How Exactly Has Rick Quality Went Down

[UK Philip]

Ehh, the new 4003S looks like a killer. I'm gassing hard for it, both in my dreams and in the waking hours.

There does appear to be a "Ric guy" stereotype for a reason, though. You could do a good satire of the mentality...

So what if the pickguard isn't 100% straight. What do you expect, a mass-produced instrument?

What do you mean when you say that the finish is rubbing off on your bare hands? Don't you know that a Ric from that period has to be stored in a special temperature-controlled bunker to keep it playing right? That is your fault, not theirs! If you aren't knowledgeable you deserve to suffer you worthless novice!

If the neck on your new 2k bass bows like a fishing rod with a 10lb carp on the end, something must have happened to it when you were carrying it from the store to the car. You probably damaged it when you let the breeze hit the case because its definitely not Ric's fault! Were you chanting any protection prayers at all?!

Their official forums have this odd culture where everyone is acquiescent - to the point of self-sabotage - because they don't want to offend the boss. I've seen people on there brushing terrible faults under the rug, and others blaming themselves for not knowing how to fix instruments that should never have been sold.

 

[Ric5]

I can't really put into words how much I want a white 4003S

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Ehh, the new 4003S looks like a killer, but when it comes to the the wood tone options, there are definitely better ones than others. I've seen knots/blemishes.

Ric fanboys are deserving of their own humourous stereotype, though. There's a lot of not being able to see the wood for the trees, similar to Apple enthusiasts.

So what if the pickguard isn't 100% straight. What do you expect, a mass-produced instrument?

What do you mean when you say that the finish is rubbing off on your bare hands? Don't you know that a Ric from that period has to be kept in a special temperature-controlled bunker to keep it playing right? That is your fault, not theirs! If you aren't knowledgeable you deserve to suffer you worthless novice!

If the neck on your new 2k bass bows like a fishing rod with a 10lb carp on the end, something must have happened to it when you were carrying it from the store to the car. You probably damaged it when you let the breeze hit the case because its definitely not Ric's fault! Were you chanting any protection prayers?

Their official forums have this odd culture where everyone is acquiescent - to the point of self-sabotage - because they don't want to offend the boss. I've seen people on there brushing terrible faults under the rug, and others blaming themselves for not knowing how to fix things that shouldn't have even left the factory.

There is an almost revolting Sycophancy and deference to John Hall on Rickresource and the Rickenbacker forum itself that makes open discussion of certain verboten topics off limits. Both forums are fine technical resources as long as the "third rail" subjects are avoided, such as QC problems, bad CS, and the dreaded "bridge tail lift" issue. Its interesting to see otherwise highly intelligent people bend over backwards to rationalize simple manufacturing defects as either unimportant, the buyers fault, or simply to deny that problems exist, as if any mass-produced object could be perfect. I think most of Rics current problems arise from the heavy demand and backlog, they are under a lot of pressure to get stuff out the door. I suppose people wouldn't care much if these instruments, warts and all, were not so striking visually, and unique sonically. I used to get aggravated about this stuff, i'm over it. I still love them, go figure.

 

[Korladis]

Very cool. I always like a story where an old soul bass gets a new life.

Yeah. It's still a bit weird, slightly buzzy in the lower frets... but I pretty much always play with a bit of overdrive, so it's not really noticeable when plugged in and turned up. It's a 4001, but has 2010 4003 electronics. Finish is basically a blue version of fireglo.

I want another one for BEAD tuning, though.

I've never had any more problems with a Rickenbacker than I've had with any other bass. They are different, not like a Fender, but if you know what your doing and can do your own setups, you can make them really sing. I think a lot of guitar store " set-up professionals " frown on them because they them out of their bread and butter comfort zone and then they talk smack about them.

At least the old ones. The new ones have dual truss rods, sure, but they work the same way as the truss rod of any other bass now.

Such a cool look. Though I would actually prefer chrome/white trim.

My plan is to leave my current 4001 in EADG tuning (because now, with all the glue that the repair required, it needs the tension), and to get a white S model for BEAD tuning. Obviously this is a very long term, "when I have the money" kind of plan. I would be using it in my doom metal band. I suppose it's a bit weird to use a white instrument in a metal band, but hey, it would stand out.

