I Was a Rick Virgin...

[sonic 7]

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

...Until now. I never owned one, never played one, never touched one, but that's all in the past. I just acquired a 2013 4003 Mapleglo. So far I'm digging it with it's Rickenbacker quirks and all. I had to get a treble bezel because I don't like pickup covers and there's pretty sharp edges around the chrome trim on the bridge pickup, but I anticipated that. I also adjusted the nut under the E and G strings and deepened the groove on the E saddle to lower the action.

So far, just having fun with it.

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RE: Treble Bezel

I agree, those pick up covers should be eliminated, but I guess it's a link to Rickenbacker past, the horseshoe pick up design. My cover came off the day I bought it. My thumb is permanently deformed from having it jammed down in that hole from gigging a lot back in the 70s. That bezel could have prevented me from having hitchhiker's thumb for a lifetime.

Congrats on the bass.She's beautiful!

 

[Koshchei]

Congrats! Rickenbackers are oddballs, but if they work for you, they REALLY work for you. I can't really play anything else at this point.

I actually had a nightmare the other day about having traded my autumnglo to somebody, and my subconscious was so horrified that I woke myself up to hard-reset the dream. I don't think I've ever had a dream like that about a musical instrument before.

 

[mojomike001]

It remains to be seen how much I actually take it out to gigs. I've become kind of spoiled by my lightweight Fender clones that seem to almost play themselves, but I know I'll enjoy playing the Ric around the house.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Congrats! Rickenbackers are oddballs, but if they work for you, they REALLY work for you. I can't really play anything else at this point.

I actually had a nightmare the other day about having traded my autumnglo to somebody, and my subconscious was so horrified that I woke myself up to hard-reset the dream. I don't think I've ever had a dream like that about a musical instrument before.

Odd ball? Having owned a early 70's 4001, I prefer to call them a different road traveled. It's had a great voice, and I found mine extremely playable. I've read a lot of negative comments about the poor design of the bridge, but I never had an issue with it. The only issue I had with it over 34 years was the toggle switch somehow got a wad of lint stuck in the contact points for the bridge pickup making it somewhat intermittent. I never had to adjust the truss Rod, the neck remained stable. Fit and finish was as good as it gets.

Over all, just a great instrument, just don't expect it to do Fender or Fender on steroids. That was never the intent in the first place, like a lot of other basses on the market today.

Congrats on yours.

 

[Pet Sounds]

...Until now. I never owned one, never played one, never touched one, but that's all in the past. I just acquired a 2013 4003 Mapleglo. So far I'm digging it with it's Rickenbacker quirks and all. I had to get a treble bezel because I don't like pickup covers and there's pretty sharp edges around the chrome trim on the bridge pickup, but I anticipated that. I also adjusted the nut under the E and G strings and deepened the groove on the E saddle to lower the action.

So far, just having fun with it.

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Congratulations! You have a beautiful instrument there! I love Fender-style basses, too, but I'm glad to have my Rics.

 

[lizardking837]

...Until now. I never owned one, never played one, never touched one, but that's all in the past. I just acquired a 2013 4003 Mapleglo. So far I'm digging it with it's Rickenbacker quirks and all. I had to get a treble bezel because I don't like pickup covers and there's pretty sharp edges around the chrome trim on the bridge pickup, but I anticipated that. I also adjusted the nut under the E and G strings and deepened the groove on the E saddle to lower the action.

So far, just having fun with it.

View attachment 4471295 View attachment 4471296 View attachment 4471297 View attachment 4471298

Awesome bass! For me Ricky's are either basses I fall in love with instantly and won't stop playing or I can't stand and don't want to play longer than a minute or two.

Also, what's a treble bezel.

 

[bassdude51]

(IMO) Ric's sound GREAT! (They just look bad!)

 

[mojomike001]

Awesome bass! For me Ricky's are either basses I fall in love with instantly and won't stop playing or I can't stand and don't want to play longer than a minute or two.

