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Thunderbird Club

#94,506
bylar13 said:
I had 4 Rics. 3, 4001's and 1 4003. The first one from 1977-ish sounded great. I used to get compliments from sound men, crowd etc. and then it got stolen. Second one was Ruby red, from 1980 and a total project. That one I replaced the bridge pick up with a direct replacement from Bartolini. That sounded really good and helped beef up the low end quite a bit.

Here is a sampe of the Ric with the Bartolini:

For Sale - '83 Rickenbacker 4003

Then I had a black one and split guard, 4003 fire-glo(/) and they both sucked really bad or I had just moved on to a different place as to what I wanted. I think if I could find an older one with a slimmer neck width, I just might give it a go...again....;)
Click to expand...

Here I go quoting myself..... When I see a Ric 4003 like this one, I want to buy it regardless. I like that it is a players bass. Now, who has $1350.00 they can loan me, with no interest, for 72 months?:D

Muscle memory is such that I can look at it and "feel" the neck in my left hand...so weird...

For Sale - '83 Rickenbacker 4003
 
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#94,507
bylar13 said:
Here I go quoting myself..... When I see a Ric 4003 like this one, I want to buy it regardless. I like that it is a players bass. Now, who has $1350.00 they can loan me, with no interest, for 72 months?:D

Muscle memory is such that I can look at it and "feel" the neck in my left hand...so weird...

For Sale - '83 Rickenbacker 4003
Click to expand...
If you find an "angel", lemme know. I've got my eyes on a couple of mid 60s NR TBird IIs in the $8500. range.:smug:
 
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#94,510
dukeorock said:
Ha! There’s a lot of Ric players that made me want one. This is the 3rd one I’ve owned, so... I really never learn anything the easy way :)



I get that for sure



Could not agree more! Which is why I’ll hang onto this one (well, also because it was a gift). If I can find the right neck pickup to beef up the lows without making it muddy, it could be a winner. The bridge pickup sounds pretty cool to me.
The real problem for me is talking through this with other Ric owners. They refuse to believe there’s any issues, as a rule. I dunno, I just want more bass. It’s right there in the name! I’m not a ‘midsist’ I’m a bassist :)
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When I had the Ric, I found that it sounded best (to me) with a bit of bass cut and a boosted treble, similar to how I EQ the upright in a difficult room. That gave it a brutal snarl that was pretty entertaining. But it was not happy if it was expected to shake the floor. It didn't have neck dive so much as an insistence that the neck would be horizontal no matter where I wanted it. It was certainly beautiful. It was a dark fireglo on its way to tobacco burst. I have not seen another quite like it. It was a fine bass, but I dont miss it. If it turned up again, I would probably keep it. I am not looking for it.
 
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#94,512
GBassNorth said:
Duke - that's exactly where I was at with the one and only Ric I tried. Solid mid presence, nice top end but lacking the balls to give me the deep tone I need. In an effort to truly try and work a Ric into my collection I reached out to the Ric club and told them what sound I was after. The unanimous answer was to get a Ric Cheyenne. Apparently they have the voicing I've been after, not sure if it's different pups or electronics but you might want to look in that direction. There might be something easy you can do mod your bass that would get it closer to the Cheyenne in sound. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

I think the 4004 series (Cheyenne and another) have a pair of humbuckers instead of the 4001/3 style pickups

Edit. I had looked at them a while ago when wondering about Lemmy’s bass.
 
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#94,513
dukeorock said:
The real problem for me is talking through this with other Ric owners. They refuse to believe there’s any issues, as a rule. I dunno, I just want more bass. It’s right there in the name! I’m not a ‘midsist’ I’m a bassist :)
Click to expand...
Steve of ThunderBucker Ranch did a single coil for in a Thunderbird can for a Rick owner. You might contact him, he can probably get you where you want to be.
 
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#94,518
Miles_ONeal said:
Who made that Bird? The Thunderbird, that is. Obviously the women's parents made them.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that Dan Ferrington made that bass, it was discussed a long time back at "The Dudepit".
 
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