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him666 said:
KJung said:
Well, there''s a short answer, and a longer answer. Short answer first:
View attachment 3264374 Well, there''s a short answer, and a longer answer. Short answer first:
- If you own a 4001, feel free to put whatever strings you like on it. It's your bass, and your warranty expired a long, long time ago...
Now, the longer answer, which concerns neck pick up location, and RIC's warranty policies:
- Neck Pick up.The two Ricks in the picture are mine; an '01 COY 4003, and a '73 4001. See where the neck pick ups are? The pick up location is why you need to need to be a little concerned about your strings - and your 4001. Up until about 1978 or so, 4001's have the neck pick up right under the fret board, sitting in a routed hole that's waay bigger than it needs to be. We call it "The Bathtub Rout". Because of it's size, and because it's located where the center part of the body transitions into becoming the neck, there's very little wood there. So little, in fact, that using high tension strings can eventually cause a thing called "Negative Neck Angle". It's where that very thin spot begins to act like a hinge, and the entire neck starts to tilt up - like a draw bridge opening. It can be fixed - if it doesn't get too bad - but its time consuming; not many luthiers can do it; and, yes it's very expensive. Rickenbacker finally fixed the problem, in 1978 or thereabouts, by moving the pick up back (where it is today), and by not routing a hole big enough to easily hold two pick ups.. So, if you have a 4001 like mine? I think it would be wise to use strings that were relatively low tension - and keep a close eye on the neck...
- RIC warranty policy. Rick's have a weird warranty, that starts the day the instrument was made - not the day it was bought. Also, RIC's policy has always been to refuse to honor that warranty with a thing called "failure to use approved strings". This little trick is the main reason for "Don't use rounds on a 4001". Rick 4001's came from the factory with 40-100 Maxima flatwounds; if you sent it back to them with, say, Roto 66's on it? Sorry; no warranty... And, RIC is still using that excuse today - more or less. The problem is that, other than the factory strings (which, today, are round wounds, and pretty good, actually..), there's no list of approved strings. Several years ago, someone on the RickResource Forum compiled a list of strings that people had gotten away with using, that didn't void their warranty; more of a "not disapproved" list than anything else. They also managed to pin RIC's owner, John Hall, down long enough for him to concede that using "strings that were similar to factory strings" would not void the warranty. Which is where we are today...
So, bottom line? If you have a 4001? Use whatever strings you like; but, if it looks like mine? Keep a close eye on that neck. If you're out of the warranty period with a 4003? Use whatever strings you like. If not? Remember - "Similar to factory strings" if you have to send it back...
From what I understand, Rickenbacker didn't put factory round wounds on their basses until the switch to the 4003. Their stiffer, stronger necks and stiffer, stronger single acting rods were better able to handle the increased tension of the rounds in use at that time. So, yes; if yours is a 4001 - with the "hairpin" truss rods? It came from the factory with (low tension) Maxima Flats. If you want to duplicate those strings? Well... barring finding a set of the Maximas (possible, but... don't hold your breath), your best bet is a set of Optima 4440L RB (Rickenbacker Bass) flats. Optima absorbed Maxima some years ago; and, Germans being Germans, they never threw any files away. So, after years of Rickistas (like me) whinging about wanting "the original Rick sound"? They dug out the specs for those original factory flats - and replicated them. Most people who have played the originals - and the handful of people that still do - agree that, if they aren't exactly like the original Maximas, they're as close as you'll probably ever get. They certainly sound like the strings I remember on the bass I learned to play on - a '68 left handed 4001 - in 1968. There are people who say that TI Jazz Flats also sound very similar to the old Maximas. I can't say one way or the other; TI's are great strings, but also come with characteristics that I don't want to put up with on my Ricks. The only bass I have with TI Jazz Flats on it, is my '96 Alembic Epic - which, I promise you, sounds nothing like a Rick. For what I play on it - and how I play - the TI's are the cat's ass. But, for me? They don't belong on my Ricks. The Optima RB's do...
Well... while I will say you're right to be concerned about your 4001's potential problem? That's what it is - a potential problem. Not "inevitable", or "for certain sure"... Lots of people play old 4001's with Roto 66's on them, and have done so for years without a problem (well, other than having their frets devoured...
). Some of them like La Bella DTFs on their 4001s - and don't have a problem, either. The neck on a '75 4001 is noticeably stouter than the one on, say, a '68 4001 (like I learned to play bass on). The very thin, very narrow neck of a '68 is more likely to suffer the problem than yours is. It just depends on the strings it wore, and how hard it got played, before you got hold of it. I'd say; put the strings you like on it - as long as they aren't ridiculously high tension (like the La Bella "Jamersons" or the Steve Harris Roto 77's). You're aware of the potential problem, so just look at the angle of the neck once in a while. The joints between the body "wings" and the center block becoming obvious, is also a sign of pending problems. My '73 4001, alas, is starting to display the problem - which is why it wears strings with very low tension. And why I'm saving up to have it fixed one of these days...
