AndyTravis Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Wow. If there weren’t pictures of the back of the bass, I’d say the neck was snapped… https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rickenbacker-4003-bass-/115241658412?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 You could sling a tarpaulin over those strings and camp underneath, I actually had a Shaftsbury Ric copy with an action as bad as that! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 1 hour ago, Roger2611 said: You could sling a tarpaulin over those strings and camp underneath, I actually had a Shaftsbury Ric copy with an action as bad as that! Did you put it on eBay for 1800 smackers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Does it come with a quiver full of arrows? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 You could sail a ferry under that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 That's the worst string height I've seen on a Rick with no tail-lift. Neck failure at body join? Hard to tell. Can't see any separation on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigguy2017 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, NikNik said: That's the worst string height I've seen on a Rick with no tail-lift. Neck failure at body join? Hard to tell. Can't see any separation on the back. That's the classic 'folding Ric'... the neck pickup route is way too big and takes a huge chunk out the neck/body wood; then string tension slowly folds the bass around the neck 'joint'. Add in a bit of tail lift and you have what we see here. It can be fixed by inserting a hard maple block to fill the pickup route, then re-routing a new, smaller, pickup size hole. My 4003 started to go this way and I ran out of adjustment on the bridge saddle height - as the tailpiece was also showing some lift I replaced it with a Hipshot Ric bridge (a simple drop-in replacement). This eliminated the tail lift and also allowed the saddles to go much lower, restoring a playable action. Lighter gauge strings (40 - 100), as factory fitted, do help. Edited February 9, 2022 by Bigguy2017 grammar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 14 minutes ago, Bigguy2017 said: That's the classic 'folding Ric'... the neck pickup route is way too big and takes a huge chunk out the neck/body wood; then string tension slowly folds the bass around the neck 'joint'. Add in a bit of tail lift and you have what we see here. It can be fixed by inserting a hard maple block to fill the pickup route, then re-routing a new, smaller, pickup size hole. My 4003 started to go this way and I ran out of adjustment on the bridge saddle height - as the tailpiece was also showing some lift I replaced it with a Hipshot Ric bridge (a simple drop-in replacement). This eliminated the tail lift and also allowed the saddles to go much lower, restoring a playable action. Lighter gauge strings (40 - 100), as factory fitted, do help. I've seen that done with the insert. As for strings, I always ran 40-95 on Rics. Tempted to post this on the 'Waffensite to watch the apologia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Well at least there won't be any fret buzz. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 On 08/02/2022 at 18:06, AndyTravis said: Wow. If there weren’t pictures of the back of the bass, I’d say the neck was snapped… https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rickenbacker-4003-bass-/115241658412?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 I've actually played 2 new Rick's like that in shops. Funny both of those shops now closed. Probably couldn't sell anything as most things were horrible to play in there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 9 hours ago, Twincam said: I've actually played 2 new Rick's like that in shops. Funny both of those shops now closed. Probably couldn't sell anything as most things were horrible to play in there. Two, you say? I thought RIC sorted this issue a while back, unless that rout there is still kinda deep. Could it also be wood that hasn't been dried out properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 10, 2022 Author Share Posted February 10, 2022 Or stored badly - ad states it’s not been used and is 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 I had another look. The saddles appear to be a tad high but not enough to account for that string height. Nobody will touch it at that price. If at all. Poor sod, I wonder if he bought that new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 Saddles look pretty slammed to me - loads of protruding thread on the adjusters. Inclined to think the neck's bowed - the strings appear to be fairly distant from the board in the (admittedly blurry) pic showing the fretboard edge up to about the 4th fret. Might not be all that's going on, I've seen a good few Ricks (& accurate copies) with that collapsy neck pickup route thing going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 The photos don't help here at all, do they? To the sellers credit, he is selling an Ampeg head a fridge. Thinking back, I used to work with a chap who owned an old Rickenbacker; about a year/eighteen months before my brief dalliance with a 4003, I borrowed it for an hour one lunchtime for a noodle and the set up was even worse than the eBay seller's bass...the action was easily a centimetre or more mid-neck. The sellers strings look perilously close to the neck pickup cover too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 Great for slide bass though. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 7 hours ago, NikNik said: Two, you say? I thought RIC sorted this issue a while back, unless that rout there is still kinda deep. Could it also be wood that hasn't been dried out properly? Yeah 2, I just assumed the truss rods had no tension in them. Strange 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 It could be a combination of needing truss rod adjustment, or the dreaded neck-lift; now, 4003 don't tend to be prone to neck lift, so there may be hope. However, the asking price is way too high; I'm tempted to ping the seller a "How much would you like for that £1000 bass?" message, as I don't have a 2000's Ric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 If he was local, I probably would of given him a message and asked if he would like me to see what's what and set it up for him. Because no way will it sell like that. And really needs to be assessed to see if it can actually be put right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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