For sale 1999 Rickenbacker 4003 Fireglow

Dang. Lovely specimen. Can I just buy the case off you? . GLWS! This is in great shape.

Late 90's/ early 2000's. My faves. I dig it.

Awesome.

You may want to google “ Rickenbacker factory “ there are two videos I’m aware of. They tell the history of the company, and show you the guitars ,and basses being built. I love the fact that Rick has the solid one piece through the body neck. They are also very environmentally aware. The odd thing about Ricks is they don’t ( in my opinion only ) lend themselves to playing with your fingers. I can’t explain why. I had an early 1970s 4001 which sounded great with a pick, but as I play with my fingers,and so used to a Fender P bass neck I just couldn’t get the feel for it. But then again that’s ONLY ME ! I’m sure many play Ricks with their fingers. The necks are so different from Fender,so I’m sure mine is just a case of what I’ve been used to for over fifty years. Ricks are a high quality bass, and the prices reflect it. Andy Babuik in Rochester,New York has a huge selection of production ,and custom Ricks , I mean huge ! I’ve known him since he was a kid, but haven’t seen him in thirty years. Check out his store “Fab Gear” ( yes he’s the guy that has written the well known book on “ Beatles Gear “ ) With all that being said , I believe if one does play with a pick ,Ricks are the best sounding. McCartney put them over the top with the 4001. Now if the guy could only write memorable songs ,he may be on to something
As I’m not up on Rick basses is the 4003 a newer model that replaced the 4001 ? Good luck with the bass. I’m sure you’ll sell it.
With Regards,
Jake

Yeah, struggled to play with fingers on the 78 4001 I had, but I’ve learned to adapt with this one. Oh, and nowadays you can get a “zero-mod” thumb rest to assist with that also.
The abbreviated history is in 1980 Rick replaced the 4001 with 4003, reinforcing the neck with a double truss rod, and getting rid of the capacitor that gave that distinctive sound but took out a lot of low end. 2005 I believe they reintroduced that option for the capacitor on a pull up knob.

I’m glad no one told Geddy Lee he’d struggle with fingers on a Ric

Astroman said:

If you know RICs, you know the neck profiles can vary quite a bit.

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Sorry, I'm just wondering what does this means? Does the neck profile change frequently in design?

Yes, years ago I had 78 that had more of a Jazz profile neck. Before I purchased this one, I went to a friend of mine who has a collection of them from the 80s, 90s, 00‘s, and current. The new ones have a very unusual tapered block at the end which I didn’t care for. He had a 97 that was perfect in feel, but didn’t want to sell. From my research I figured this 99 would be the same, and it is. If you dig around on RIC forums you’ll see a lot of discussion about the changes over the decades.

I have a checkerboard binding toaster pickup 1970' Model 4001 in Black. The neck is stupid thin, and veeery flat as well.

is that an actual horseshoe pickup?

tangripper said:

is that an actual horseshoe pickup?

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I had to look at a picture to make sure, but no, that’s a standard stock pickup & cover.

Man that’s a beauty

Hi, is this still available?

Sure is!

Cool. Let's talk tomorrow and see how to make this work. Thanks!

I PM'd you