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Delivery of my new Ric is delayed until tomorrow. I'm going to need a strap for it. Anyone here ever use the Rickenbacker vintage strap? Wondering how that feels.
Bummer.
UPS dropped off the 4003 Fireglo I ordered from Wildwood yesterday. First thing I noticed was the action was unusually high. I brought it to a local luthier with a lot of Ric experience and he showed me how the neck was pulling away from the body even though it was fairly straight. The saddles were already set as low as possible meaning his only option would be to file them down a bit. Bottom line is, since this is a new bass I didn't want to start off with this kind of problem so I sent it back.
The folks at Wildwood were very nice about it. It looks like I got a bad one. I've made a few blind purchases of gear and this is the first time I've had bad luck. If I go for another Ric, I'll probably want to try it out first or get a used one from a TB'er. Too bad, as the price at Wildwood is hard to beat. Such is the nature of the beast.
UPS dropped off the 4003 Fireglo I ordered from Wildwood yesterday. First thing I noticed was the action was unusually high. I brought it to a local luthier with a lot of Ric experience and he showed me how the neck was pulling away from the body even though it was fairly straight. The saddles were already set as low as possible meaning his only option would be to file them down a bit. Bottom line is, since this is a new bass I didn't want to start off with this kind of problem so I sent it back.
The folks at Wildwood were very nice about it. It looks like I got a bad one. I've made a few blind purchases of gear and this is the first time I've had bad luck. If I go for another Ric, I'll probably want to try it out first or get a used one from a TB'er. Too bad, as the price at Wildwood is hard to beat. Such is the nature of the beast.
As far as blind (not tried before buying) purchases go, I've bought several basses from Ebay and although I haven't had a bad experience (yet), I've had to have most of them setup even though they were set up before shipping.
Any club numbers left?
Here is my 4001 (NA240), signed by "Eloise", created in January 1974
Call it the "Backinblacker" and I love this bass even more now.
How much more black could this be? And the answer is none, none more black!
Same here, i sent a mail to session music in germany (where i bought my 4003), because the bass has some issues that are not acceptable for a 2300 bass (bridge slightly mounted askew, same for the nut, lower output on the neck pickup (i tried to lower the bridge pikcup in order to balance the tone, nothing changed) and a little part of the laquer on the fretboard is missing under the G string, between the nut and the first fret) asking if it's possible to exchange my faulty bass for another 4003.
I'm waiting for their answer, and i'm a bit dissapointed.
I can't visualize this. How can the neck pull away from the body in neck-through design?
greggster59 said:
If you are in NJ try Robbies Music City in north Jersey. That's where I got my Ric and I played it for an hour before I pulled the trigger. Very cool people.
I didn't see it either. The tech laid the bass on his bench and using a straight edge showed me the neck was straight. But, it sloped upward from the body to the headstock. In other word, the the neck did not lie parallel to the body as if the headstock was being pulled toward the body. It created very high action around frets 9-12. He said he sees this now and then on older Rics.
Could you just have them ship you a replacement? I say this because I've played a bunch of Rics at Wildwood that were all spot-on, this is the first lemon I've heard of from them. If it doesn't cost you any extra you might want to give it a second go...
The neck angle issue is the biggest drawback of neck-through construction, because the neck can't be shimmed to fix it. It usually requires some bridge work or fingerboard work that is more expensive. You were right to send it back. I've seen this problem on a 1972 4001 before.
But with all you said was wrong with it won't they cover at least half the shipping? How much will it cost you to have a professional bring your Ric up to where it should be?
No, it's clearly written in their conditions. That sucks. I've checked UPS, they ask 183 for shipping it back, DHL is even more expensive. If it was something like 50, i'll say ok, let's do it, but for 183 i prefer to keep them to eventually fix the bridge problem (that's the biggest issue for me).
Moving the bridge is possible, right? That should fix the string alignment issue with pickup poles.
It's really the tailpiece people are having issues with. It keeps the bridge screws from being easier to access. I will say this for the bridge itself: it never lets the intonation "slip" like some bridges, mostly the common hardtail type. With those bridges I have to check the intonation once a month or so to make sure something hasn't shifted around; the RIC bridge stays lock-tight once you dial it in.
Other than the finish missing a lot of that sounds like it could easily be remedied by a tech. Maybe even that, as it's just a poly finish actually. Although I have to admit I don't understand how the bridge and nut are "askew", and I can't see anything wrong at all in your pics. As for pickup blending... keep playing with it. Those Hi-Gains are usually quite sensitive to setup but can sound really good if you coax it out of them. Also, some people consider it ideal to have the bridge pickup a bit hotter (to mimic an RM1999 setup). When you blend the pickups, the neck pickup will still shape the sound a lot.
An exchange was never bought up when I spoke with them. perhaps its because last time I checked they were currently sold out of 4003's.
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