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The Rickenbacker Club Part Six

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#642
EagleMoon said:
I'm not sure. How would I know? It has an 11 on the jack plate.

EDIT: Found it. It rose from the grave the last week of October of 2011. :)
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haha i wrote october 2012 for mine, that'd be from the future.......crazy our basses are both mapleglo , and bother made in october 2011-not sure which week on mine and dont have the serial number handy...........if its anything like mine its badass.
 
#645
Here's a question. What's with the difference in the top area of the back of the necks? I notice on this new bass I got that the neck flows into the headstock, where the last one I had had a bulging out kind of area up at the top of the neck by the nut before it went into the headstock. The Ruby 4003 I played today had that bump area, but the Mapleglo bass I bought doesn't have it.
 
#647
EagleMoon said:
MaplegloRicPK2.gif
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Wow
 
#650
EagleMoon said:
Here's a question. What's with the difference in the top area of the back of the necks? I notice on this new bass I got that the neck flows into the headstock, where the last one I had had a bulging out kind of area up at the top of the neck by the nut before it went into the headstock. The Ruby 4003 I played today had that bump area, but the Mapleglo bass I bought doesn't have it.
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I've only noticed the "bump"/raised area on older basses like my 1976. My 2007, 2008, and 2010 all "flow" into the headstock. Not sure what's going on with the Ruby--cell phone pics or something might help. If anything maybe that one just has a thicker neck profile, but generally speaking nowadays two Rics from the same build period will have similar neck profiles because so little of that process is still done by hand. Until they get to finishing the instruments CNC handles the bulk of the work.

I believe the reason for the bump on vintage instruments was to strengthen the headstock/nut area which was a common stress point. My 1976 shows hairline cracks next to the fingerboard here, for example. (I pound the heck out of it and they don't seem to be going anywhere, though.)

I would love to see pics of the Ruby and your MG for comparison, if you can take some with your cell phone or something. Maybe the Ruby exhibits changes they made in 2012, your bass being a 2011.
 
#654
cassius987 said:
I've only noticed the "bump"/raised area on older basses like my 1976. My 2007, 2008, and 2010 all "flow" into the headstock. Not sure what's going on with the Ruby--cell phone pics or something might help. If anything maybe that one just has a thicker neck profile, but generally speaking nowadays two Rics from the same build period will have similar neck profiles because so little of that process is still done by hand. Until they get to finishing the instruments CNC handles the bulk of the work.

I believe the reason for the bump on vintage instruments was to strengthen the headstock/nut area which was a common stress point. My 1976 shows hairline cracks next to the fingerboard here, for example. (I pound the heck out of it and they don't seem to be going anywhere, though.)

I would love to see pics of the Ruby and your MG for comparison, if you can take some with your cell phone or something. Maybe the Ruby exhibits changes they made in 2012, your bass being a 2011.
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The ruby had it, as did my '08 jetglo. It does look like its a headstock/neck strengthening feature, but it sure makes for fatter area up by the first fret nut. If I go down there again anytime soon I'll get some pics, but the store is quite a distance away. I tried to see if I could find any online pics of that area of the neck, but it's not a place typically photographed at the right angle.

Here's a picture of mine. You can see how narrow it is and flows into the headstock. On the other basses, that area gets progressively fatter and thicker.
MG11Ricneck.gif
 
#655
I get it now. The feature you are referring to has receded as neck profiles have been made more shallow/skinnier. It could be called a bump but it's probably too subtle for me to want to call it that. Originally there was a much larger bump (vintage period).

My 2010 is just like yours. My 2008 has a bit of reinforcement in that spot but it's only visible from certain angles. I can't feel it when I play but the neck profile on that bass is also fatter, which I do feel.
 
#656
cassius987 said:
I get it now. The feature you are referring to has receded as neck profiles have been made more shallow/skinnier. It could be called a bump but it's probably too subtle for me to want to call it that. Originally there was a much larger bump (vintage period).

My 2010 is just like yours. My 2008 has a bit of reinforcement in that spot but it's only visible from certain angles. I can't feel it when I play but the neck profile on that bass is also fatter, which I do feel.
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Well on the Ruby Ric I played it was really noticeable. One reason I didn't want it. It made the neck feel really fat and round in that area. I wish I had a pic of my Jetglo for comparison, because it was the same way. That's why I was so surprised when this Mapleglo had such a thin neck at the nut. Makes it so much easier to play.
 
#657
EagleMoon said:
Well on the Ruby Ric I played it was really noticeable.
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I have my Ruby 4004L (made the 51st week of 2011) in my hands right now and it has only the very slightest bit of a thickening just before my thumb reaches the underside of the nut; this seems to be primarily due to the angling back of the headstock in relation to the neck. Technically, a bump or protuberance under the nut is called a volute, but a volute is usually a pronounced feature, like that on many Gibson necks, for example. In the Rick's case, it is more of a transition between the neck and the headstock and is barely visible. Looking at it from the back of the instrument it really seems to be more the widening of the very back of the neck as it transitions to the flat, wide back side of the headstock.
 
#659
Paul Tutmarc (AKA Audiovox) may deserve that distinction.

There were many doing similar things. Just as Alexander Graham Bell didn't really 'invent' the first telephone, nor did Guglielmo Marconi send the first trans-oceanic radio signal, rather they were part of an larger body of technology that was heading in those directions.
 
#660
EagleMoon said:
Here's a question. What's with the difference in the top area of the back of the necks? I notice on this new bass I got that the neck flows into the headstock, where the last one I had had a bulging out kind of area up at the top of the neck by the nut before it went into the headstock. The Ruby 4003 I played today had that bump area, but the Mapleglo bass I bought doesn't have it.
Click to expand...

My 2009 4003 has its volute start right under the first fret. On my 1993 4003s, it starts halfway between the nut and the first fret.
 
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