went to my local rickenbacker dealer, and tried out ricks along with many other basses. the rick 4003 came out of top, and i asked if there were any mapleglos in stock, he pulled one out of the back, brand new the shipping box hadn't even been opened.

everything is great, love the bass! but just checked and my string mute knobs don't seem to bring the mute all the way up to the strings. not a huge deal i guess, but on a brand new guitar, shouldn't it be working properly? the bass-side screw spins in place aafter tightening it all the way.

any suggestions? i read on another thread to try and loosen it all the way and re-screw it in? that ok to do?

thanks!

basically just asking "what would you do?"

i'll probably not use the string-mutes much, and this is one killer bass aside from this little nuisance!

but if they have two other brand new mapleglos, should I go back and swap out for one that is 100% functional?

thanks!

Congrats with the new toy, enjoy!

As it seems most (all?) mutes don't work as one expects, it doesn't seem to be an individual case you're having. But there's a cure, various threads here address it.

Regards

Yeah, I tried backing the screw out and then re-threading it on as one suggested on one of the posts, and now it does absolutely nothing and the foam is stuck well below the bridge.

*sigh*

At least I still have an amazing bass to play on!

Never used mutes before, I guess I shouldn't worry much about it. But why put it on the bass if it doesn't even work from the get-go? Sheesh!

ThorK, congrats on your new 4003.
You might have raised one side too much the first time you raised the mute and you might have to shape the bar to make it work better.
It usually works better if you raise/lower each side of the mute a little at a time rather than raising/lowering each side all at once.

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

Ahhh crap yeah, I think I did!

Looking at that bridge diagram I found elsewhere, kind hard to see how it all lines up... but I may try and take her apart when I get new strings.

I'm used to flatwounds from my other bass so I ordered a fresh set of flats closely-sized to the stock Rick strings. (which by the way have the same colored ball ends as a D'Addario)

Congrats on the new bass. I have had the same problem with the mutes on both of my 4003's. I got them repaired and they have not been a problem since. I don't use them often, but they are a nice option to have on hand.

Yeah I'm not going to worry much about it. If I can fix it when I pop new strings on, then I will. if not, no problems. Thanks for the help.

What's the deal with people saying that the mapleglo guitars look darker now than they did a few years ago, and they have some UV block and will always stay slightly yellow? My guitar looks like natural white/light maple to me. no stain or dye seems apparent.

Reading all the different posts in these forums while bored at work gets me thinking about things I shouldn't be concerned about! should just be worrying about playing not the guitar finish! hah!

Congrats on your new Rick!

The thing about Mapleglo finishes darkening/yellowing has to do with the material used in the finish. Before this year, the finishes were Conversion Varnish (CV), which is a catalyzing polyurethane material. This tended to darken and yellow with age, exposure to UV, and several other things.

The new finish is a UV cured material, which hardens with exposure to UV light. Once cured, it's fairly impervious to most things and shouldn't have the same darkening/yellowing.

So yeah, you should only be worrying about your playing, not the finish. Enjoy your new Rick!

Exactly! Ric feels so much more nautral than my old Stingray, lovin' it!

Not even sure what year mine is, I'll have to try that serial number lookup feature when I get home tonight.

So 2010 it should have the new protective finish and 2009 will be the older "CV" finish?

Learn a lot on here, thanks!