Ric neck dimensions

[bongomania]

I've seen conflicting info about the neck dimensions (including but not limited to scale length) on Rics, and it appears that's because of changes they made over the years. Does anyone here have the lowdown on which dimensions were used in which years?

I'll check on Rickresource later, just asking here because I'm here all the time anyway.

 

[xsubs]

Hi Bongo
The scale length for 4000/4001/4003 basses has always been 33.25"
As for the other dimensions... there is a thread on the RRF named "Measure Your Girth" (no jokes please!) with info gathered from basses of '64 vintage to new basses, detailing measurements at the nut, 5th fret, 7th fret, 12th fret, etc...
Hope this helps
Sean

 

[RickenBoogie]

Yup 33.25 is prolly the only constant, other than skinny necks width wise. The real differences over the years has been depth, front to back. They got real chunky, like a P bass, from the early 80's to fairly recently, when it slimmed back down to 70's standards, more Jazz-like. Fwiw, what they're building now is solid and comfy.

 

[Ric5]

Rickenbacker used to say 33 1/2" but they changed the way they measure ... so the 4000, 4002, 4003, 4004, 2020, 2030, 2050, 2060, and 3001 all have 33 1/4" scale necks.

The difference is subtle but playing a 33 1/4" neck makes it a little easier to reach notes when compared to a 34" scale bass.

There were a few short scale 4001 basses made and the 3000 was also a short scale bass.

Also the typical 4001/4003 neck has less taper than a Fender style bass. Fender basses are typically narroower at the nut and wider at the body. The 2030 basses have a sweet neck that is really slim at the nut. They feel like a jazz bass. The necks on 60s Rickenbackers were a really shallow D profile that really feels good to your left hand.