I know I am beating a dead horse here....
I am new to this forum and was wonderingwhat the deal is with Chris Squire using the RotoSound strings...I heard all the talk about those strings are not well liked by the Rickenbacker company, due to the faster fret wear...
Now did anyone know the exact RotoSound strings Chris Squire used... Becuase I know that they have two different versions of the 66 Swing bass strings... There is the stainless ones and then there is the nickel ones...
I figure the stainless would be more brutal on the frets..
Any thoughts...

Chris

Hi,

I own and play 4001, 4001V63, 4001CS and 4003 for many years. I tried all type of Nickel Roundwound RS strings. Indeed, they will wear out the fret prematurely and there clarity will wear out very fast too. Moreover, RS do not stock the gauge set used on Rics which is 'very very important' for me to have the perfect feel of the fretboard, plus being a 'pick' man myself they line up nicely over the bridge area.

RIC strings last longer, they don't wear out your frets within the year, have a very nice crisp clean ring to them (even cleaner than RS). Do yourself a favor and stock up on RIC strings. I have :)

Yes I agree very much if you are playing a 4003 the Rickenbacker strings are definatley the way to go.
FISH

I have 1974 4001 on it's way to me and I plan on using Ric strings on it for the sake of the truss rods and frets...
I will use the .045 to .105 gauge that I see selling on Ric specialty on-line stores...
I am asking just out of curiousity, for my own frame of reference, what RotoSound strings Chris Squire may have used back in the day if anyone knows for sure....
WHat gauge and whether or not it was the stainless or nickel version of the Swing66 strings....I just like to know how different sounds and tones are made for my mental frame of reference...

Chris

I'm sure you are going to be very happy with your 4001, but I'll bet if it's a '74 it spent most of its life with rotosounds on it. They are the strings that makes a ric sound like a ric. In a bizarre story i sometimes don't believe myself, I met chris squire in 1974 with my guitar-he played it for about a minute and said "put rotosounds on it" -they aren't as bad as eveybody says

Our objection to the early Rotosounds had nothing to do with fret wear but the excess tension beyond design load placed upon the 4001 basses. Careful setup and knowledgeable adjustment avoided most problems but back then those seemed to be in short supply.

Also, you must note that Chris's sound back then came from changing string at EVERY performance, something only someone like Chris who got free strings could afford to do.

OK..thanks for clearing that issue....
Being an engineer I am intrigued in analyzing the truss rod design in the 4001 when it arrives...and looking over the drawings...I need to fully understand it from an mathamatical and structural point of view..then review the factory notes on "proper" truss-rod/neck adjustment....
At that point I would feel more comfortable in adjusting the neck...

Chris

Basically with the 4001 you move the neck where you want it to be and tighten the truss rods while holding it in place. They are not strong enough to move the neck on their own.

OK....
Now that would make sense if you were removing bow from the neck.... Lets suppose you needed to reduce bow to this neck...SO by positioning the neck in it's "new" position you are effectively reliveing the force the truss rods impose upon the tightening nuts...then you would adjust, tighten the nuts for the new neck position, that makes total sense to me...BUT if you were doing the opposite...meaning that you were lossening the nuts to add relief...you would FIRST want to slightly pull the neck back to reduce the forces on the nuts so you can lossen them, then position the neck to where you want it, then tighten the nuts to maintain this new neck position, this would make sense to me...
I have no experience with Ricks..but only trying to understand the way to adjust the truss rod system for the 4001...Is there any drawings I can review showing the truss rods??

Chris

I have been using Rotosounds on my 1978 4001 since I bought the bass in 1979 and I haven't had any problems so far with neck warpage or wearing down the frets. I did use Rotosounds on my Fender Precision from 1974 to 1979 and did have both problems with the Precision.