I've recently bought myself a 1980 Fretless 4001 bass and find myself in need of some help on how to go about setting it up best for myself. There are three problems I have:

1: The neck has too much relief and I am under the impression that adjusting these truss rods is a bit different than I might be used to. Is there a website out there which is trustworthy in showing how this process should be carried out?

2: I would like to lower the strings at the bridge more so than the bridge seems to allow for - are there any non-destructive alternatives to get the strings lower?

3: The bridge pickup makes a curious fizzing sound when I play notes with it activated. It does not make any abnormal noises when I do not play, does anyone have any ideas on what this could be?

Thank you

Welcome to the forum! Refer to page 5 of the Owners Manual. Refer to the bottom paragraph of the second column, where it explains how to adjust the neck of an instrument mad prior to Sept 1, 1984.
For more info, check out my website: Joey's Bass Notes then go to Rickenbacker Bass Guitar Maintenance setiing up a 4001FL would be the same as a fretted 4001.


Once you get the relief out of the neck, the action should improve. Then you can make adjustments to the bridge, if necessary.


Check the condition of the contacts of you pickup selector switch and your output jack. Make sure they are not bent out of shape and don't have dirt/corrosion on them.

_________________
Throw that piece of firewood where it belongs and get yourself a Rickenbacker!

Thanks, this has helped.

I've solved the relief with the help of someone to hold the neck where I needed. The fizz is gone after spraying some DeoxIT on the pots and switch. I've refiled the nut a tiny bit which has also helped, in tandem with the decreased relief, to get the action closer to where I would like it. I would still like to lower the action at the bridge side. Are there any lower height saddles or something similar to that available?

Thank you again.

You could always file the slots in the saddles a little deeper, but I recommend against it. Since the "witness" point of playing a fretless is the stopping of the string with the finger against the fingerboard, the slightly higher action will help a player do that more cleanly. I suggest leaving it where it is.

Thank you everyone for your help. I put a new set of strings on the bass which are much thinner than the set of strings which were already on the bass. The action has fixed itself with the way the strings fall into the large grooves in the bridge. This bass is amazing! I'll post pictures with its brother soon.

What strings did you use?

Rotosound 77s which are a flatwound .40 set.