So after about a year wait… my 4005xc arrived. It started out as me wanting an acoustic bass to noodle around with unplugged at home. It ended with this…
Lets start with the obvious… it is gorgeous! Sure the 330 body is a bit like a red pacman… but imho it is one of rickenbackers most iconic shapes. If this bass enters a room… everyone will notice.
I have three cosmetic suggestions:
- 330 style headstock
- the stickers NEED TO GO!
- i love the 70’s style crushed pearl inlays… but i wish they were lighter to pop more.
but at the end of the day we have an immaculately finished bass with DOUBLE checker binding… and a fireglo that is INTENSE!!! This is imho an incredible looking instrument that is just so unique in the bass world.
Notable features include the skunk stripe, vintage style clear truss rod cover back-painted white, and toasters on rubber stilts.
Playability:
I am a finger-style player that recently has swapped mostly to pick. I am also a jazz/4003 player who has been recently putting most of my time into a five string Dingwall 37” multiscale bass. So a ~30 inch scale with straight frets took about as much time to get accustomed to as it took me to get used to the Dingwall the first time… i.e. not long but it took a few minutes.
For pick it is amazing. I play it in a high position and rest my right forarm on the body, and my picking position is ideal… very guitar like. Big surprise! Sitting… the dimensions of the bass make it my favourite to play with pick. It feels right.
Access to the 24 frets is 100% unrestricted. Top marks on the neck, which feels like the same profile as a 4003. The action is low and perfect. No complaints. My biggest adjustment is that the bridge position compared to my 37” has me often drifting closer to the bridge.
Finger-style… i need more time. Sitting; i need to angle my wrist more than i prefer to, or i play near the bridge. Standing… sorry guys but here is where is gets less ideal.
Standing with this bass is a reminder this is a bass neck on a guitar body… not a carefully balanced object. This is not a heavy bass… but it has neck dive predictably. My suede straps hold it… but it needs support. Standing fingerstyle, i drop it a bit to get my wrist closer to straight and anchor my thumb in the neck pickup. Picking… i rest my right forearm on the body. Both keep the bass pointing properly.
Sometimes i like to play with a very neck up, body down position for better access (dingwall 5er). The neck and general body shape say “Not happening here…” but easy access to all frets makes it not a requirement, so i run a more traditional angle of play.
Smell:
It is only day 2, but the semihollow body makes this have that great new bass smell far more than any other bass i have had. Love it!
Sound:
Acoustically it is semihollowbody… but has a nice tone for unplugged playing. Solid for playing around at home. not acoustic loud… but way louder than any unplugged electric.
as far as tone goes i am a huge fan of the neck pickup. It is very balanced. I am not saying it sounds pbass… but it has that middle if the road p bass versatility. I did not a/b compare it to my ric… but my first impression was that sounds like it is somewhere between a neck and bridge position on a 4003.
The bridge pickup predictably has a very treble tone… and i dont see much utility soloing it. My early favourite tones are the neck soloed, Or both on with the bridge pickup dialled back slightly. Kind of the reverse of what i like on my 4003’s.
One last thought… yes it is single truss rod. And yes I read that one broke off at the weld. And yes mine has a scary looking weld. *** ricenbacker?
Final thoughts:
There is no doubt this is a ric. It is that gorgeous look that is polarizing to many (turned up to 11 in both looks and ability to polarize) and a unique but very ric sound. This is combined with no shortage of Rickenbacker quirks, and a price to match the model number.
So is it a keeper or a flipper? For me it is 100% a keeper and i cant stop playing it. And when i am not playing it… i am positioning it where i can enjoy it’s beauty.
now… time to scrape off those stickers…. :-0
Lets start with the obvious… it is gorgeous! Sure the 330 body is a bit like a red pacman… but imho it is one of rickenbackers most iconic shapes. If this bass enters a room… everyone will notice.
I have three cosmetic suggestions:
- 330 style headstock
- the stickers NEED TO GO!
- i love the 70’s style crushed pearl inlays… but i wish they were lighter to pop more.
but at the end of the day we have an immaculately finished bass with DOUBLE checker binding… and a fireglo that is INTENSE!!! This is imho an incredible looking instrument that is just so unique in the bass world.
Notable features include the skunk stripe, vintage style clear truss rod cover back-painted white, and toasters on rubber stilts.
Playability:
I am a finger-style player that recently has swapped mostly to pick. I am also a jazz/4003 player who has been recently putting most of my time into a five string Dingwall 37” multiscale bass. So a ~30 inch scale with straight frets took about as much time to get accustomed to as it took me to get used to the Dingwall the first time… i.e. not long but it took a few minutes.
For pick it is amazing. I play it in a high position and rest my right forarm on the body, and my picking position is ideal… very guitar like. Big surprise! Sitting… the dimensions of the bass make it my favourite to play with pick. It feels right.
Access to the 24 frets is 100% unrestricted. Top marks on the neck, which feels like the same profile as a 4003. The action is low and perfect. No complaints. My biggest adjustment is that the bridge position compared to my 37” has me often drifting closer to the bridge.
Finger-style… i need more time. Sitting; i need to angle my wrist more than i prefer to, or i play near the bridge. Standing… sorry guys but here is where is gets less ideal.
Standing with this bass is a reminder this is a bass neck on a guitar body… not a carefully balanced object. This is not a heavy bass… but it has neck dive predictably. My suede straps hold it… but it needs support. Standing fingerstyle, i drop it a bit to get my wrist closer to straight and anchor my thumb in the neck pickup. Picking… i rest my right forearm on the body. Both keep the bass pointing properly.
Sometimes i like to play with a very neck up, body down position for better access (dingwall 5er). The neck and general body shape say “Not happening here…” but easy access to all frets makes it not a requirement, so i run a more traditional angle of play.
Smell:
It is only day 2, but the semihollow body makes this have that great new bass smell far more than any other bass i have had. Love it!
Sound:
Acoustically it is semihollowbody… but has a nice tone for unplugged playing. Solid for playing around at home. not acoustic loud… but way louder than any unplugged electric.
as far as tone goes i am a huge fan of the neck pickup. It is very balanced. I am not saying it sounds pbass… but it has that middle if the road p bass versatility. I did not a/b compare it to my ric… but my first impression was that sounds like it is somewhere between a neck and bridge position on a 4003.
The bridge pickup predictably has a very treble tone… and i dont see much utility soloing it. My early favourite tones are the neck soloed, Or both on with the bridge pickup dialled back slightly. Kind of the reverse of what i like on my 4003’s.
One last thought… yes it is single truss rod. And yes I read that one broke off at the weld. And yes mine has a scary looking weld. *** ricenbacker?
Final thoughts:
There is no doubt this is a ric. It is that gorgeous look that is polarizing to many (turned up to 11 in both looks and ability to polarize) and a unique but very ric sound. This is combined with no shortage of Rickenbacker quirks, and a price to match the model number.
So is it a keeper or a flipper? For me it is 100% a keeper and i cant stop playing it. And when i am not playing it… i am positioning it where i can enjoy it’s beauty.
now… time to scrape off those stickers…. :-0
Last edited:
