The Rickenbacker question

[Killed_by_Death]

A 4-string bass with a 34" scale will generally have around 30 ft./lb. of tension per string, 120 ft/lb total...

A 6-string guitar with a 25-1/2" scale will generally have around 20 ft./lb. of tension per string, 120 ft/lb total...

 

[jamro217]

If they muck around on higher frets, they almost need to change brands. Here is the neck joint of a 4004:

View attachment 2831275

Keep in mind there are only 20 frets on the other side...


In comparison, here is the neck joint of a 24 fret guitar that I own:

View attachment 2831284

This guitar cost 3-3/4 less than the 4004 I owned...

Having seen the body-separation issues some folks have had with 4003s that have the older 1/2" pickup location (especially with anything besides light gauge strings) I can understand the reasoning for the extra wood there especially on a 4004 with the pickup right up on the neck heel- the truss rods end right there, so the only support against bowing is the wood underneath the pickup cavity and a bit of support from the glued body wings. It seems the compromise of strengthening a stubbornly traditional design that wasn't particularly well engineered to begin with (or at least not engineered to take into account the kinds of high-tension strings common today). My old Carvin was an all-maple neck-through bass with a much more svelte neck-body joint like your second picture but the neck pickup was in the J neck position, which is closer to the bridge pickup on a Ric than the more extreme Ric neck pickup positioning. It still developed some minor stress cracks where the neck met the body once I started using heavier strings. Regardless, from a design-perspective, the total tension on a bass neck isn't fairly comparable to a 6-string guitar due to the longer scale (it is of course common to put a guitar neck pickup right up against the neck without structural issues).

I guess I'm lucky with big hands, but I play up in the high registers of my Ric often without issue! Its also still less wood (and more elegant) than a traditional bolt-on neck joint like a Fender

Unless you have tiny hands and short fingers you should have enough room to anchor your thumb on the curved edge of the neck butt and still reach the upper frets of the E string. They don't extend too far into the body.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Ah, fair point, since the 20th fret doesn't even reach the body:

 

[Korladis]

A 4-string bass with a 34" scale will generally have around 30 ft./lb. of tension per string, 120 ft/lb total...

A 6-string guitar with a 25-1/2" scale will generally have around 20 ft./lb. of tension per string, 120 ft/lb total...

But the bass neck is longer in comparison to its width, and therefore weaker.

 

[sunbeast]

But the bass neck is longer in comparison to its width, and therefore weaker.

Exactly- the same pull over a longer/thinner piece of wood is significantly more affective

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I feel a little foolish.
Picked up a 4003 today at Sam Ash & played it through a Hartke Hydrive. It went back on the rack so fast I forgot to pay attention to the neck profile.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I feel a little foolish.
Picked up a 4003 today at Sam Ash & played it through a Hartke Hydrive. It went back on the rack so fast I forgot to pay attention to the neck profile.

Your point?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I should have paid more attention to the neck profile & see if it was thinner than my old 4004.

 

[bholder]

Why do people like different things?

Because they're wrong, that's why.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I should have paid more attention to the neck profile & see if it was thinner than my old 4004.

Yes, It would have been, by a considerable amount.