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Rickenbacker 4003 jetglo 2008
- Thread starter malikcamlica
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- rickenbacker
Nope, that looks like one of the Japanese "Lawsuit" Ric copies. AFAIK, Ric hasn't done any set-neck versions for decades, all neck-through, in which case the neck heel should be flush with the back of the body. The inlays don't look right either, and that's one of the Chinese Clone bridges. This is not a genuine 2008 Ric 4003. Might still be a nice bass, some of the Lawsuit basses were excellent, but even the best of the Japanese copies sell for around $1K last I checked.
Ric basses with binding have a gap in the binding at the bottom, because only the wings of the bass are bound, not the neck piece. Obviously this one's a set neck so it doesn't have the neck through part at the tail end. The contours on the back look wrong to me too - much too smooth. The back of a genuine Ric has much sharper transitions on the contours. Here's my 2024 for comparison.
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Sorry to say that's not an authentic 4003. The bridge and inlays are incorrect and the neck is too dark. Some of the biggest telltale signs of a real 4003 are at the jack plate. The serial number of the bass is engraved on the top and bottom of the jack plate. Plus, there will be two jacks (Standard and Rick-O-Sound) present on an authentic 4003. 4003S models have one jack.
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Sorry to say that's not an authentic 4003. The bridge and inlays are incorrect and the neck is too dark. Some of the biggest telltale signs of a real 4003 are at the jack plate. The serial number of the bass is engraved on the top and bottom of the jack plate. Plus, there will be two jacks (Standard and Rick-O-Sound) present on an authentic 4003. 4003S models have one jack.
It’s a fake, the tuners are wrong(large posts) there are too many frets might still be a decent bass but it’s not a real ric there’s someone also on my local marketplace trying to sell a faker as well and has it priced and labeled as a ric
The lawsuit basses didn't ever go so far as to use the Rickenbacker name on the truss rod cover though, right? That's more a Chinese copy thing I think.
Though you can always buy a knockoff truss rod cover I guess
No, there were sold under various labels, Fernandes, Greco, Ibanez,etc., but they had those names on the TRC. That TRC may be a genuine one from a Ric, looks old.
Most of the actual Japanese lawsuit basses were usually very good quality copies.
Some were bolt on, some where set neck, but a few were neck thru, and they at least had the decency to not pirate the TRC.
But many folks thought they'd pull a fast one, and screw a real RIC one on, but RIC caught on and made TRCs much harder to obtain.
We knew a dude in the '80s that did this, and we all gave him our opinion, freely
The paint is peeling on this TRC, RIC doesn't paint theirs
I would say it's one of the ali express Chinese copies with a genuine Rickenbacker bridge pickup. As others have said - wrong tuners, wrong inlays, wrong bridge, belly cut on the back of the body is different, and set neck heel. Might be cool still, but not for more than $400 imo
The bridge PU does look legit, not so sure about the toaster though.
These reflections suggest the tell tale Chinese made round over;
These reflections suggest the tell tale Chinese made round over;
I always heard it “a fool and his money’s a hell of a party” I guess either way it works
Great choice! Congrats on the new bass.I got this one instead4003sw
Thanks Isaac. The color is a bit light compared to many other walnuts. Do you think it is possible to darken it a bit?
One of the cool things about oil finishes, is you can modify their shade somewhat.
The back of yours looks pretty dark already, but maybe it's just the lighting.
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Yep. Watco Danish, try "Medium Walnut". Stupid easy, wipe it on, let sit for a few minutes, wipe off any extra. Let it dry overnight, repeat until you like how it looks, then hang it up some plece to cure. When you can't smell it much any more, it's cured. Nice score on the SW, better Hipshot bridge on it too, also slightly lighter than the all-maple basses. I'm a sucker for binding, but those S models are a lot more comfortable to play.
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For the set-neck 4000 and 4001-S, Approximately 1973- early 80’s, I think.
Paging Mr Boyer….
That GC ad has several erroneous quotes in the description (one piece body, neckthrough construction), and the price,
even for what looks to be a very clean instrument, is about 30% high. It looks exactly like like the one I sold about 3 years ago for $2k.
GC also has a set neck Alembic Epic, and a through neck Essence in about the same price range.
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