I can’t tell much from this picture. I will say this however. I owned a 1974 4001 I bought new and owned it for 34 years. I recently played a new 4003 and by comparison, the 4003 seemed like it was made in a third world country.
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New Rickenbacker quality?
- Thread starter TakePride
- Start date
I can’t tell much from this picture. I will say this however. I owned a 1974 4001 I bought new and owned it for 34 years. I recently played a new 4003 and by comparison, the 4003 seemed like it was made in a third world country.
Rickenbacker quality is iffy at best. A number of years ago I bought a new 4003SW. Was a beautiful bass. BUT.....it had the worst fretwork I have ever seen. Sharp edges enough to cut yourself on both sides of the neck. How it left the factory that way is beyond me! I had a $200 Harley Benton that put it to shame in regards to the fretwork! I even called Rickenbacker about and they just gave me attitude!
Since I was a beautiful bass, I kept it and had to re-dress all the frets myself.
Since I was a beautiful bass, I kept it and had to re-dress all the frets myself.
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^^^Fret Sprout has no Prejudice against Expensive or Cheap basses. Wood is alive and shrinks and grows based on humidity.
My only concern about newer Ricks is the single truss rod. I'm one of the few fans of the dual Rods and original bridge. I will keep my 2016 forever.
The Fire-glo at Sweetwater looks fine to me. The angle of the picture is probably causing it to look a tad askew. I wouldn't fret for a moment.
My only concern about newer Ricks is the single truss rod. I'm one of the few fans of the dual Rods and original bridge. I will keep my 2016 forever.
The Fire-glo at Sweetwater looks fine to me. The angle of the picture is probably causing it to look a tad askew. I wouldn't fret for a moment.
Having done my share of photo searching, particularly on Rics as I was building my first clone, It's almost impossible to find a bass photo online with NO parallax, or at least a little lens distortion. If the body is photographed dead-flat on (rare), the neck usually isn't, and vice-versa. Ric does all the basic machining on CNC now, so they'd have to work pretty hard to lose centerline. They seem to have solved (finally) the peeling finish issues. The most recent I've seen in stores (around 6 months ago) were immaculate. Both Jetglo's, which were the prime candidates for finish "bubbles" in the clearcoat, and they were flawless. If you buy one through Sweetwater, Wildwood, or another reputable dealer who will accept returns on a lemon, it's a pretty safe bet buying a brand new one. The Ric warranty itself is still fairly worthless, since you have to eat one-way shipping to CA, but that's moot if the seller allows returns.
The jury is still out on if a modern DA trussrod is an improvement over the previous SA rods. People always rave about how stable the old hairpins were on the 4001, but that was not my experience. My 78' 4001 had a bad case of "noodle-neck", which Is why I eventually sold it. Ric hasn't cornered the market on Bass Build Tech, and virtually the entire industry has switched over to modern DA trussrods, now Ric has just joined that club around 15 years late. If nothing else, the neck/headstock joint either side of the TRC (which is where a Ric will break if dropped) is considerably stronger without all that extra wood hogged out for double. AFAIK, Alembic is the only major builder left using double rods on a 4-string. This photo shows just how little wood remains under/around a Ric headstock with double rods, I don't think most people realize how fragile that is. I've seen one pop off like this in person, and it was around a 30" drop, face down off a stand. Gibson Les Paul's suffer from this too, except MUCH worse.
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Looks like the strings are just off center of the fretboard, that’s all. But a Jetglo 4003 would cure most apprehensions about the stripe.
I recently bought a 4003ac from Sweetwater, it’s fantastic. QC is great.
I had reservations about buying it as I had a 4005xc that had a tight truss rod that ended up breaking when I tried to adjust it. Fortunately I sent my warranty in (they give you 10 days to register) and Rickenbacker sent me a new replacement bass.
I don’t think I’ll have the same issue with this one, I checked the truss rod and it felt good. I think you’ll be fine as long as you get that warranty registered asap. Also, I believe Sweetwater has a great return policy.
I had reservations about buying it as I had a 4005xc that had a tight truss rod that ended up breaking when I tried to adjust it. Fortunately I sent my warranty in (they give you 10 days to register) and Rickenbacker sent me a new replacement bass.
I don’t think I’ll have the same issue with this one, I checked the truss rod and it felt good. I think you’ll be fine as long as you get that warranty registered asap. Also, I believe Sweetwater has a great return policy.
