2015 Rickenbacker 4003 Bass Review

Aloha!

Today we are looking at my third Rickenbacker bass: a brand new 4003 model I picked up recently.

The 4003 model bass was introduced in 1981, with many of the same features of the 4001 as well as a few improvements, including:

A. An improved truss rod system. The 4003 still uses dual truss rods, but now has nuts at both ends of the neck.

B. The 4003 has no capacitor on the bridge pickup. This allows full tone from the bridge pickup, which is rather tinny on 4001 bases.

Other these changes, the 4003 has all of the usual 4000-series bass features.

The 4003 has a bound neck-thru body, and a has a bound neck with the curlicue headstock tip. Other distinctive Rickenbacker features are the signature triangular fretboard inlays and wacky trussrod cover. They also have the dual trussrod system “for added strength and adjustability” and Schaller tuners. I am still not a fan of the thick clear finish that coats the rosewood fretboard on these.

The electronics need a little explaining. There are two pretty hot single coil pickups, a selector switch, two volume and two tone knobs. But, the way they are wired is kind of whacky. Rickenbacker installs a push/pull pot that routes the bridge pickup signal through a capacitor to suck out the bass tone, and I guess the idea of this is to make better use of the Rick-O-Sound feature.

Rick-O-Sound is a stereo output effect that allows the player to divide the pickup signals and send them two different amps. Ideally this would send the bridge signal to a guitar amp and the neck signal to a bass amp. The output jack plate on these basses has a jack for a stereo guitar cord (for "Rick-O-Sound"), and a jack for normal mono output. Meh.

This one is a 2015 model, finished in Jetglo (black). which is a little disappointing. The quality of the finish is not great, with a light orange peel over the whole thing, and it is not lustrous and rich. This is a brand new bass, and it should be beautiful, but they missed the mark. It showed up with a surprisingly good set-up, and plays better than any Rickenbacker bass I have ever tried. The neck is dead straight with a low action and no lift to the bridge (yet). The pickups have even output, though the pickup cover is a bit of a hindrance to my playing style.

This 4003 is pretty light for a neck-through bass, coming in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces.

There are no playability or sound problems with this bass at all, but I am really not a Rickenbacker guy yet. The ergonomics are still awkward for me, but I am not surprised or disappointed, as this is what I have found before. After I am done with school I am going to get back into playing more and will try to make this one work for me.

These basses are not cheap, but then again they are made right here in sunny Southern California so they are paying higher labor costs. The 4003 has a street price of $2159 so they do not come cheap, but some online dealers do close them for quite a bit less. Make sure you shop around a bit. For that price, it does come with a hardshell case, but it is a flimsy plastic affair with latches that do not exactly want to hold well. They definitely could have done better.

Anyway, if you decide you want a Rickenbacker bass, and if you are not be hung up on getting a vintage 4001, you should pick up a 4003 instead as it is a more versatile and better built instrument. But really, you should try one out before you buy, as it may not be your cup of tea.

Mahalo!

Rickenbacker 4003 Bass Review

Buenos dias, amigos!

Today we are looking at my second Rickenbacker bass: a 4003 model. I did a write up of my old 4001 a few months back, so I thought it would be nice to provide my impressions of the this one too.

The 4003 model bass was introduced in 1981, with many of the same features of the 4001 as well as a few improvements, including:

A. An improved truss rod system. The 4003 still uses dual truss rods, but now has nuts at both ends of the neck.

B. The 4003 has no capacitor on the bridge pickup. This allows full tone from the bridge pickup which is rather tinny on 4001 bases.

Other these changes, the 4003 has all of the usual 4000-series bass features.

The 4003 has a bound neck-thru body, and a has a bound neck with the curlicue headstock tip. Other distinctive Rickenbacker features are the signature triangular fretboard inlays and wacky trussrod cover. They also have the dual trussrod system “for added strength and adjustability” and Schaller tuners. I am still not a fan of the thick clear finish that coats the fretboard on these.

The electronics need a little explaining. There are two pretty hot single coil pickups, a selector switch, two volume and two tone knobs. But, the way they are wired is kind of whacky. Rickenbacker installs a push/pull pot that routes the bridge pickup signal through a capacitor to suck out the bass tone, and I guess the idea of this is to make better use of the Rick-O-Sound feature.

Rick-O-Sound is a stereo output effect that allows the player to divide the pickup signals and send them two different amps. Ideally this would send the bridge signal to a guitar amp and the neck signal to a bass amp. The output jack plate on these basses has a jack for a stereo guitar cord (for "Rick-O-Sound"), and a jack for normal mono output. Meh.

This one is a 2010 model, finished in Midnight Blue. The photos do not do the color justice, as it has a gorgeous pearlescent sheen to it. I bought it new from Musician’s Friend when they had a clearance on them a few months ago.

