Loved Chuck’s. Bought many amps there. I took my 4001 there in the 70’s and had its tune up done and new Roto 66’s put on. I can’t remember the main man in the shop, but we “fought”. about putting the Roto’s on every time it was in the shop. “Too much stress on the neck”. Never said a word about the fret wear “issues”. I still put them on. I bought the Ric like many players in that era, thanks Chris Squire. And wanted that Roundabout tone like many did. Great store. You could pull out as many amps and cabs as you wanted and try them all day long.
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Rickenbacker quality control issues?!
- Thread starter cb4
- Start date
Loved Chuck’s. Bought many amps there. I took my 4001 there in the 70’s and had its tune up done and new Roto 66’s put on. I can’t remember the main man in the shop, but we “fought”. about putting the Roto’s on every time it was in the shop. “Too much stress on the neck”. Never said a word about the fret wear “issues”. I still put them on. I bought the Ric like many players in that era, thanks Chris Squire. And wanted that Roundabout tone like many did. Great store. You could pull out as many amps and cabs as you wanted and try them all day long.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Believe it or not, for a year or two - sometime in the mid-1970's - Paul Reed Smith was the head guitar/bass repair tech at Chuck's. He was adamant about never using RotoSounds on a Rick, I heard that lecture myself several times. It was for the exact reason that you describe, too much stress on the neck....
I bet it was Paul...
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Having looked thru many gear stores back then, WMC and Manny’s had to be the best stocked stores I’ve been in. WMC once tried to sell me a purple Marshall Bass head. Said it was a unit from Deep Purple’s order and Roger Glover wasn’t going to use it so……. True or not , good story. Still didn’t buy it. Bought the John Entwistle rig….. Sunn coliseum head with 2 4x12’s or 10’s. I don’t remember truthfully
Hmmmm…… Rotos put too much stress on a solid maple neck through with two trussrods and a 3/8” thick fingerboard? If so, that would be a serious engineering design flaw, cant think of any other contemporary basses that woud apply to. My Fender Jazz was overall thinner than the Ric with a one piece neck, single rod, and 1-1/2” nut width, and I had that thing strung with Roto 66 for years with no issues. Virtually every Ric player I knew changed to Roto Swing 66 chasing that Geddy/Squire clank. I never bought that line. Rotos DID chew up the soft fretwire they used in the late 70’s, I suspect that was the real concern. I was given the obligatory “don’t use Rotos or you’ll void the warranty” lecture by the salesman at E. U. Wurlitzer Boston….. as he happily rang up the strings and my 78’ Jetglo. After three years of normal play with Rotos, the frets were toast, part of the reason I sold that 78’ 4001. I’ve heard the same complaint from others who owned late 70’s Rics, so it was a Thing. The bass came with flats that were almost certainly HIGHER tension than rounds so…. Yeah. String tension had nothing to do with it. They switched to harder fret wire and that was it for the “string tension” problems. They use some kind of standard nickel silver wire now, it holds up fine with rounds.
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People tend to believe this “fact”, because most Labella and Fender steel flatwounds were indeed high tension sets. The stock Rickenbacker/Maxima flats were nickle, and very low tension…..and a lighter gauge than the standard Roto Swing Bass set Chris used.
Rotos also definitely tore up frets, and not just on Ricks…..
Which for about a decade and a half, was a geat time to shop for 4004s.
People are starting to wake up a bit towards them finally….
QC-wise, the dozen or so I’ve owned over the years have had very few issues. The worst was some not so great finish adhesion on a 2015 Jetglo Laredo I used to have.
I’ll never get why the 4004 didn’t take off more, such great looking and playing basses. I do love the look of a bound Ric, but they can be uncomfortable at the forearm. People won’t buy what they can’t play though, I literally never, ever, saw a 4004 hanging on a wall for sale, and have only seen a couple on stage in the past 30 years. “Rare” doesn’t cover it. Maybe they’ll reissue them someday, at least as limited runs like the 4005.
I don't know why none of the 30+ Rics I've bought over the years since 1977 have had any QC "issues".....I musta been lucky!
Yeah, me too. I've owned 9 different Rics in my life, and have played many, many others. None of them have had any of the issues some people attribute to them, except one that had some tail lift (easy fix), and one that had finish issues (some lift by the bridge). No biggie. I also own a 4004, which is the best sounding, and most comfortable Ric I own. Too bad it's a 4 string.
*edit - there were several 4004's in my local Sam Ash while they were in production. @Gilmourisgod needs to get off that little peninsula he lives on and into the real world, and maybe he can see some real bass guitars
I've had a bunch through my hands, some earlier 2000s have had that awful chipping by the bridge.
Almost every new one has an obligatory minor blem of some sort but zero major issues
Almost every new one has an obligatory minor blem of some sort but zero major issues
I've never even seen a 4004 except in pictures, I think their using humbuckers may have been a turnoff to some people, not that they can't sound good.
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I've had one, beautiful bass but had a Louisville slugger attached to it
Yeah, I bought a new 4003S last year and the neck is kind of thick, I left it back in the States though and haven't had time to get used to it, I love my 4001.
Almost every modern Ric I've had is super thick
The 3503 I picked up has a nice 70s 4001 profile
I have two Rics and neither have issues (aside from a repaired crack from an improper truss rod adjustment on the 4001). Routinely read of horror stories about the company's shoddy QC and policies but have to experience them firsthand. I do know that these instruments vary greatly over the years despite being the same continuous model line. It is important to try out a number of them and compare to find the best fit for you. Fenders are more consistent. A B neck P bass is almost always a comfy fit. Some may not be, they may have issues or be boat anchors. Rics are more like mass produced custom shop instruments. Each is unique. Sorry this one isn't up to snuff.
Same thing with me....been playing the damned things since the late 60s. Never had a problem.
I had one experience with a 4004 for sale at the big L&M in town, must have been around 2014-15. It was a Snow Glo, and just hanging on the wall when I went in. I actually had my 4003 with me at the time because I was amp shopping. Got to try them out side by side! It was hard to like that 4004 because it was not set up particularly well (high action, but the nut was also cut too high, which made that bad action even worse). I also found the tone incredibly dark compared to my bass, but I've heard that can be as much about the wiring, rather than the actual humbuckers themselves
