Hey TB, the day has finally come. After 30 years of playing bass, and owning at least 100 instruments in that time, I now own a Rickenbacker. Being a huge Geddy fan I've always lusted after that huge, snarly tone he got out of his Rick.
Here are my thoughts:
It's a satin black 2019 4003.
Fit/finish: No complaints and no surprises. I knew the finish would be super fragile (and it is), I knew the pick guard would be a cheap 1 ply piece of plastic. Everything feels high quality and super solid. Look like a million bucks. The finish/binding/inlays are a stunning package in person. It came with a Hipshot bridge, so you won't get any complaints about the stock one. Construction is as solid as any USA Fender I've owned, and they're basically the same price these days.
Feel: As a lifelong FSO player I was worried about the comfort of playing/holding/wearing the bass. The neck reminds me of my old Spector Euro, maybe a bit less rounded. It's definitely not a jazz, but also not unwieldy. I've sold said Euro and a few early 2000s Warwicks because of the huge necks, this one feels much better IMO. Starts thick and stays pretty consistent. The body binding surprisingly doesn't bother me. Maybe it's the smaller, thinner body, but I found that my arm doesn't come into contact with the sharp edges. It came with a treble bezel so thumb placement was easy. On a strap there is slight neck dive, but nothing that would keep me from playing it out on a gig. Setup is flat and medium low, plays great. I'd like to loosen the truss rods a bit to raise the action but when I went to adjust them the nuts came right off. Uhh. I guess I need to do some more homework before I give that another go. Seems unusually difficult and non-user friendly. Overall it plays pretty great as is.
Tone: This is the thing that surprised me most. I'm not in love with the sounds this beast produces. It can do Geddy 100%, but I've yet to find another satisfying tone. The neck pickup soloed is anemic and muffled, the 2 pickups mixed sounds muddy. I'm really surprised at the lack of high end. It's like it needs higher pot values. The exception being when you pull out the tone control which makes it super thin. Also, this is, without question, the noisiest bass I've ever played. I need to play it with my band to get a true assessment on this but so far, so meh.
Overall I'd say I'm happy. It's not the most versatile bass and has it's issues, but nothing that would be a deal breaker. I can't see a scenario where it would ever be my #1 but that's ok, I'm happy having it in the stable. If I keep it I'll definitely shield it and possibly replace the noisy pickups.