It showed up with a surprisingly good set-up, and plays better than any Rickenbacker bass I have ever tried. The neck is dead straight with a low action and no lift to the bridge (yet). The pickups have even output, though the pickup cover is a bit of a hindrance to my playing style.

This 4003 is pretty light for a neck-through bass, coming in under 9 ¾ pounds.

There are no problems with this bass at all, which confirms that I am really not a Rickenbacker guy. The ergonomics are still awkward for me, but I am not surprised or disappointed, as I bought this bass with the sole intention of flipping it for profit.

As these basses have street price of $1949 when bought new from a dealer, the low Musician’s Friend closeout price (plus extra coupon discounts), meant that there was plenty of money to be made by re-selling these basses, especially to overseas buyers.

Anyway, if you decide you want a Rickenbacker bass, and if you are not be hung up on getting a vintage 4001, you should pick up a 4003 instead as it is a more versatile and better built instrument. But really, you should try one out before you buy as it may not be your cup of tea.

Mahalo!

1981 Rickenbacker 4001 Bass

Buenos dias, amigos!

I grew up aspiring to play bass and listening to Rush and Yes, so it was inevitable that I would eventually end up with a Rickenbacker 4001.

The original series of Rickenbacker 4001 basses were introduced in 1961. They have the distinctive body shape that is shared with the other 4000 series basses, and you have seen some of rock’s greats play these, including Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Paul McCartney and Lemmy from Motorhead.

The 4001 is a solid body neck-through bass. Well, kind of. There were a few years in the 1970s when they has set necks. There have been a few other variations through the years, such as 6-string and short scale versions (not to mention the stripped-down 4001S), but for the most part these were sold as 4-string standard scale basses.

The 4001 bass has a bound neck with the curlicue headstock tip, signature triangular inlays and Rickenbacker trussrod cover. Again, there are exceptions. The 4001s necks are not bound and get dot inlays instead. All of them got the dual trussrod system “for added strength and adjustability”. Heh. Mine had Schaller tuners, which I believe are standard for these.

The electronics are a little bit different. There are two pretty hot single coil pickups, a selector switch, two volume and two tone knobs. But, the way they are wired is where things get whacky. Rickenbacker installed a capacitor into the bridge pickup to suck out the bass tone, and I guess the idea of this was to fit in with the Rick-O-Sound feature.

Rick-O-Sound was a stereo output effect that allowed the player to divide the pickup signals and send them two different amps. Ideally this would send the bridge signal to a guitar amp and the neck signal to a bass amp. The output jack plate on these basses has a jack for a stereo guitar cord (for "Rick-O-Sound"), and a jack for normal mono output. This is all academic for me. I do not know anyone that has tried this effect.

Production of the 4001 ended in 1981 when the 4003 model was introduced. The 4003 is pretty much the same bass but with a few improvements, including:

1. An improved truss rod system. The 4003 still uses dual truss rods, but no has nuts at both ends of the neck.

2. The 4003 has no capacitor on the bridge pickup. This allows full tone from the bridge pickup which is pretty tinny on 4001 bases.

If you are dying to get a new 4001, you can still get them. In recent years, the 4001 has been re-issued as the 4001C64 and 4001C64S. A vintage re-issue, I guess you could call them.

Well, my experience with the Rickenbacker 4001 was not so super, but I should have known better.

When I used to haunt Albert Molinaro’s guitar shop back in the 1980s, I would mess around with the Rickenbackers, and he was loathe to sell me one. I had bought a few jazz basses from him over the years and he knew what I liked. Maybe I should have listened to him.

The one we are looking at is a 1981 Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar in very good original condition. There is no repair or modification history that I am aware of.

The original Fireglo finish has aged beautifully. There are dings, and finish checking as shown, but it really has the right vintage look to it. It has never been abused by any stretch of the imagination.

The electronics are in great shape and both pickups have pretty even output. The pots and jack are nice and quiet too. As I said, I never tried the Rick-O-Sound, but I am not feeling too left out.

The original hardware is still in good shape, with some light tarnishing. Amazingly nobody ever installed a Badass bridge on this bass.

My repair guy (the best in the South Bay, IMO) was able to get the neck set-up ok (with maybe a bit of bitching about the truss rods and the bridge) and it probably plays as well as it did when it was new. The frets and fingerboard are in really good shape and there are no unseemly bends or lumps to it.

This all sounds good, but when it came to playing this bass, it just did not work for me.

For starters, I hate the tone of this bass. Had I known about the capacitor, I would have bypassed it (or installed a push/pull pot), so I could coax a little more bass out of the bridge pickup.

My other problem with the 4001 is its ergonomics. I was into Fenders for far too long before I got ahold of the Rick, and I never could get comfortable with it. I am cured, and don’t feel the need to buy another.

If you are looking for an original series Rickenbacker 4001, plan on spending around $1500 to $2000 to pick one up. But try one out first before you buy, as you may not be happy with what you end up with.

Mahalo!