For me, they're kind of like that girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/etc that is a whole lot of fun but you know is really bad for you.
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Rickenbacker Users: Honest thoughts on the 4001/4003?
- Thread starter May Cassidy
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- rickenbacker
That black on black with dot inlays is absolutely beautiful.
I love rics 4001 and 4003..my first bass was a ric that got stolen and now I have a'83 4003. However they are not for everyone and now being only a fretless player I prefer playing Ampeg scrolls and Fender P's. Make sure you test drive one before you commit.
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That's just an older 4001 TRC I stuck on it. I like it better.
I think the new 4003's w/ the updated bridge and single truss rod necks w/ unfinished/non-gloss fretboards are their best work. I've played different eras and these play/sound best to me. They are also very stable.
My take:
Over the last 20 years or so, I have had hands on four different 4003 basses. I really didn't like any of the four because the neck profile was just too chunky for me. It made my left hand hurt after playing them for about 15-20 minutes. So, I had decided that Rics just weren't for me, even though I loved their tone and look.
I had someone tell me that the 4001 neck profiles were MUCH thinner. Well, let's face it, those aren't just laying around. Heck, you can't even find a 4003 in a music shop around in the places I have lived in the last 20 years. So, I looked and watched and dreamed about having a 4001. Ultimately bought a Ric shaped kit bass to maybe satisfy my desire. The kit bass turned out just fine, but HEAVY!! (11 lbs!)
Then I heard of a guy that would custom make a Ric-shaped-object (RSO). So I ordered one. It took 6 months to get it...and it was a NIGHTMARE to get it. It is a really nice bass, and the neck profile is fantastic, much thinner than the 4003 basses I have played.
However, in that 6 months, I stumbled across a 1974 4001 in a pawn shop. As soon as I held it in my hands and played it I was hooked. Got the price down to something resembling "reasonable" for a 48 year old vintage instrument. I absolutely LOVE this thing. When I finally got the custom RSO, there is really no comparison. The real 4001 blows it away. The tone, the look, the feel...all of it. It is just an absolutely stellar instrument and I am so thankful I was finally able to get it.
Don't get me wrong, the custom RSO is REALLY nice, but my feelings towards it are soured by the mess I had to go through to get it to me from the UK.
As I tell people I am mentoring, though, you gotta find what works for you. A bass I hate might be a bass you love. I know people that love Warwick basses. I absolutely loathe them because of the neck profile on them. I have felt baseball bats that were thinner. So...take my opinion as you will.
(edited to correct typo)
Over the last 20 years or so, I have had hands on four different 4003 basses. I really didn't like any of the four because the neck profile was just too chunky for me. It made my left hand hurt after playing them for about 15-20 minutes. So, I had decided that Rics just weren't for me, even though I loved their tone and look.
I had someone tell me that the 4001 neck profiles were MUCH thinner. Well, let's face it, those aren't just laying around. Heck, you can't even find a 4003 in a music shop around in the places I have lived in the last 20 years. So, I looked and watched and dreamed about having a 4001. Ultimately bought a Ric shaped kit bass to maybe satisfy my desire. The kit bass turned out just fine, but HEAVY!! (11 lbs!)
Then I heard of a guy that would custom make a Ric-shaped-object (RSO). So I ordered one. It took 6 months to get it...and it was a NIGHTMARE to get it. It is a really nice bass, and the neck profile is fantastic, much thinner than the 4003 basses I have played.
However, in that 6 months, I stumbled across a 1974 4001 in a pawn shop. As soon as I held it in my hands and played it I was hooked. Got the price down to something resembling "reasonable" for a 48 year old vintage instrument. I absolutely LOVE this thing. When I finally got the custom RSO, there is really no comparison. The real 4001 blows it away. The tone, the look, the feel...all of it. It is just an absolutely stellar instrument and I am so thankful I was finally able to get it.
Don't get me wrong, the custom RSO is REALLY nice, but my feelings towards it are soured by the mess I had to go through to get it to me from the UK.
As I tell people I am mentoring, though, you gotta find what works for you. A bass I hate might be a bass you love. I know people that love Warwick basses. I absolutely loathe them because of the neck profile on them. I have felt baseball bats that were thinner. So...take my opinion as you will.
(edited to correct typo)
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Nah, too many cases of the new truss rods breaking. Hard pass for me, for now.
I have one hanging around too and bought a jetglo 4003S a couple of years ago, am thinking of buying a black pickguard and doing the same to mine if I can find the TRC after everything being put in a storage space.
I don't like them switching to single truss rods either, didn't know they were breaking.
I have an 80 4001 and 76 set neck 4000. I've had the 4001 for about twenty five years. Thin neck. Immediately bypassed the .0047 cap and strung it with flats. It was always comfortable for me to play , the binding was never an issue, has gorgeous tone. Beautiful bass.
Picked up the 4000 several years ago , thought I'd miss the neck pickup , but I loved the two knob simplicity. And it roars.
Rics are not like a Fender bass. Completely different things. The bridge can be a pain to adjust. You quickly get used to positioning the neck before you tighten the truss rods. The output jacks can get wonky. I once thought a pickup had died when it was just the jack. They have their quirks.
I've been comfortable with the shape and weight. I love the sound , and the feel of the necks.
Long time fan.
I still get a little weak in the knees when I look at one.
Picked up the 4000 several years ago , thought I'd miss the neck pickup , but I loved the two knob simplicity. And it roars.
Rics are not like a Fender bass. Completely different things. The bridge can be a pain to adjust. You quickly get used to positioning the neck before you tighten the truss rods. The output jacks can get wonky. I once thought a pickup had died when it was just the jack. They have their quirks.
I've been comfortable with the shape and weight. I love the sound , and the feel of the necks.
Long time fan.
I still get a little weak in the knees when I look at one.
^^^^
This is real talk right here. Truth IME.
I had dreamed of owning a Ric for about 10 years now. I bought my first Ric from a fellow TB'er in February. It was the exact bass I had pictured in my head for the past couple of years - a Mapleglo 4003S modded with the treble bezel and a Nordenbacker at the neck. I was very apprehensive about buying due to the 'try before you buy' mantra tossed about in almost every TB thread I read about Rics. But, I took the chance, and I'm glad I did. That bass is amazing. So punchy, fat, and articulate that it sits just right in the mix. It's comfortable to play, the neck feels fabulous, and I have a 3" padded strap, so I've had no neck dive issues. However, YMMV because Rics do have a different feel and sound to it, so trying it first may not be a bad idea if you've got the luxury to do so.
I had a 4001 for over a year. Tried to like it but just couldn't get a connection. Played it during gigs but fought it every time I played it. I almost burned it after a bad night at a corporate gig. No one knew it but me. My brother wanted to use it for a canoe paddle and I almost let him. Ended up selling at a loss but didn't mind at all.
Ditto! I've played a few and they've never felt right in my hands or against my body. Since we're all built differently, what works for me may not work for others.
I agree, try before you buy. I guess the bass Gods were smiling on me that awesome day in 1980 when I bought my 77 4001 used from someone that never played it. He was a high school student and Dad bought it for him. His loss, my big freaking gain lol Even my wife knows, if the house is on fire, she better have a good exit strategy, because I'm not coming out without my Ricky! 
Ditto to nearly everything you said. I'm into G&Ls now, and very happy.Definitely a "try before you buy" bass in my opinion...
Why do I say this? - Back in the late 1990s, I bought a used 4003, based simply on the fact that more than one of my bass heroes had, at one time or another, played a Rickenbacker: Geddy, Roger Glover, and Cliff Burton, to name three of 'em.
As it turned out, this was a bad reason to buy a bass. I hung on to that damn thing for about twelve years, even though I eventually came to hate practically everything (minus its looks) about it: The tone; the sticky paint on the back of the neck (yeah, I now know this could have been fairly easily remedied); the legendary-for-being-crappy bridge...
The neck was the worst. I have yet, to this day, to encounter a bass that is as pure murder on my left hand/wrist as that bass was. I would be in pain within 30 seconds of starting to play the thing. If I'd been a gigging bassist, I'm sure I would have sold that bass (which I finally did, for a song - you see what I did there - in 2010) long before I did.
Based on the aforementioned experience, the chances of me ever owning another Rickenbacker are essentially zero, especially in this age of insanely good bang-for-the-buck basses. They look cool, and I know there are plenty who like 'em just fine and can make' em work...this wasn't the case for me.
This will be worth your reading.
Sometime in the mid 2000's I acquired a Kubicki X-Factor 4. For about $700 on ebay used. It was just too small, felt small, sounded small, couldnt get what the magic was on that one. I traded it with another TBer for a young used 4003 JG. I was into 5ers and read about Jeff Raths 425 conversions so I sent it to him (along with a 1978 P Bass Special) to convert to a 5 string. I got them back and they went to the closet because I had Bud LeCompte make me a custom 5ver, that one I played live and in studio for 15 years until last year when I changed Bands. Now the Rick 425 conversion is my primary gigging machine. 90's hard rock and grunge.
