Question for Rick 4003 owners

[Garret Graves]

@ssabass

It's the 5th fret harmonic.

That's why I tune with just the bridge pup on, cap out of the circuit.

Got ya, when I tune via harmonics, I'll be sure the bridge pickup is up. It is a strange phenomenon the first time you discover it. I know that some have ordered pickguards with an alternate neck pickup position, half inch or so off, but the route has to be expanded to allow the pickup to fit.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

@ssabass

It's the 5th fret harmonic.

That's why I tune with just the bridge pup on, cap out of the circuit.

The fifth fret harmonic is actually not what I'm talking about anymore. The dial is just weird. You can read the 13th post in the thread if you are curious about what I mean. And, ssabass, I'll check the knob screws.

 

[CGremlin]

You have to have 'harmonics issues', it's based on the location of the neck pickup- it is part of the design. If you SOLO the neck pick up and play harmonics on the 5th or 7th fret (I forget which, not near my bass) you will not hear the harmonic amplified at all, because the pickup is directly over the node

It's the 5th fret. On mine, the harmonics played there are noticeably quieter than those played on the 7th fret, but are still very much audible through the amp on all four strings - loud enough to be useful musically, at least. Might be that the magnet in my bridge pup is stronger than average. [shrug]

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

Ok, thanks to ssabass' advice on checking the screws on the knobs, I have fixed all knob related problems. I think I'm running out of things to worry about and ready to enjoy an awesome instrument!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I worked out almost everything and I'm now down to my last setup concern.

All the volume and tone knows are the same except one. For some reason the bass volume knob rotates quite a bit further than the others. For example, if all the other knobs go to 12 o'clock, the bass volume goes to 3 o'clock. The other weird thing about this is that once it goes past that position, it's as if it's ever so gently rubbing against something underneath.

When I solo the neck pickup and turn it, it doesn't feel like much is happening here. However, when I have both pickups on and I turn the bass volume past that threshhold, I experience a small dip in output. This is making me very uncomfortable.

Sounds like a loose pot. If you keep turning it, the wires leading to it will twist up and break. You may already have a loose wire, if so you may need to re-flow a solder joint or two. Very easy fix, take the knob off by loosening the setscrew, take off pickguard, and tighten nuts both sides of all the pots for good measure. Simple QC stuff that shouldn't happen on a new bass, but there it is. I wouldn't count on any help from the crack Ric QC department, just fix it yourself.

Edit:
Sounds like you fixed it, I'd tighten the pot nuts anyway, next time you have the strings off.