Looking for Rickenbaker

[king of suede]

yes... that age old statement of every bassist "i'm looking for a rickenbaker"

yeah... i'm not gonna tell a huge story of why i want one... long story short i've found an extreme love for cliff burton after buying 'cliff 'em all', therefore comeing an overwhelming need to get a rickenbaker

so what i'm looking for is something from the 70's or 80's (haha but NOONE sells 'em from the 80's). and i want it to have a sunburst paint job. also (here's the killer) that seller needs to be practicaly throwing it away considering i only have $370 from my birthday...

i looked around ebay only to be upset to find exactly what i wanted with the price i wanted.... but still 3 days left in the auction...

so if anyone knows where i could find such a bass for such a low cost... reply here
but i might not come on for a while so you might as well contact me at my;
e-mail:
kingofsuede@comcast.net
IM:
devils dose

so if anyone has any links to someone or is selling a 70's or 80's rickenbaker in any condition i'd be glad to hear from you!
thank you,
Kevin

[TheIdiotBox]

I'd say your best bet for that price would be a lawsuit-era copy (Ibanez, Greco etc). Either that or an old 4001/4003 in serious need of some parts.

[king of suede]

nah, i want the real thing

haha i've been seeing alot of 4001's from '72 and '73 missing the neck pickup and just being chewed up in every way still going for 500-1000 bucks! haha i guess i should just wait till i have more money, aye?

[TheIdiotBox]

Absolutely. If you really, REALLY want the real thing, save your money and keep watching eBay and your local classifieds all the time. Something will come up.

[Radiobass81]

You're giving us a budget less than $400, you want a 70's/80's Ric in good condition (even though new Rics are just as good as old Rics...), AND in sunburst? I've only seen two Rics in sunburst.

That's a pretty impossible job you're asking for us. A beat up new Ric is still more than $400.

Question: Have you played one, or are you simply buying it because of Cliff?

[tim_commerfordism]

Dude your not gonna get one for $370. Really. 123 with TheIdiotBox, some copies are suprisingly good. :thumb:

I got mine for £700 = $1700 approx.

BTW Cliff burton had a Rickenbacker with a P/J config i think. Mind you the tone still comes from the wood.

[Thonk]

Question: Have you played one, or are you simply buying it because of Cliff?
Seems like the latter.

[tim_commerfordism]

BTW Have you even played a Rickenbacker?

There is a difference between 4003's and 4001's. I personally prefer 4003's. I love the tone, for me it's perfect. Really twangy and clancky and I play aggressive which makes it even better.

[BassVirtuoso]

There's probably no way you're getting a working Ric for 400. It's because of the Ric that Cliff died anyway.

[tim_commerfordism]

There's probably no way you're getting a working Ric for 400. It's because of the Ric that Cliff died anyway.

lol!

Care to explain?

/throws Ric away so I don't die.

[BassVirtuoso]

Well it's a little known fact, that while Metallica was on the tour bus that was abotu to crash, Hammet and Burton drew cards to see who would get to sleep on the top bunk. Burton, wanting to be on top, looked at the first card by sneaking a glance at the reflection of it on his Rickenbacker pickup cover. His Ric showed that this was a 3, so he gave it to Hammet. Burton picked the Ace of Spades and slept on the top bunk. Later, the bus skidded causing Cliff to fly out of the window from his top bunk and get rolled over by the bus.

[pitchfork]

$370? you couldn't get a fender with that.
Seriously go and get a job or ask round trying to mow lawns or wash cars etc. if you aren't old enough.

Failing that rob a bank or two and you'll be a little closer to your target :lol:

[Radiobass81]

BTW Have you even played a Rickenbacker?

There is a difference between 4003's and 4001's. I personally prefer 4003's. I love the tone, for me it's perfect. Really twangy and clancky and I play aggressive which makes it even better.
4001's can only handle flats well. 4003's can handle both flats and rounds.

That's all, really. There isn't any difference tone-wise.

[tim_commerfordism]

4001's can only handle flats well. 4003's can handle both flats and rounds.

That's all, really. There isn't any difference tone-wise.

Agreed, but I'm pretty sure the neck's also different. I'm not a rocket scientist on the subject, but correct me if I'm wrong!