Its tonally as versatile as most basses I have had, not a one trick pony at all. The hardest part for me is getting it to sound like a classic "Rick", theres only one 4 knob position setting where I get that, but its there. The one ergonomic accommodation I have to use is a thick wrist sweatband on my right arm from the sharp edge binding digging in for 3 hours. But its worth it.
Sometime in the mid 2000's I acquired a Kubicki X-Factor 4. For about $700 on ebay used. It was just too small, felt small, sounded small, couldnt get what the magic was on that one. I traded it with another TBer for a young used 4003 JG. I was into 5ers and read about Jeff Raths 425 conversions so I sent it to him (along with a 1978 P Bass Special) to convert to a 5 string. I got them back and they went to the closet because I had Bud LeCompte make me a custom 5ver, that one I played live and in studio for 15 years until last year when I changed Bands. Now the Rick 425 conversion is my primary gigging machine. 90's hard rock and grunge.
Its tonally as versatile as most basses I have had, not a one trick pony at all. The hardest part for me is getting it to sound like a classic "Rick", theres only one 4 knob position setting where I get that, but its there. The one ergonomic accommodation I have to use is a thick wrist sweatband on my right arm from the sharp edge binding digging in for 3 hours. But its worth it.
My first two Rickenbackers were 4001 models. The necks on both of them were wonderful -- slender, comfortable, fast, and exceptionally stable. I bought my first 4003 sight unseen from WildWood. Great customer service there, but the neck on that thing was way chunkier than I was expecting. I never bonded with it, and never played it much. The next 4003 I got from the classifieds here, and I made sure to ask about the neck first. It was chunkier than the 4001 necks, but not as bad as my first 4003, and it's a bass I have played out many times.
The only thing I didn't much care for about the 4001 Rics was the binding. The somewhat sharp 90 degree angle around the top edge of the body had a tendency to dig into my forearm after a while. I prefer the contoured top edge of the 4003S (both of my 4003s are the "S" model).
Regarding the 4001 necks -- I ordered a Maruszczyk Frog, and spec-ed the neck with the intent of replicating the neck I had on my 4001 Rics. It's a 34" scale, not the ~33.5" scale of the Rics, but the feel of it was really close. It's now one of my favorite basses to play.
The only thing I didn't much care for about the 4001 Rics was the binding. The somewhat sharp 90 degree angle around the top edge of the body had a tendency to dig into my forearm after a while. I prefer the contoured top edge of the 4003S (both of my 4003s are the "S" model).
Regarding the 4001 necks -- I ordered a Maruszczyk Frog, and spec-ed the neck with the intent of replicating the neck I had on my 4001 Rics. It's a 34" scale, not the ~33.5" scale of the Rics, but the feel of it was really close. It's now one of my favorite basses to play.
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I had a '76 (I think) Ric back in the day. It was a killer bass with a tiny, fast neck and I installed a Badass bridge. Just a really fun bass. I sold it to fund having an Alembic Series I/II bass built in '81 and always wished there had been a way ($$$$) to keep it. Fast forward to 2021 and I bought a new 4003s from Sweetwater. Price was right and the bass is beautiful. It sounds like a Ric, of course, when the tone switch is pulled up, and amazingly it sounds like not a Ric with the switch not engaged. So far so good. The neck, though, is huge. I'm thinking at some point I'll probably strip the finish and shave it down quite a bit for the '70s 4001 feel. It's not my go-to bass by any means at this point (Lakland fretless 5, Ibanez EHB1506MS and the aforementioned Alembic 4 split that duty), but there is a certain midrange timbre to a Ric that I haven't been able to duplicate (I can get close with the Alembic) and that, when I have more time to spend playing into the black box, I want for certain things. Could I function with a newish 4003 as an only instrument? Sure, I could, but I'd want to shave down that neck.
Also, yes, play before you buy is generally the best strategy, although I have no regrets ordering my 4003s online and unplayed.
John
My 4001 was the first bass I really liked, bought it used in about 1984. Had a Gibson Grabber before that, didn't like it and sold it. Still have the 4001, but in 2008 I bought I new 4003 which I still play all the time. For me, I've never had an issue with my forearm on the binding, nor has the pickup cover ever bothered me as I play behind it anyway. I like the sound and the feel, for me a Rickenbacker bass is a great instrument. For others, for you, I don't know.
