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Rickenbacker actually made a 5 string bass
- Thread starter Ric5
- Start date
You cannot ask for the value of gear unless you are a supporting member as per the forum rules. You can identify whether your bass is a 4003/5 or 4004cii5 by whether it has a pick guard and the metal bridge cover, which only the 4003 had. If it didn't have those, it's a 4004.
I'm not a 5-string guy,and i usually hate reversed headstocks,but this is pretty Cool-looking.It has been over 10 years since the ill fated 4004cii5 fiasco, and it has been since about 2001 when Rickenbacker stopped making the 4003s5 basses.
Well they did a one off ...
Rickenbacker 4001C64/5 MINT W/BT Custom One Off
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Don't worry about it, just give the forum rules a read.
We would love to see some pictures.
I have a 4 string precision bass I bought in 73 or 74 brand new off rack...I think they cost 295$ in those days if my memory serves me rite.Did years of gigging with it...played backup for Ramones and many others..used it in studios in the 80s..all around ocean city MD. for many years..great gigging guitar...will post pics of it to soon
Spending the day with dee dee ramone and hanging out with the Ramones all day and night around town Ocean City Maryland was the coolest ever...sometime in mid nineteen seventys...guitar player magazine had just done a article on the Ramones and how each one had set their guitars up..my band was playing backup in this gigantic nite club on the beach..of course the Ramones had the only dressing room and i could remember reading the guitar player article about dee dee bass guitar...he sweated so bad he claimed sweat would get into his electronics and ruin them quickly..to fix the problem they said he would drill small holes in the pick guard and squirt silicone into the holes to fill the cavity completely til it came out edges which he could seal..It sounded so untrue so I decided to knock on the dressing room door..why not? I am in the back up band..i knocked..they said come in..I made up sum bull about how long they wanted us to play? Then I brought up the article..they said they remembered the interview...I asked to see dee dee bass guitar...of course my man says dee dee...he pulls it out and hands it to me to play...now I was as shocked as you may think...it looked almost exactly like mine!!!! A precision with black pick guard ..then I think about the silicone!!!??? Sure enuff I look down and there's silicone still beaded around the edges..he hadn't trimmed off excess...so I asked him...he said a bass would normally only last him 2 or 3 shows before pots would start to sound scratchy..I never had that problem I thought..I will never forget that night...because they became real friends...I was never that big of a Ramones fan til after I met them...even though my band did a few of their songs..but no matter whether you like them or not...they had alot of hits and I came to appreciate dee dee bass playing..I also owned a sound company in Virginia Beach and met and did sound for many big name talent either local or passing thru...I have many memory's that i will never forget from Molly hatchet to steppenwolf...from Johnny winter to Johnny paycheck..from keb mo to Missy elliott
The big problem with the Rick 5 stringers was that they hardly widened the neck so you just about had to play them with a pick unless you had needle thin fingers. This problem was well known to the point of if you asked a salesman in a guitar store who sold them they would usually offer that up unsolicited like they knew you were going to complain about it the second you picked one up, which is what most people did. So in other words anyone here thinking of buying a converted 4 string Ric to 5 string beware!
I been playing with a pick my whole life so I never even noticed any difference at all...it never even occurred to me til I read this...it felt as natural to play as any other bass I ever owned including my p bass and jazz...it's never been a concern...in fact I don't think I would want them any further apart...but that's just me
And I don't think there were many if any rick 5 strings on the rack in the music stores in those days...I was under impression they were most all special orders...like I said...even Chuck Levin's had to order mine sight unseen...it took alot of faith to order one sight unseen..but after getting it even my friends that played 6 strings were impressed...I might add that none of my musician friends could play it...no matter how good they were or thought they were...the B string on top fools even the best musicians until u are able to adjust to it...any 4 string bass player that has tried a 5 string for the first time knows..some people never are comfortable..most in fact
I had to play a borrowed Ibanez 5-string recently at an out of town jam. It had Very narrow spacing,and i tripped all over my fingers quite a bit.(it was a party,so no big whup).
I owned a Carvin AC50 for a year,and got proficient at playing its wide neck,but just didn't really find having the low notes and the extra string necessary 99% of the time,so i sold it.
I owned a Carvin AC50 for a year,and got proficient at playing its wide neck,but just didn't really find having the low notes and the extra string necessary 99% of the time,so i sold it.
Asimov, he was asking whether it was a 4001 or 4003. Ricebud, the answer is that it is not a 4001 because they never made a five-string 4001. The 4003 took over from the 4001 in the early '80s. Starting in 1986, RIC made the five-string 4003S/5 and that is what you have. As Asimov stated, there was also a 4004Cii/5, but while this bass has the same overall shape as the 4003, it has a more modern look with no pickguard and only two knobs and a microswitch. Completely different animal and very rare. They only made a few (no numbers, sorry) before ceasing production due to incomplete pickup coverage of the wider string spacing. If you want to know more about these and all Rick basses, there's a book I can recommend.
I always liked the sound and depth of that extra b string...it fills so much better...if u learn to use it in octaves and use it very subtle it widens your palette of ways to fill the holes or do things u can't do with 4 strings...at first I didn't use the B string much either...when u are first getting used to playing a 5 string..most musicians ignore the low B til they become accustomed to using it...til eventually u find yourself using it as often as the other 4...that's the was it was for me anyway
Asimov, he was asking whether it was a 4001 or 4003. Ricebud, the answer is that it is not a 4001 because they never made a five-string 4001. The 4003 took over from the 4001 in the early '80s. Starting in 1986, RIC made the five-string 4003S/5 and that is what you have. As Asimov stated, there was also a 4004Cii/5, but while this bass has the same overall shape as the 4003, it has a more modern look with no pickguard and only two knobs and a microswitch. Completely different animal and very rare. They only made a few (no numbers, sorry) before ceasing production due to incomplete pickup coverage of the wider string spacing. If you want to know more about these and all Rick basses, there's a book I can recommend.
I knew what he meant, I guess I could've worded my response better. I was trying to convey that it only could have been a 4003/5 or a 4004Cii/5. Always good to have your insight though!
You mean the output? Some people actually like the newer, higher output pickups. As I recall, Jeff is one of those who prefers new Rickenbackers to the vintage ones.
While I prefer four strings, I've never had a problem playing basses with narrow string spacing finger style.
I like high output bridge pickup with low output toaster neck pickup, personally.
