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new ric coming in, what should i do.

#21
I have a 74' and it plays beautifully. I rarely have to adjust the neck ( old style rods;)). To me, I'd rather have the old style rods then the new ones. It's faster and easier to adjust them and they stay once you get them where you want them. This bass was modded a little when I got it and the tailpiece was lifted.

4001bodyshot.jpg



4001tailpiece.jpg




but other than the Schallers someone put on it I have everything back to original spec. Wavy Grovers are not cheap, when you can find them. New Ric tailpiece. It has been strung mostly with rounds in the 20+ years I've had it and the neck is straight and flat and the action is low. Sounds incredible with Blue Steels on it.


DSC01463.jpg
 
#22
Ric5 said:
Congrats on the new Ric. It will need a setup when you get it. Learn how to adjust the truss rods, and the bridge. Also the nut on new Rics is usually cut too high. Then you need to learn how to adjust the pickups.
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I HAVE to add my 2 cents here....being a Ric user for many decades....

Be very careful when learning the truss rods....remember...SLOWLY...1/4 turn at a time....give the guitar a chance to settle in....


And, welcome to the wonderful world of Rics!!



*EDIT* If you DO decide to remove the PUP cover check these guys out - I swear by mine!!

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#29
I have a '79 4001 and a '09 4003. I haven't had any issues with either. Just set it up and play it. My only complaint was the metal surround on the bridge pickup. If you remove the pickup cover and play over the bridge pickup, the metal surround can cut your finger. You may need to file down the rough edge or find an older surround. I replaced mine with a surround from an '80's Ric with no issues.

Enjoy the Ric and get ready for some killer tone.
 
#33
there will almost definitely be tail lift. it's not a question of "if", it's "how bad". i don't mean to sound like a hater, far from it actually. i'm a longtime rick owner. in my quest to make my rick 4003 as useful and reliable as possible in the context of a modern band, i had to make a number of alterations. the most important was by far the installation of a Badass I bridge. if the stock bridge ends up being too irritating for you (as it was for me), i WOULD NOT recommend the hipshot replacement bridge. i tried it; the design looks very tempting but it has a number of flaws. the worst is that the string tension is insufficient to prevent the saddles on that bridge from wiggling around when you're playing aggressively. this is a totally bogus problem that no one should put up with. the Badass I is a great replacement, and there are a number of smaller bridge manufacturers that also have viable options.
 
#34
I got the Hipshot bridge because of tail lift, and it had the saddle wobble problem. I made some spacers out of a piece of old, single-ply, peel-and-stick pickguard material, and it now works fine. It was a pain in the @$$ though, and for what they charge, a glaring deficiency. I like it because it does fix the tail liftissue, but it doesn't need extra routing. Rics have a pretty high resale value, but it drops quick whenever wood is removed, or a mod is made that makes it difficult to return it to factory spec.
 
#36
Went through two brand new 4003 Rics a couple of years ago. Both had finish flaws around the bridge and both needed a good setup. I accept a slight volume difference between two pups but bass #1 just disappeared when I switched on the bridge pup so I lowered the neck pup pole pieces until the volume levels between neck and bridge were close (significantly lowering the bass' output in the process)

Bass # 2 had VERY uneven output between strings. That was fixed at the expense of raising the treble poles high enough that vigorous popping would let the strings hit the pole pieces.

Otherwise the rest of the build was superb on both basses. Many folks complain about the binding rubbing their right forearm but this was never an issue with me. I did find the Pickguardian pickup cover helpful in playing though I have since overcome the need to anchor my thumb somewhere.
Some seriously uninformed individuals may say that they're no good for slapping but that's a reflection of the player and not the bass.

Anyway, that's my Ric experience. I still GAS for them once in awhile but it's only because of how they look.
 
#37
ArduaVinco said:
I got the Hipshot bridge because of tail lift, and it had the saddle wobble problem. I made some spacers out of a piece of old, single-ply, peel-and-stick pickguard material, and it now works fine. It was a pain in the @$$ though, and for what they charge, a glaring deficiency. I like it because it does fix the tail liftissue, but it doesn't need extra routing. Rics have a pretty high resale value, but it drops quick whenever wood is removed, or a mod is made that makes it difficult to return it to factory spec.
Click to expand...

I pulled that clunky tailpiece off my '80 4001 about a month after I got it in favor of a BadAss II. I recently went to the Hipshot brass, and I'm very happy with it, too.

Other than that, the bass is the same as when I got it...perfect.
 
#38
UnderDogbassist said:
so wait, if i play with tail lift, will it damage the bass? what exactly does it do to your sound/playing? noob question but thats cuz i never really noticed/experienced a tail lifting bridge.
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Unless it is very serious tail lift,which is rare, it has no effect on the sound and no it won't hurt to play it that way and no Rickenbacker won't consider that a warranty issue.
 
#39
Tail lift can mean *a lot of lift*, which happens rarely and mostly to older models, or *very little to no lift*, which is much more common. Unless it's a noticeable phenomenon it's not worth worrying about even if you have a little going on. If it freaks you out get a 7-bolt tailpiece and replace it; that solves tail lift for good but of course people whined about the two extra bolts looking bad so RIC went back to 5.
 

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