Personally, I found playing a low B worked better on 35" necks than on 34" necks, which always felt floppy to me, even with the action raised.

Dang, I have a hard time with the idea of mucking up a nice '71 Ric.

i did it...

I changed the nut and now have a 5 string set on my rick.(minus the 5th string)

it works great...

Thank to all for your advice..

A big part of that is because string manufacturers don't spend more time in R&D with the B string. It is a hard string to make; using conventional methods it requires several wraps to get up to the tension it needs just to match the low E in feel, but that makes a string so big no one wants to go to the trouble of slotting the bridge and nut and installing it. Added scale length ramps up the tension. Ever played a Stingray 5er? They handle the low B nicely, and are 34''. And I have tuned a 4003 BEAD before and frankly, it was pretty amazing how good it sounded. One of the cleanest low Bs I have ever experienced.

I'm tending to agree with the above statement. After watching many bands perform live with a 5-string bass it's all about playing on the B and E strings! I never see them venture onto the A and D strings much less past the 5th fret! Can't tell if they're even in tune. It's totally loosing it's effect, sounds ordinary and dare I say, kinda boring of late. I seldom like it in rock music anymore; seems better suited for new country (where their bass players at least play the other strings and past the 7th fret) and of course the Gospel players who shred everyone to shame!

Thank God 5-string basses were not 'hip' in the 60's and 70's. Think of all the classic rock tunes that would have been ruined! Nothing (seems to) sound worse than when playing the notes on a B-string that weren't on the original tune.

A lot of speakers in the 60's couldn't handle the low B.

However, in the 70's, you had some bands tuning almost that low. Black Sabbath comes to mind.

The band Sleep tunes down almost to B and their bassist uses a Rickenbacker, and he sounds fantastic.

I love the way low B sounds on a Ric if it is tensionally balanced. I even like it if it is floppy--if the other strings are too, so you adapt. Low tension has a cool sound and works really well on those lower tones if played softly. Kind of like when I tuned my bass CGDA as an experiment to see what would happen... I thought low C sounded quite good. My jam is kind of corny but whatever.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... D=10781508

My solution for getting a low B on a Rick.

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/93-4004L-5-2.htm

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/4004cii-5-mb-2.htm

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www.3dentourage.com/425

I went with D standard on my Cheyenne using a .125 gauge D string. Low B is just too low for me, but D really brings the thunder. For some odd reason, it's easier for me to grasp this tuning than it is to play with a 5th string. Only mod to my Cheyenne was a bit of nut filing. The neck is sturdy, straight, and never moves. Solid as a rock.

I am not a member of TalkBass but maybe someone else can help this guy out:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/ric-4 ... nd-917091/

I know for a fact Rics handle a low B just fine; I have recordings of low C, which is close enough, to prove it.

He also kinda has a mid scoop going into another mid scoop there. I'd say so, but people would probably yell at me.