LeftyBassist.com

found this on CL

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/msg/1425215583.html

Did you email the seller?

Hmmm, I should look into this. It might just be my old 4003 I sold many a years ago to a guy in SF/Oakland area.... Chances of seeing it 15 years later would be a miracle. Ask the seller if its a 4003 with upgraded bartolini neck pup. If so, thats my old bass.

Big week for Ricks. There's two Fireglos on evil bay now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rickenbacker-4003s- ... 3a53fa504f

http://cgi.ebay.com/RICKENBACKER-4003-L ... 439ae7127f

I have ALWAYS wanted a Ric... I think there should be a law that says every lefty should have one.

But, for whatever reason, it always gets bumped to the back burner.

I'll have one someday... someday...

Nope. No intention of doing so either. I just wanted to point our community towards the bass in case there was some interest.

Not me. Given the esteem (bordering on reverence) in which they're held on this forum I have to conclude that I'm missing something, but I've just never hankered for one. Somebody care to explain the attraction, preferably without becoming abusive or patronising?

Just before you do though, you should know that I owned a (very rare) 345 guitar (big brother of the 325 - as used by one J. Lennon, esq.) for around 15 years, so I do know what they're about as a brand.

I just think they're a great "stable bass"... same with a P and a Jazz, Stingray, or even a Hofner. They offer a unique character, sound, and style that is exclusive to them.

I don't really want one to play out, necessarily... I would just like to have one as part of my arsenal, because you never know when you might need to lay down a track that just needs a Ric.

Probably pretty rare, but still...

I've recently been jamming with my old band, and I decided to bring my Rick to rehearsal last Saturday. I've never actually taken the Rick out live or mixed it in with a band, so I was curious, since I almost exclusively used my Jazz and Sterling live with this band. Long story short, I was amazed at how well it blended in with our overall sound. I thought the Rick might be too barky or aggressive, but a simple tweak of my tone/pickup setting and I had perfect clarity with a nice defined low end thump unique to Ricks. I had recently installed the capacitor on/off pot in mine, so I ran a pickup blend of both pickups with the cap engaged, and thus got clear crisp top end with a huge low end as well.

I think a lot of people get turned off by Ricks because they instinctively associate them with those clickity clackity, trebly Prog rock tones ala Geddy Lee or Chris Squire. Obviously, McCartney got an entirely different tone from them, but it just goes to show that a Rick can be versatile.

A few gripes/caveats about Rickenbacker the company, however. They're stubborn and arrogant, mistaking archaic outdated technology with charm and idiosyncrasy. The bridge on a Rick is the worst POS I've ever encountered, and you have to remove all the strings AND remove the bridge to intonate the damn thing (Unless, of course, you've got a right angle phillips head screwdriver). Then, of course, you don't know if you're intonated perfectly until you reassemble the bridge and restring it, whereby you have to do it all over again until you happen to hit it. Rickenbacker knows this and they don't care to do anything about it.

They're known for great midrange tone, no?

I'm quite happy with my poor-man's Ric - a '78 Guild B-302. Huge bottom with great midrange.

I want one!

...and that's saying something, because as we all know, there are quite a few OEM bass bridges that have competed for that title over the years... (Gibson also comes to mind as a big name manufacturer who came up with some bridge designs that were absolute crap). We should do a "Top Ten worst POS bass bridges" list sometime, but I digress....

...there are some very nice aftermarket direct fit Rick replacement bridges (hipshot etc.), I've always thought I'd try one if I ever started playing my Rics with any frequency...has anybody tried any of them and care to comment?

The 4003S on Ebay went for $2,650.00!! I bid once but got the shaky hand on the $2700 bid.

As much as I like Ricks, I simply don't get these inflated prices they're commanding of late. Hats off to Rick, I suppose, for successfully managing to create a new-found supply and demand, even if it urks me.

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that Ric has stopped production on all lefties until they can catch up with their back-log... some sources say it will be indefinitely.

News like that definitely drives up demand... and prices too, of course.

I was actually referring to Ricks in general, righties inclusive. People are just paying insane amounts for them right now, not to mention Rick themselves, who upped the going retail by over 50%!

I have 3 Ricks, and have owned 5, and I don't see what the big deal is. Why people get themselves so excited I have no idea, they are OK but certainly NOT my favorite bass. I guess it's just that some folks have a thing for them. It's like paying some ridiculous price for a Hofner-- unless you're into the investment value, there's nothing that great about them as a working instrument to justify an inflated price IMHO.

Ouch ... lost the chance to have a 4003s ... argh



I owned a 4003 for two months and sold immediately because it sounded horrible.
I guess Ric Basses are truly great with a unique distinctive tone, but you have to be lucky enough to find the good sounding one to be fully satisfied (and to justify the money spent). They are good in average, but some items are better than others.

Now i own a 70s 4001 and it sound very well compared to the 4003 i owned. Anyway my 4001 is still not sounding well like other 4001s i heard here and there (mainly because of dead E string).

It's a matter of luck ...

Anyway i guess that soon i'll give 4003 a second chance ... who knows ...

Perfectly put, and exactly what I should have said. I have run into more Ricks that weren't that great than ones than are. My personal experience has been "the older the better"... the ones I still have are all 1970's, the ones I got rid of were all 80's and 90's. Ricks have never been a real comfortable fit for me playing- wise, and my older ones are lighter, have faster necks, and just feel more comfortable all around--- and they have much more warmth and depth in their tone. Could be the electronics, the wood, the factory process, or a combination of all the above, who knows...but the newer ones just felt kinda sterile, no "soul" in the instruments. Of course that's true of a lot of builders-- IMO buying a newer Rick is like buying a newer Les Paul-- better to test it first to see if it's one of the good ones. With the older ones, you do have to be aware of their more delicate nature and making sure you get one that hasn't been screwed up at some point by a previous owner.

I've found it hard to get tones from my Rick basses over the years I was happy with because my ears try to get a Fender tone from every bass I play. I think Ricks need to be dialed in differently than Fender basses so that takes some experimenting too. One thing that's sold me on my Rick is using the Aguilar Tone Hammer pedal with them. Sweepable mids are a great asset to a Rick bass (to my ears).Take anything I say about Aguilar with a grain of salt, but I find that pedal compliments Rick basses really well.