NBD - Rickenbacker 4003

[Delberthot]

After a couple of emails and a quick call with Richard at Reidys the bass will be picked up on Thursday and another one sent in its place.

He did tell me that he had a look at the ones they have on display and they all have squint pickups so mine isn't the only one. The reason for sending it back is the paint finish at the back of the neck.

I managed to capture a couple of pictures that don't really show it as bad as it feels

 

It's from the glare from the flash towards the right hand side you can see a sort of rippling of the surface

Edited October 2, 2018 by Delberthot

[Delberthot]

And the wonky pickup

 

 

[ezbass]

Wow! That really is pis... er,  wonky.

[Black Coffee]

With the venom that the big kahuna at Ric defends their honour et al you would expect better qc for thousands of quids worth of bass.  

 

It appears not though. 

[Musicman20]

That wonky pickup is terrible!!!

[Jonse]

Here's my pickup, might pop the hood tomorrow and have a look at what's going on inside. Hard to take a good picture but maybe not as wonky as @Delberthot. 

[Jonse]

Also, pardon my ignorance, but what's with the wire just here? Haven't seen that on any Ric before!? 🤔

[Delberthot]

That's the ground wire

I had a look under the pickup and the holes in the base plate had been drilled at an angle making the pickup at an angle but I'm unsure what would happen if I undid them. It looks like there is wire underneath the screw and I don't want to damage the pickup on a brand new bass.

Someone suggested on another forum of enlarging the screw holes so that you could move the pickup around to suit but that would mean using a big washer in order to secure the screw to the baseplate to stop them going right through

[Woodinblack]

Wow - do they just throw the pickups at the body and see where they stick? 😲

[Musicman20]

I don't understand why in 2018 they can't fit a pickup straight?

[Huge Hands]

Just a thought, but perhaps Ric put them at an angle for a reason, such as they've found that the tone improves if the E string end is further back and the G string end is further forward? 

Not sure if a few mm angle would make much difference, but the two examples on this thread seem to be wonky in the same way?

 

[Lozz196]

And to be honest it would make sense, having the bassier response on the thinner strings, even out the sound a bit maybe.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Lozz196

[martthebass]

27 minutes ago, Huge Hands said:

Just a thought, but perhaps Ric put them at an angle for a reason, such as they've found that the tone improves if the E string end is further back and the G string end is further forward? 

Not sure if a few mm angle would make much difference, but the two examples on this thread seem to be wonky in the same way?

 

I'll send mine back then as it's straight lol

[Jonse]

1 hour ago, Huge Hands said:

Just a thought, but perhaps Ric put them at an angle for a reason, such as they've found that the tone improves if the E string end is further back and the G string end is further forward? 

Not sure if a few mm angle would make much difference, but the two examples on this thread seem to be wonky in the same way?

 

 

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

And to be honest it would make sense, having the bassier response on the thinner strings, even out the sound a bit maybe.

Certainly what I thought when I got this one. 

[Musicman20]

It would seem with it being that wonky that it must be intentional! 

[4000]

I think all the ones I've seen recently have been wonky.

[mr zed]

Sorry to see you've been experiencing issues with your Ric. I bought a 2018 4003s a few months ago in Midnight Blue and it's a fantastic bass. I tried as many as I could get my hands on before committing to purchase the one I ended up with. Based on that experience, there are noticeable differences between each instrument. I'm happy to say that I found a good one - i'd go as far as to say it is flawless unlike every other Ric I tried as part of my search. The rear pickup isn't wonky, the finish is perfect, the neck is dead straight with a low action and no fretbuzz, it intonates perfectly and yes, it has THAT tone. I've left the pickup guard on. It took a while to get used to it being there but following some adjustment of my playing style i'm happy with it being there and to me it looks right! BTW, the earthing wire on the rear pickup on my bass isn't visible. It looks like someone's been messing around. I'm wondering if Reidys removed the pup cover for some wanting to try the bass out without it and didn't replace it correctly? Hope your replacement bass meets expectations. Let us know how you get on.

[Delberthot]

On 08/10/2018 at 09:26, mr zed said:

BTW, the earthing wire on the rear pickup on my bass isn't visible. It looks like someone's been messing around. I'm wondering if Reidys removed the pup cover for some wanting to try the bass out without it and didn't replace it correctly? Hope your replacement bass meets expectations. Let us know how you get on.

It was me 😉 I took it off to fit a bezel and it was then I noticed that the pickup was wonky

 

The new one is on it's way to me now and I should get it tomorrow but it will be Thursday or Friday before I get a good play. I also received my replacement bezel through the post today as well. I had bought the one with the finger rest incorporated but felt that it was getting in the way so Rickysounds were good enough to swap it over for the standard one.