Also, what's a treble bezel.

When you take the pickguard cover off of the bridge pickup, it leaves kind of a hole around the pickup and some sharp edges around the chrome frame around the pickup. The Treble bezel fills the hole and eliminates the sharp edges.

 

[bstringrandy]

I really enjoy my 2018 4003W! It has a personality all its own and I find the vintage toggle feature very useful. The pickup cover had to go and I went with a bezel that had the thumbrest. I also found the neck pickup a little anemic and it had that 60Hz hum in certain live situations. I put in a Nordstrand "Nordenbocker" replacement and viola! It really opened up the response, balanced the output between the 2 and eliminated the hum! I haven't had any issues with the stock bridge yet. I keep it strung with Ric strings which can be hard to find at times.

 

[mojomike001]

I really enjoy my 2018 4003W! It has a personality all its own and I find the vintage toggle feature very useful. The pickup cover had to go and I went with a bezel that had the thumbrest. I also found the neck pickup a little anemic and it had that 60Hz hum in certain live situations. I put in a Nordstrand "Nordenbocker" replacement and viola! It really opened up the response, balanced the output between the 2 and eliminated the hum! I haven't had any issues with the stock bridge yet. I keep it strung with Ric strings which can be hard to find at times. View attachment 4472590

That's a beauty.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

I put in a Nordstrand "Nordenbocker" replacement and viola!

Watch it, buddy. This is a bass forum.

 

[Koshchei]

Watch it, buddy. This is a bass forum.

You know what? I'm going to let you have this one. You induced a minor stroke with that stinker, and that has to be worth something.

 

[WillyW]

View attachment 4471878First thing I thought of when I read the thread title…

 

[woodyng2]

I've been looking at those in the aluminum version. My only hesitation is that I may want to occasionally engage the mutes on the original.

The aluminum hipshot is the way!
As far as muting occasionally goes, best to learn the "instant mute" method of using your palm.
(Which the hipshot makes 1000000000 times easier.)
Even if you don't go the palm muting route, you can much more easily (and quickly) shove a piece of dampening material under the strings like every Fender player does.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Did Rick James actually ever Play that white Ric, or was it just a photo shoot prop that looked bitch'in with the red boots? It's surprising how often Rics show up in images of people who don't seem to actually play them, most notably in the recent Manga incarnations.

 

[WillyW]

Did Rick James actually ever Play that white Ric, or was it just a photo shoot prop that looked bitch'in with the red boots? It's surprising how often Rics show up in images of people who don't seem to actually play them, most notably in the recent Manga incarnations.

I have seen a picture of Billy the Kid holding a ric...

 

[mojomike001]

The aluminum hipshot is the way!
As far as muting occasionally goes, best to learn the "instant mute" method of using your palm.
(Which the hipshot makes 1000000000 times easier.)
Even if you don't go the palm muting route, you can much more easily (and quickly) shove a piece of dampening material under the strings like every Fender player does.

After you get it and install it, I'd like to know what sort of range of string height adjustment you have. One of the first things I had to do on my stock bridge was to deepen the groove on the saddle to lower the action on the E string.

 

[woodyng2]

After you get it and install it, I'd like to know what sort of range of string height adjustment you have. One of the first things I had to do on my stock bridge was to deepen the groove on the saddle to lower the action on the E string.

I've had mine on my 4000 since around 2008.
I couldn't tell you about the technical aspects, (like the actual height measurements), but I don't play basses with high (or even medium) action.
I've had Chromes, Maximas and Pyramid flatwound sets, as well as various roundwound and pressurewound
sets on it over those years, all requiring changes in the bridge setup. I like trying out different strings,
so when I change, I have a new setup done by guitar techs.
The bridge has never given me a moment's issue, and has been rock steady with all the changes.
I recently had the idea to decorate it to kind of look like a traditional Rick toothy bridge.