In the same boat here! Congrats on the Ric. Mine's about 3 weeks too- Mapleglo, my first Ric.
One of the first things I did was slot the nut- from the factory it was ungodly high.
I'd say IMO, compared to Fender, there are things that are easier to set up, and there are things that are harder. On the Ric, the curve of the bridge matches the curve of the fingerboard, and two screws raise and lower the height of the strings- a nice, quick adjustment. On Fender, you have to profile the saddles to the fingerboard and raising/lowering is a one saddle at a time operation. That being said, IMO the Fender hi mass bridge has a better quality finish and casting.
My bridge saddles were cut off center, so I cut new slots in the center to perfectly align them. Some people here would have returned the bass for that visual violation.
I took the horseshoe cover off the bridge pickup, installed the aftermarket bezel. That process could have been easier, but no harm, no foul. Not a perfect fit, but looks and feels much better than an empty hole.
The biggest pain on the Ric- string intonation. The screws are notoriously hard to reach, and saddle travel is very meager. If you run out of travel, you are instructed to loosen all the strings, pull the bridge off the instrument and flip the offending saddle. I had to do that, and I was just 6 cents away from perfect intonation, but out of travel. I found another solution, rather than flipping the saddle- I swapped springs, noticing that some were shorter and compressed farther. It worked. But the Fender intonation is far far easier- good access and tons of travel on the saddles.
The double truss rod lore and horror stories had me scared, but with the 4003, they are a very easy and smooth adjustment. Older 4001's are a different animal altogether- so I have read.
Love the way the Ric sings at rehearsal and at home- very happy overall. I love how punchy it is. I'm hooked on the indescribable clarity and crispness, especially down on the E string, in the pocket. It has a presence there, a clarity that really makes it stand out. I'm still making little tweaks here and there. On my Fenders, I had them set and ready much quicker. Probably because the Ric is so different, WHEN I buy the next ones, I'll know what to look for, and can probably dial it in quicker.
G
What about it just clicked int place?