[Gilmourisgod]

There’s a a bizarre theory among the Ric Partisans that the crooked pups are “meant” to be that way, and that the 1mm or so misalignment somehow enhances tone. If so, my straight pup is “defective”. If that tiny misalignment had any positive effect on tone, why is Ric the only manufacturer who does it, and why do they vary from straight to way off square bass to bass? No mystery here folks, no “ tone enhancement” it’s simple bad QC. Note also that the Tubeampoligy bezel has a straight opening, not crooked. Presumably they checked out a few pups prior to investing in injection mold tooling?   I love Rics, that tone has no equal, but the QC issues are ridiculous. The clearcoat issue lifting around the bridge has been happening regularly since 2010, really, 8 years to not solve a blatant manufacturing defect? This is made all the more galling by Rics requirement that any warranty repairs must be done in the CA factory, with shipping one way at your expense. In the US, that usually works out to $100+, lord knows what it would cost from U.K. The finish warranty starts on date of manufacture, not date of sale, so it’s possible for your warranty to expire before you even get the bass if it sits warehoused for a while. Not surprised to hear they are just as divisive here as on Talkbass in the US. Love the bass, loathe the company. 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Gilmourisgod

[Cosmo Valdemar]

8 minutes ago, Gilmourisgod said:

 Love the bass, loathe the company. 

This.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Gilmourisgod said:

There’s a a bizarre theory among the Ric Partisans

Wasn't he the guy from status quo? I mean, what would he know

 

[afterimage]

Way over priced now poor quality control no thanks 

You should bench mark it against any good quality bass 

[bassmachine2112]

Hiho,I,ll qualify my stance-I love nothing more than a Rickenbacker.

I have read all the wonky bass threads over the years and it is ridiculous that they allow crap ones out the factory and then flex their muscles if anybody  dares to complain I have been removed from Rick forum for daring to put a hipshot bridge on my Rick.they should be fitted as standard ,that,s what got me removed-petty.

They are fantastic basses that play and sound like no other,luckily I got a good one but there is no excuse for putting out poor finished,badly set up basses.The impression is that they don,t care and the warranty is about as much use as a chocolate fire grate,again the impression is how dare you criticise the Rickenbacker.

Ultimately all these issues fall at the feet of the head honcho for allowing this state of afairs to exist.Is it a lack of training I don,t know but they have been making them for long enough so should be able to make one without the problems that reoccur with regular monotiny.Correct me if I,m wrong but poor finish should be picked up at QC time but it doesn,t seem that anybody is interested at the factory.

I still think they are fantastic basses and will not part with my one. 

[Delberthot]

I completely agree with the comments above - I've only bought 3 out of the 6 or 7 Ricks I've owned brand new and 2 of them had finish issues. Personally I think that the main reason is that the finish they use takes a while to dry properly and given the backlog of orders that RIC have for these, they just can't keep them long enough for it to set properly before sending them out and so issues are going to arise.

Well, the good news is that I did get a replacement which was perfect. I also swapped the surround with the thumb rest for one without and much prefer it.

The pickup on this one isn't as wonky and, again, the setup out of the case was perfect. I did have to open up the nut a little on the D string to accommodate the D'addario EXL165s (original string being a 55 and this one was a 65) but I was careful and used an old string to gently rub the nut enough (ooer missus) to open the slot so that the string sat in the channel properly.

I will be gigging this for the first time tonight at a corporate gig in Edinburgh and it will also be the first gig for my Behringer BDI21.

I'll try to get some pics tonight at the gig

[Gilmourisgod]

There's the rub, when you get a good one, the finish is immaculate, and they play like butter, pity its hit or miss. The "new" (2010?) finish is a UV catalyzed varnish that is supposed to cure in minutes, a huge advantage over waiting weeks before a traditional Nitro finish can be buffed out, or days for a poly one, but I agree they must be rushing it. When they fasten down the bridge, presumably with an air-driven screwgun, the sharp castings bite through the finish. I think the vast majority of them are fine, but a company is judged by its worst examples, and in how warranty issues are resolved. Having once owned a 1979 4001 new, and seeing current production 4003, I can say the new ones are overall more consistent, and better made as most of the basic woodwork is CNC. They still do a surprising amount of handwork, more then most, I think, except maybe Gibson. If you haven't already seen it, this video, though its getting a little dated, is a good overview of their manufacturing process, and shows the UV cure booth I suspect is the weak link in the process. The section on finishing starts at about 14:20

 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Gilmourisgod