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Ricken-freak
- Thread starter Wolfenstein666
- Start date
I learned something today. I've been hoping for an eight string for a long time, didn't know Ric made one.
I couldn't help noticing that the tail piece on these is held down with two extra screws. Ric should make that standard practice.
Anyone know if the nut width is wider to accommodate the extra strings?
I couldn't help noticing that the tail piece on these is held down with two extra screws. Ric should make that standard practice.
Anyone know if the nut width is wider to accommodate the extra strings?
The potatohead ones were made for Entwhistle and Squire,so they're probably the rarest.
Electrocoyote,i believe the nut width is the same,but don't quote me. I played both of the ones in the picture i posted,and found it pretty rough going. (May have been the strings,tension,etc...) but i think the neck felt pretty standard.
I have a Fernandes Gravity 8-string that plays like a well buttered guitar.....
I cannot remember the model #, but Rickenbacker also made this sweet 8 string bass (this one owned by Michael Anthony) :
...and yes, I believe the Ric in the link posted by the OP is totally authentic. I've seen several of those and played a couple.
Great. Now because of this thread my 8 string GAS is back in full swing. Thanks a lot, enablers.
...and yes, I believe the Ric in the link posted by the OP is totally authentic. I've seen several of those and played a couple.
Great. Now because of this thread my 8 string GAS is back in full swing. Thanks a lot, enablers.
I had a 4008 back in 96. I paid 700 for it. It was midnight blue with black pickguard and looked really cool. I could never get it to play right with the octave strings on it so I spent most of the time just playing it as a 4 string. It was also Mono only, no Ric O sound. The bass had small tuning keys for the octave strings but the same headstock shape. I was told it was an 87-88 model.
I wish I held on to it but I couldnt get a good tone out of it. It was very dark sounding for a Ric.
I wish I held on to it but I couldnt get a good tone out of it. It was very dark sounding for a Ric.
Ox, you had a 4003S/8, not a 4008. The key identifier is whether the neck has white binding or not: Binding = 4008. No binding = 4003S/8. There are other differences such as the Rick-O-Sound was not on the 4003S/8, the cutouts in the tailpiece of the 4008, and there were subtle differences in the shape of the headstock.
For all the rest of you, the book fully illustrates the three (!) different eight-string models made by Rickenbacker, along with more than 30 other models over the last 58 years. It's available on Amazon and wherever great books are sold!
This thing is amazing, and I bet it sounds like a beast. I mentioned in another thread that the best bass sound I ever heard was an 8-string.
Yeah, I used to have a Dean 8 string and I really dug it. Before that I briefly had a Hondo 8 string. I have been interested in the reissue Hagstrom HB-8 as well, but haven't ever seen one in the flesh.
8 string basses are sorely underused instruments, IMO.
I'm trying to keep things minimal...keep a lid on the amount of gear I own, so I doubt another 8 stringer is in my future. I know it's not the same thing, but I'll probably just get an octave pedal and try to somewhat approximate the sound that way. Poor man's 8 string!
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
The one little bit of GAS that I still have is for a Ric 4005. I didn't know they made an 8 string version. More GAS. Fortunately, there's no way on this green earth I can justify the cash one of those would go for. I don't care what they sound like - I hear them with my eyes! If they sound great, too, it's just a bonus.
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Ox, you had a 4003S/8, not a 4008. The key identifier is whether the neck has white binding or not: Binding = 4008. No binding = 4003S/8. There are other differences such as the Rick-O-Sound was not on the 4003S/8, the cutouts in the tailpiece of the 4008, and there were subtle differences in the shape of the headstock.
For all the rest of you, the book fully illustrates the three (!) different eight-string models made by Rickenbacker, along with more than 30 other models over the last 58 years. It's available on Amazon and wherever great books are sold!
You're right. The bass had no binding on the neck plus dot inlays instead of the sharktooth style.
An 8-string 4005? That would have to be one of the rarest types of 8-string Rics ever made, yes?
Don't think I'd buy it. Says right in the ad: "IT MAY NEED TO BE TUNED." That's way too much work.
drool
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.
This guy is good. Knows his stuff.
There's a lot of talking on this video before he starts playing it at about 1:40.
This guy is good. Knows his stuff.
There's a lot of talking on this video before he starts playing it at about 1:40.
Real . "May need to be tuned" luzwut?
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After I was informed this was real I looked up this video. It sounds great.
Definitely an odd thing to include on an ad...
Younger people might not realize but before the age of the internet in the mid to late 80's and into the 90's, Rickenbacker was trying anything and everything just to sell their products. You have to put your mind into the era...neon colored pointy guitars were all the rage, massive rack systems, modified "old" instruments left and right. Seeing anyone play a plain old P-bass just wasn't even that common then. No one wanted a "vintage" instrument in the 80's. Everything was anti "old" at that time. Rickenbackers were horribly out of fashion during that era. I bought a brand new 4003 for $575 in 1989. As such, Rickenbacker was throwing all kinds of stuff at the wall hoping something would stick in the 80's. All the special versions, 8 strings, 5 strings, fretless, black binding and hardware, different pickup and case options, etc...just hoping for a sale. It wasn't until the later 90's when the internet took off that Rickenbacker really took off again. Hell, Rickenbackers were still relatively cheap until just a few years ago. But for a loooooooong time there, Rickenbackers were elusive, hardly seen, and hardly sought out. Now, they can sell all that they make as their audience grows older and richer. It's too bad, because now, it seems Rickenbacker gets off on limiting customer choices rather than by expanding their ideas and innovating like they used to do. And that's a shame.
Not if youve seen this thread...Hassles with eBay. Seller wants to return guitar for stupid reason. | TalkBass.com