There is an almost revolting Sycophancy and deference to John Hall on Rickresource and the Rickenbacker forum itself that makes open discussion of certain verboten topics off limits. Both forums are fine technical resources as long as the "third rail" subjects are avoided, such as QC problems, bad CS, and the dreaded "bridge tail lift" issue. Its interesting to see otherwise highly intelligent people bend over backwards to rationalize simple manufacturing defects as either unimportant, the buyers fault, or simply to deny that problems exist, as if any mass-produced object could be perfect. I think most of Rics current problems arise from the heavy demand and backlog, they are under a lot of pressure to get stuff out the door. I suppose people wouldn't care much if these instruments, warts and all, were not so striking visually, and unique sonically. I used to get aggravated about this stuff, i'm over it. I still love them, go figure.

The way I look at it, they just have their issues, like all mass produced instruments do. The reason people get all weird about Rickenbacker issues is because they're different from Fender issues, which people more familiar with those instruments just kind of accept as the nature of the beast. People also go "you can get better basses for the money!" Maybe. But you can't get that feel (the main reason I love Rickenbackers) or that sound very many other places unless you go full custom. What I can't figure out, actually, though, is why. You can't copy Rickenbacker's aesthetic designs, but there's nothing keeping anyone from copying their neck profiles or their pickup placement... the main reasons for the feel and the sound. As Ric5 has demonstrated in his parts builds before, you can get pretty dead-on to the Rickenbacker sounds by throwing a couple single coils in the same pickup positions that they use. Yet I can't think of a major manufacturer that does so.

I would agree that what problems you do see these days are probably mostly from them being slammed as far as demand.

 

[Ric5]

My plan is to leave my current 4001 in EADG tuning (because now, with all the glue that the repair required, it needs the tension), and to get a white S model for BEAD tuning. Obviously this is a very long term, "when I have the money" kind of plan. I would be using it in my doom metal band. I suppose it's a bit weird to use a white instrument in a metal band, but hey, it would stand out.

Ricks are excellent for metal ... try tuning one DGCF

 

[Milo Spleen]

But are they the BEST for metal, and are they the best in "Ric-O-Sound" or Standard?

 

[Korladis]

Ricks are excellent for metal ... try tuning one DGCF

DGCF tuning really isn't for me unless I'm in a band where everyone is tuned to D (and even then, I'd probably continually lobby to go back up to E or all the way down to B... purely so that I can be really lazy about buying strings). Pretty much keep my basses in either EADG or BEAD. For my doom metal band I use my modded Peavey, which is in BEAD. Have used my Rickenbacker for various metal projects including a band I used to be in. Mostly black metal. Now that the neck is okay, I really want to avoid tuning (and therefore tension) experimentation with it.

 

[Ric5]

But are they the BEST for metal, and are they the best in "Ric-O-Sound" or Standard?

I have played Rics since 1973 ... I never used Ric-o-sound on stage ... and a lot of my Rics were mono.

 

[gwangi]

Since this thread is being brought up I was looking at all the 4003, 4003S and 4004cii at Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Amps, Accessories & more | Wildwood Guitars and one thing I noticed was on all the 4003 basses the string spacing on the E string side was kind of far inward from the outer edge of the fingerboard and if you notice the string alignment as it crosses path over the front (neck) pickup the pole pieces don't line up under the string.
Now if you look at the 4003S bass the fireglo one the strings have nice spacing on the fingerboard especially from both outer edges from the fingeboard and the strings cross nicely over the front (neck) pickup over the pole pieces.
I'm pretty anal about looking over instruments and seeing if there are any flaws but it is apparent on all the 4003 basses, if you have a chance go to Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Amps, Accessories & more | Wildwood Guitars and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Korladis]

But are they the BEST for metal, and are they the best in "Ric-O-Sound" or Standard?

Yes. They are the best for metal.

And whether mono or stereo works best depends on your band's sound. I'm pretty sure Al Cisneros of Sleep (and Om) uses his in stereo mode, since he often has a guitar rig as well as a bass rig that he's running through. He could be splitting the signal later, though.

 

[P. Aaron]

Like any maker, it helps to play a few. I love my new Dimension Deluxe but even there, Fender could have put a little more thought into it.

Rickenbackers look very nice. There are probably tons of them that work just fine. Just run the rack.