[Radiobass81]

The neck on 4003's are stronger to support rounds.

That's all I know of.

[tim_commerfordism]

The neck on 4003's are stronger to support rounds.

That's all I know of.

No, I thought 4001's had much slimmer necks because they only have 1 truss rod whereas 4003's have 2 and the neck is bigger. I like chunky neck's though so I'm fine.

I dunno. :p

[Jimbobntnr]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/guitars/rickenbacker/section-23.html

[BassVirtuoso]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/guitars/rickenbacker/section-23.html

For a second I thought you made a fake link to make fun of Rickenbackers. :lol:

[trumpeter]

stealing can be pretty cheap.

[Jimbobntnr]

yeah, q's and g's don't do well in links, eh?

[NavyBass]

You know, that whole thing about 4001's only supporting flats and 4003's able to do both is a complete myth. Yes, I know that it was stated in the Ric literature, but that was more of a ploy to get you to buy their flat wound strings.

I had a few 4001's in my time and strung them all with roundwound strings and they were fine.

Also, according to GHS and a few other string makers, Flatwound strings actually have MORE string tension than roundwounds, not less.

[Radiobass81]

^^ That always confused me, as I've always found flats a lot harder to play because of that.

I once heard it wasn't all 4001's that couldn't handle rounds, just the odd-one-out, but I'm never sure of anything regarding Rics anymore.

[NavyBass]

^^ That always confused me, as I've always found flats a lot harder to play because of that.



That's why I never understood Ric's statement about 4001's and flatwound strings.

I just have this funny feeling that it was their way to make money. They also stated that if the bass was strung with roundwound strings it voided the warranty. I wonder how many people had to needlessly pay for repair work because Ric claimed it was due to the roundwound strings.

[Radiobass81]

Maybe it was the fact that there was too little tension that screwed up the neck? Like that other possible myth that leaving a bass without strings for a long time screws up the neck (which I'm sure was right before, but necks are made with so much reinforcement and graphite crap it's not possible now)? I mean, besides that faq, I don't ever recall someone specifying it was because of TOO much tension.

[NavyBass]

Maybe it was the fact that there was too little tension that screwed up the neck? Like that other possible myth that leaving a bass without strings for a long time screws up the neck (which I'm sure was right before, but necks are made with so much reinforcement and graphite crap it's not possible now)? I mean, besides that faq, I don't ever recall someone specifying it was because of TOO much tension.

That's what Ric quoted to my friend when he wrote to ask them about the roundwound virsus flat wound argument. They claimed that roundwounds put more tension on the neck and the truss rods might not handle it.

[Radiobass81]

Bizarre.

[pitchfork]

Rickenbacker 4001's also give a less bassy sound becuase they don't have a transistor or something.
The newer 4003's have a switch to turn this new tranistor on and off to get the tone of both rics.
Also on the 4001's the pickup cover was part of the pickup I think.

Tis another difference.

[NavyBass]

Rickenbacker 4001's also give a less bassy sound becuase they don't have a transistor or something.
The newer 4003's have a switch to turn this new tranistor on and off to get the tone of both rics.
Also on the 4001's the pickup cover was part of the pickup I think.

Tis another difference.

The 4001's and early 4003's (up to 87) had a 3rd capacitor in the circuit which acted as a high pass filter. It passed the highs to the output and shunted the lows to ground. In 87 or 88, they took that cap out. Now, they put it back in with a switch to either activate or deactivate it.

The horshoe pickup was only used untill about 1970.

[jollygiantchris]

i recall reading about the flat/roundwound string issue with ricks and i dont remember the site but i believe it had to do with string tension warping the necks that only had one truss rod (the 4001s) and thats what rick claimed whether or not thats true i dunno but i also read that post-1982 all rickenbacker's were made with their dual truss rod neck

back to the topic theres no way in hell you will get a rick for 400 when i bought mine there was a mid 70s 4001 in horrible condition that was still selling for 800. and as far as new one's go rickenbacker is REALLY behind schedule due to their wanting to be viewed as a speciality maker so they can charge more there is a massive wait to get a new rick which drives the price of the used ones up a lot.

oh and i have a late 90s 4003 and its ****ing amazing :)