That’s good news about them replacing the whole bass, under John Hall the typical response was far less customer friendly.
Mine is excellent! Really enjoy everything about it, I got a Jetglo 4003s so as far as centering I couldn’t tell you. Mine has the thin D shape neck and I really love it, I also have a 1985 that has pretty much a jazz C shape, the pickups in the new one are way more lively than that one, the ‘85 seems mellow in comparison, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just different.
These new Rickenbackers are seriously the best they’ve been in a long time. Over the past 10 years they have had various changes here and there. I’m glad they put this one out, lacquered board, updated bridge, vintage tone control, single truss rod, monster sounding pickups, slim neck.
Besides the chonky necks they were putting out, I actually really like everything about Rickenbcakers. But this new one fixes all the typical complaints, other than the body shape!
These new Rickenbackers are seriously the best they’ve been in a long time. Over the past 10 years they have had various changes here and there. I’m glad they put this one out, lacquered board, updated bridge, vintage tone control, single truss rod, monster sounding pickups, slim neck.
Besides the chonky necks they were putting out, I actually really like everything about Rickenbcakers. But this new one fixes all the typical complaints, other than the body shape!
They cater to hands down one of the most if not easily the most loyal and fanatical consumer bases around. For all the bad rap certain Gibson instruments get for being status symbols and association with certain hate groups, none embodies it more than a Ric. Theres no need for top quality worksmanship or proper attention to detail when the people you cater to will find every mental loophole to excuse your substandard craft mostly due to the overwhelming pride they feel towards the flag depicted on the 50 cent sticker they come plastered with.
I had a '22 or '23, can't remember which, and the center line was most definitely not aligned with the bridge. I am sure it was mechanically fine but it triggered my OCD too much and I got rid of it. I also couldn't get the action as low as I wanted with the new bridge design - the saddles bottomed out before it got to where I usually like it (4/64").
I now have one that's a few years older with the old bridge and everything and I far prefer it to the newer ones I've tried. No issues with setup, fit, or finish and it sounds glorious. I guess it just depends on the luck of the draw.
I now have one that's a few years older with the old bridge and everything and I far prefer it to the newer ones I've tried. No issues with setup, fit, or finish and it sounds glorious. I guess it just depends on the luck of the draw.
The 4003S I purchased in 2022 was one of the worst made instruments I've seen in years. Without question, all my Squiers are better built instruments. I don't know if what you're seeing is a problem, but IME, there ARE problems.
Is there a strip of finish missing on the edge of the bass centre block (where there is a gap in tbe binding)? That would be more of a worry for me.
I really hope I never find out if My 4003 can survive a drop on the headstock. I would have to think my 2016 4003 has a stronger neck than, say, a Gibson Les Paul. Those Les Pauls always break at the Scarf joint when dropped.The jury is still out on if a modern DA trussrod is an improvement over the previous SA rods. People always rave about how stable the old hairpins were on the 4001, but that was not my experience. My 78' 4001 had a bad case of "noodle-neck", which Is why I eventually sold it. Ric hasn't cornered the market on Bass Build Tech, and virtually the entire industry has switched over to modern DA trussrods, now Ric has just joined that club around 15 years late. If nothing else, the neck/headstock joint either side of the TRC (which is where a Ric will break if dropped) is considerably stronger without all that extra wood hogged out for double. AFAIK, Alembic is the only major builder left using double rods on a 4-string. This photo shows just how little wood remains under/around a Ric headstock with double rods, I don't think most people realize how fragile that is. I've seen one pop off like this in person, and it was around a 30" drop, face down off a stand. Gibson Les Paul's suffer from this too, except MUCH worse.
The older Les Paul’s don’t have a scarf joint, the high headstock angle leaves a lot of “short grain” that easily shears off. Are they using scarf joints on the new ones? They briefly tried adding a volute to beef it up, but people didn’t like it, an example of blatantly bad design that gets “baked in” by customer expectations. Rics only have a 5-7 degree headstock angle, so it’s not as bad as Gibsons.
I bought a new jetglo Ric 4003S, my first, from Willcutt Guitars in August 2021. It arrived set up perfectly and remains so, the finish is still pristine and I've had zero issues. I gig it occasionally and find it almost as comfortable to play as my Fenders. Perhaps I got lucky but the QC on my Ric was superb.
Not a fanboy, just my experience.
Not a fanboy, just my experience.
