A question.

Don't buy the warranty.

The manufacturer warranty is generally enough for most issues. You are buying a bass, not a 70" TV.....not a lot can go wrong with a passive bass within the first few years.

Buy the bass if it sounds, plays and more importantly... feels good to you.

 

Which other instruments did you try there? They usually have a big selection of Fenders at the Lexington store.

 

If you look around you can get a better deal than that. Ricks come with a one year warranty on the finish and a five year warranty on everything else and it starts from manufacture date.

 

You can get better deals sometimes from places like GC, MF etc, especially around holidays when they run discounts. I got mine holiday time for about 1600.00 total shipped. You have 30 days to try it out and if you don't like it send it back or bring it to a store near you if you have one. You will lose your shipping cost though. Ricks are very easy to setup and intonate contrary to popular belief, and you can get a super low action with patience if that is what you desire. The bridge design is a bit dated, and the body has no contours so you may find it digging into your arm at first until you adjust to it. But you will will probably either end up loving it or hating it! Doesn't seem to be a lot of folks on the middle ground! Good luck!

 

$1600 wasn't bad, but you can definitely gets a better price than $1800. Call or email Pick of the Ricks and Wildwood Guitars. They're the guys to buy a Ric from. I got mine at POTR, nothing but a great experience all the way around.

As for your second question about justifying a purchase, only you can answer that. If you like it and can afford it, go for it!

 

Umm.....if you earned the money and didn't steal it from the corner liquor store then that's all the "justification" you need to buy what you want. Anyone who says different (or anyone who disagrees with lug) is incorrect to put it mildly.

 

and got a 68 4001 a year or so later...both purchased new - I never really warmed up to the Ric...

Then 40 years later I started again with a 4003 (11) and picked up a Jbass (09) a bit later - both used ... This time I can't warm up to the Fender

I recommend buying used, if it doesn't work out, you have a reasonable resell option that minimizes loss or maaaaaaaaaybe you can break even...

 

Try a few Jazzes. Ask Bob for a recommendation.

 

If you are experiencing hand issues with a narrow Fender neck, then a wider Rick neck will make it worse.

Disclaimer: I don't have either bass in front of me, I am simply going by the OPs statement that the Rick felt wider.

 

Yeah, I myself feel more comfortable with a wider, flatter neck. The most comfortable bass I've had recently was my SX Ursa 1 )P-bass copy) with a 1 3/4'' wide nut and a 15" radius. It was much more comfortable than my MIA Jazz and Squier VM J necks. Not that the Jazzes aren't a joy to play, just that the SX felt noticeably better to me.
Question: What is the fretboard radius on a Ric?

 

That would be enough for me not to buy it. If it doesn't feel GREAT, why not keep looking?