere....in fact its one of the best built and finished bases I own....

20140729_173800-20150305-075533_1_zps2dwopltf.jpg


and judging from all of the other older Rics I have had my hands on over the years I would have to say that their quality has actually gone up, not down!

and judging by what I have seen hanging on the walls of various music stores over the years it seems that just about every musical instrument manufacturer has QC issues.

Case and point I recently played one of the newer Fender American special honey stained basses hanging on the wall at my local megastore....It was a very nice bass, however its twin hanging right next to it was one of the biggest P.O.S. I have ever seen come from a Fender factory.

and I have also had that experience with, Dean, Peavey, G and L, Traben, ESP, Gibson, Ibanez, etc. etc. etc.

bottom line I dig Mine!
 
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#76
Snakeman1066 said:
judging from all of the other older Rics I have had my hands on over the years I would have to say that their quality has actually gone up, not down!

and judging by what I have seen hanging on the walls of various music stores over the years it seems that just about every musical instrument manufacturer has QC issues.

Case and point I recently played one of the newer Fender American special honey stained basses hanging on the wall at my local megastore....It was a very nice bass, however its twin hanging right next to it was one of the biggest P.O.S. I have ever seen come from a Fender factory.

and I have also had that experience with, Dean, Peavey, G and L, Traben, ESP, Gibson, Ibanez, etc. etc. etc.

bottom line I dig Mine!
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This is true ... Rick quality is good and their quality has gone up ... But if you hate Ricks then this is just meaningless ... you will be driven to find something wrong with them and post it here ... I have some real complaints with Rickenbacker about design choices so I modify the basses to fit my needs.
 
#77
I'm not sure how dead spots relate to build quality. What can a builder do differently in terms of fit and finish to NOT have a dead spot? "Hey Murray, before you ship that bass be sure to buff out those dead spots!"
 
#79
Black Bart said:
Had no idea the quality had been going down. But, if this is the case I can now see the allure of the fakes - same quality at a fraction of the price.
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The only allure of fakes is that they're less expensive. Even with some of the QC issues people often complain about, real Ricks are head and shoulders better than the fakers. The only exceptions are some lawsuit era basses, which can give a real Rick a challent.
 
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