Crazy 4003 deal

[Engine207]

Somebody in SoCal grab this before it's too late...

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[bassteban]

This belongs in *hot deals*

 

[Buskman]

Definitely a great deal, but the ad description has me a bit confused:

"1983 Specially designed, limited edition made specifically to use round wound strings."

 

[wdinc01]

I wish I could took a picture of my face. I made a really slow "Whhhhaaaatttt?!?!?!". Very good deal.

 

[JulienJeff]

my first reaction when i saw the price was "this is certainly a fake"

 

[Delta_Petra]

Psh, I don't care what it says, its getting a set of flats!

 

[RickenBoogie]

If it isn't, it's the deal-o-the decade.

 

[mndean]

Where's the ubiquitous "It must be stolen" post from a Ric owner?

 

[Delta_Petra]

It must be stolen.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I have a vague memory of some urban myth that older 4001's wouldn't support RotoSound strings as their tension was too high - and this user might be confusing roundwound for rotosounds... I dunno...

But this price seems too low

 

[thedude77md]

If this is legit it's almost worth the cost of a flight from Baltimore for this puppy. Too bad I can't afford either!

 

[Infernal Affair]

He probably means it has the dual truss rod system which can support roundwounds. This might be a 4001. I had a 4001 near that year (I think 84) and 82-85 was a blurry year when they were transitioning models. It'd have to be verified with a serial number.

But yeah. This is really cheap.

 

[capnjim]

geez..its a scam

 

[RobJ]

I have a vague memory of some urban myth that older 4001's wouldn't support RotoSound strings as their tension was too high - and this user might be confusing roundwound for rotosounds... I dunno...

But this price seems too low

Not exactly an urban myth; I have personal experience with this happening to my first '72 4001 back in the late '70s and still have copies of the back and forth letters with Francis C. Hall (RIC CEO John Hall's father) to prove it.

This isn't to say every 4001 had this problem, it depends on the bass. My current '72 4001, which I bought from the original owner about 10 years ago, was strung with Rotosound steel rounds all its life with no issue. I have it strung with Rotosound nickle rounds now and it loves them as well.

and yes, the price seems pretty low.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Very true about the 4001 necks. Some could handle the higher tension, some couldn't. I had one of each. ('76 & '77) But if those old basses were gonna have trouble, it would've revealed itself years ago. I think this particular early model 4003 is being sold by someone who hasn't done their homework on it's value. Someone should jump on it.

 

[Engine207]

This isn't to say every 4001 had this problem, it depends on the bass. My current '72 4001, which I bought from the original owner about 10 years ago, was strung with Rotosound steel rounds all its life with no issue. I have it strung with Rotosound nickle rounds now and it loves them as well.

and yes, the price seems pretty low.

I bought my '80 4001 brand new at Biasco Music in Chicago. The salesman, seeing that I was wearing my "A Farewell to Kings" t-shirt, gave me a rather long yet eloquent soliloquy about not putting roundwound strings on it.

Well, if Rotos were good enough for Geddy, they're good enough for me!! So, like any self-respecting Rush fan with a Ric, I had mine strung with nothing but Rotos until I discovered R. Cocco rounds two years ago. I haven't seen any untoward effects on Old Reliable's neck at all...