Ever since I saw the cover of Deep Purple's Machine Head, I've always obsessed over the Rickenbacker bass. This week I finally got a nice used (2018) 4003s in midnight blue, and I absolutely love it so far.
Originally, I was sure that I wanted a 4003 (with the body binding (and sharp corners)), but I was worried about the ergonomics, based on everything I'd read. Also, I wanted one of the colors other than black and red. I did see a bunch of "burgundyglo" (wine red or maroon) from the 70s and 80s that I thought were beautiful. However, I quickly found that any color other than black or fire engine red (or the various clear coat walnut and maple) was going to double the price, especially on the old "vintage" ones. (I still can't get my head around calling anything from the 70's "vintage".) The burgundyglo Ricks all were running $4-6K, the few midnight blue ones I saw had similar "color premium" pricing.
I recently watched Rockshow (McCartney and Wings during the Wings over America tour), and I've always loved the bass tone Paul got on that record, and I knew it was a Rick. However, I was surprised to see him playing a 4003S, and thought it looked pretty nice. Maybe the body binding wasn't going to be a non-starter.
Then I happened to see this one come across Reverb for about $300 more than the "standard" colors. I thought there were pluses and minuses with the body binding and sharp edges, and they're basically the same bass other than the aesthetics, so I pulled the trigger.
Playing it for the past few days has convinced me that I made the correct choice, as it's very comfortable. It's much more comfortable than my Gibson Thunderbird (although I've kind of adopted the "shift the body to the right" mode to address that bass' problems in that department). The 4003S fits me perfectly as is, which I didn't expect since I'd been mostly a Fender guy for most of my life. My right arm seems to fit perfectly in the top cut-out. So, I don't think ergonomics are going to be a problem with this bass.
One thing I didn't expect was that it's built like a tank. I always thought with all the cosmetics that it would be, I don't know, a frilly instrument. The neck on this beast is substantial. Comfortable, but seems really solid (more so than any of my Fender or Gibson necks, aside from the 1990 Les Paul bass, which is its own kind of tank).
The one thing I'm still getting used to is the odd "rosewood" color of the fingerboard. (I would call it "orangewood" instead.) I think I read it's a more renewable kind of rosewood, so there's that. I guess I'm still too used to the darker Indian rosewood fingerboards I grew up with.
Changed the strings from the nice round wounds that came with it (wonder if they were RotoSounds?) to my usual favorite LaBella Deep Talkin' flat wounds. This really gave the bass a completely different feel (and of course, sound). I guess I'm just being a McCartney fan boy, as I'm sure he got his tone by using flats. Anyway, now it feels even more comfortable.
The first picture was taken by me in my kitchen. The light in there is too muted, so the rest of the pictures are from the Reverb listing, which shows the blue color much more clearly.
Originally, I was sure that I wanted a 4003 (with the body binding (and sharp corners)), but I was worried about the ergonomics, based on everything I'd read. Also, I wanted one of the colors other than black and red. I did see a bunch of "burgundyglo" (wine red or maroon) from the 70s and 80s that I thought were beautiful. However, I quickly found that any color other than black or fire engine red (or the various clear coat walnut and maple) was going to double the price, especially on the old "vintage" ones. (I still can't get my head around calling anything from the 70's "vintage".) The burgundyglo Ricks all were running $4-6K, the few midnight blue ones I saw had similar "color premium" pricing.
I recently watched Rockshow (McCartney and Wings during the Wings over America tour), and I've always loved the bass tone Paul got on that record, and I knew it was a Rick. However, I was surprised to see him playing a 4003S, and thought it looked pretty nice. Maybe the body binding wasn't going to be a non-starter.
Then I happened to see this one come across Reverb for about $300 more than the "standard" colors. I thought there were pluses and minuses with the body binding and sharp edges, and they're basically the same bass other than the aesthetics, so I pulled the trigger.
Playing it for the past few days has convinced me that I made the correct choice, as it's very comfortable. It's much more comfortable than my Gibson Thunderbird (although I've kind of adopted the "shift the body to the right" mode to address that bass' problems in that department). The 4003S fits me perfectly as is, which I didn't expect since I'd been mostly a Fender guy for most of my life. My right arm seems to fit perfectly in the top cut-out. So, I don't think ergonomics are going to be a problem with this bass.
One thing I didn't expect was that it's built like a tank. I always thought with all the cosmetics that it would be, I don't know, a frilly instrument. The neck on this beast is substantial. Comfortable, but seems really solid (more so than any of my Fender or Gibson necks, aside from the 1990 Les Paul bass, which is its own kind of tank).
The one thing I'm still getting used to is the odd "rosewood" color of the fingerboard. (I would call it "orangewood" instead.) I think I read it's a more renewable kind of rosewood, so there's that. I guess I'm still too used to the darker Indian rosewood fingerboards I grew up with.
Changed the strings from the nice round wounds that came with it (wonder if they were RotoSounds?) to my usual favorite LaBella Deep Talkin' flat wounds. This really gave the bass a completely different feel (and of course, sound). I guess I'm just being a McCartney fan boy, as I'm sure he got his tone by using flats. Anyway, now it feels even more comfortable.
The first picture was taken by me in my kitchen. The light in there is too muted, so the rest of the pictures are from the Reverb listing, which shows the blue color much more clearly.
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