Looks pretty cool! Hot toasters with the short scale sounds like it would sound absolutely enormous, especially through my SUNN.
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New Rickenbacker 4030!
- Thread starter Bass4ThePublic
- Start date
Another new model from Ric! Super happy to see them expanding their bass product line!
However, I'm not a fan of short scale basses, so I'm not GAS-ing for a 4030.
It's great to see even further progresses from the newly liberated Rickenbacker. I like that it comes with 24 frets, but I'm looking forward to a 4002 and 4008 reissue, too.
I just wish they'd release more colours. A green, transparent green and/or sparkly green Rick 4003 is on my bucket list.
Just wish they'd build it for more than just a handful of collectors!
Just wish they'd build it for more than just a handful of collectors!
The checker binding stops either side of the central neck beam because they bind each body wing separately, then glue the wings onto the body. It would be very difficult to cut the binding ledge right up to the neck joint at the heel end. They've done it that way forever. Cool bass, although the bridge position so far up the body makes it look like a guitar. The richlite board looks great, and nearly all the jet black ebony you see these days has been dyed to look like that, not sure why that would be a deal breaker.
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This should have the newer single truss rod and thinner neck profile like this year's 4003. I say "should" since it's still a 4003 body. I need to buy one to go with the Ruby I got in Jan 2023...
Wow, that ruby is gorgeous. I saw a Ruby 4003 in a GC of all places, it hung on the wall for a month, which really surprised me. Maybe the most impeccable finish I've ever seen on a Ric. I've graduated to almost exclusively 32" scale, but I'd like to try a 30" someday. The scale gets shorter as my hands get older.
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I had the same thought about it looking like a guitar! I dig the black hardware and the fingerboard looks nice, I haven't ever tried a Richlite board but considering how overharvested a lot of boutique woods are, it seems like a reasonable alternative if you want that solid black look that we associate with Ebony (even if Ebony is rarely all black like that).
The break in the binding isn't nearly as obvious on the standard scale 4003 models because the bridge fills that space. It's one of those little things that can be an indicator of a fake Rick (if the binding goes all the way around that is). It does seem a lot more obvious when the bridge is in that position. I think the tailpieces on the guitar models also cover up the gap. I suppose a 4003 with a 330 or 620 style tailpiece would also look strange though...
I tried "Rocklite Ebano", which is some kind of actual wood infused with resin and jet black dye, it looks nearly identical to ebony, and machines and sands like any other hardwood. Unfortunately that company went under during Covid, but now there are a bunch of companies experimenting with (and selling) ebony and rosewood substitutes. Let the violin and cello makers have the true jet black ebony, IMO (while it lasts). The knock I've heard on Richlite is that it's basically compressed layers of paper, infused with resin and dye, so it can have "witness marks" where the final sanding exposes the transition from one layer to another. Not seeing that on the 4030 pics, in which case looks good to me. It's a very hard, dense material that mimics ebony pretty well. The Squire Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz used a lined Richlite "Ebanol" board, and it "mwahs" like a champ. Maybe the cork sniffers could hear some incredibly subtle tonal difference between that and ebony, I myself could not.
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Zon Basses use something called "famowood" for their fingerboards, I Know it's been used for knife scales for years. Pretty sure this one Michael Manring plays is the same material, or another very much like Richlite. It's the "responsible" way to treat a dwindling natural resource. Sounds pretty good to me!
Interesting news! They really should make it with chrome hardware too, though. Now, what they really should introduce is a shortscale bass version of the 620 guitar!
At the risk of starting off another argument about tonewood, I'm of the opinion that the wood in the fretboard matters somewhat, but it ranks below things like strings, pickups, technique, amp and pedal settings, so in the end it's not a huge difference. As long as it looks ok and holds up I don't think I'd object to a composite board.
