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Is it sacrilege to put flats on my 4003 Rick ?

#81
SouthPawGary said:
So, im 62 years old & have a mint 86' Rick 4003 mapleburst that i ordered brand new back in "The Day". Back then it was perfect for me playing heavy rock/metal & a little prog stuff. when i returned to bass playing after a layoff during the young kids years, I discovered I really like 5-string basses & now mostly play a Carvin LB75 & a G&L L-2500 Fretless. Anyway, I've been playing in my sons "neo-soul / R&B" band for the last year & its been awesome. Obviously everyone is drawn to the Rick & my son (& others ) would like me to play it in this band. I know, it really isnt the bass for that genre, but if i play the neck pick-up, keep my fingers accordingly & roll off the highs, its not bad. All that to say, i bought the 4003 because it was designed for roundwounds (dbl. trussrods) & its had nothing but Rotosound RS-66LD's on it since day 1. I think I would consider playing it, but the flats would help soften the brighter edge Ricks have. What do you think ???? Also how much neck adjustment do you think it would need ?It's always been unbelievably stable & ive never had to touch the trussrods, ever . thanks
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It’s sacrilege to put flats on anything. 😂😂😂

Okay, I’ll leave. 😉
 
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#82
JC BASS 91 said:
Not at all!

I have D'Addario Chromes on my '74 4001 and I absolutely love them on it.

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That's perhaps the only string I didn't try on my 4001. People used to warn me about the neck buckling, not to back into anything. I have seen Ricks where the headstock broke off but never a broken neck. Anyway, it made me paranoid. No whirling dervishes on stage when I played the Rick.
 
#84
BassicJazzy said:
That's perhaps the only string I didn't try on my 4001. People used to warn me about the neck buckling, not to back into anything. I have seen Ricks where the headstock broke off but never a broken neck. Anyway, it made me paranoid. No whirling dervishes on stage when I played the Rick.
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I tried LaBella Low Tension Flats, some Rotosound Flats and two different gauges of the Chromes before I settled on these. I monitored the neck and bridge for a long time after that, watching for any warning signs and never saw any issues.

1776095703201.png
 
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#85
JC BASS 91 said:
I tried LaBella Low Tension Flats, some Rotosound Flats and two different gauges of the Chromes before I settled on these. I monitored the neck and bridge for a long time after that, watching for any warning signs and never saw any issues.

View attachment 7473535
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I have ECB81s on my two fretless. Same gauge, perhaps more tension though. One is a SR370EF with pencil thin neck, and they aren't giving me any problem. I have LTFs on my P5R and I think they sound a little dull, but good for a P-bass sound.
 
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#90
Oddly enough, my 78' 4001, bought brand new in 1978 for $450 with HSC, CAME with flats.... and a lecture about how I'd void the warranty if I put rounds on it.... as the salesman rang up a set of Roto Swing 66 stainless rounds, which is what everyone (including me) wanted because... Chris Squire. As my fingers get old and creaky, I'm finally building a bass I'm going to put rounds on, a 4005-ish inspired hollowbody.
 
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#91
I love the sound and feel of flats on a Rick (mine was a 4003S).

I’ve always thought that sound was like a meatier Fender Jazz-like tone.

I started out trying to get the McCartney Wings Over America tone, but was never very successful at that. Instead I found the “fat Jazz” tone described above (which is a cool and unique sound all its own).

I think you’d get a great soul sound out of your Rick with flats. I liked the one I got.
 
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#93
Gilmourisgod said:
Oddly enough, my 78' 4001, bought brand new in 1978 for $450 with HSC, CAME with flats.... and a lecture about how I'd void the warranty if I put rounds on it.... as the salesman rang up a set of Roto Swing 66 stainless rounds, which is what everyone (including me) wanted because... Chris Squire. As my fingers get old and creaky, I'm finally building a bass I'm going to put rounds on, a 4005-ish inspired hollowbody.
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That is absolutely correct! You would void the warranty. The 4001 wasn't designed to handle the tension of Rotosounds or round wound strings. That changed with the introduction of the 4003 in 1980.
 
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#94
No offense, but that line from Ric about "too much tension" on 4001 necks was purest horsepucky. Flats are generally HIGHER tension than rounds, and everyone I knew with a Ric immediately put rounds on them, to no ill effect on the neck itself. Any bass that couldn't handle standard Rounds tension would be seriously understrength, particularly with TWO trussrods. The real problem they were dodging was the FRETS. They were using some species of soft fret material that rounds ATE in about three years on my bass, it's pretty well documented by other late 70's Ric owners too. Like most 70's Ric owners, i realized that the "warranty" i was voiding was effectively worthless, as it started date of manufacture, not date of sale, so it had nearly expired the day I bought it, and required the Owner to pay one way shipping to CA for ANY warranty repair. They still have that crap "warranty", BTW, but now they have changed to one trussrod, standard nickel-silver fret wire, and there is no warranty prohibition on rounds. The necks on current 4003 have returned to 70's era thin profile, are shipped with rounds, and like magic, no issues.
 
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#96
Gilmourisgod said:
No offense, but that line from Ric about "too much tension" on 4001 necks was purest horsepucky. Flats are generally HIGHER tension than rounds, and everyone I knew with a Ric immediately put rounds on them, to no ill effect on the neck itself. Any bass that couldn't handle standard Rounds tension would be seriously understrength, particularly with TWO trussrods. The real problem they were dodging was the FRETS. They were using some species of soft fret material that rounds ATE in about three years on my bass, it's pretty well documented by other late 70's Ric owners too. Like most 70's Ric owners, i realized that the "warranty" i was voiding was effectively worthless, as it started date of manufacture, not date of sale, so it had nearly expired the day I bought it, and required the Owner to pay one way shipping to CA for ANY warranty repair. They still have that crap "warranty", BTW, but now they have changed to one trussrod, standard nickel-silver fret wire, and there is no warranty prohibition on rounds. The necks on current 4003 have returned to 70's era thin profile, are shipped with rounds, and like magic, no issues.
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Yes, I had rounds, flats, tapes, pretty much every type of string I could get my hands on. My '72 4001 did not come with an owner's manual (many of my basses did not) and I had no idea there was even a truss rod or two in the bass (pre-internet, who knew?), never touched the neck, and it never moved. I was in a crappy college band but probably never played the bass enough to get into fret wear issues. Everything about the bass was still mint, except for some belt rash, set-up was still good, when I donated it to a music school in '84.
 
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#97
JC BASS 91 said:
I tried LaBella Low Tension Flats, some Rotosound Flats and two different gauges of the Chromes before I settled on these. I monitored the neck and bridge for a long time after that, watching for any warning signs and never saw any issues.

1776095703201.png
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Been looking at these for my 4005-ish build. Would you describe these as "bright flats"? The string gauges look right up my alley, and I use EXl220's on all my other basses.
 
#98
Gilmourisgod said:
Been looking at these for my 4005-ish build. Would you describe these as "bright flats"? The string gauges look right up my alley, and I use EXl220's on all my other basses.
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Well, they aren't SUPER bright, but they are definitely brighter than either of the Labella's I have used (DTFs and LTFs). I love the tone on my 4001, especially with bridge pickup capacitor. Even with flats, it sounds just like a Ric should sound...at least IMO.
 
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#99
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