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I Want to Buy a Rickenbacker 4003
Submitted by johndoe123 on Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:24.
I want to buy a Rickenbacker 4003.Info about it here: http://Rickenbacker.youget.info
I want to hear your thoughts...
Do you think it's worth it's price?
The Rickenbacker is one of the great basses. So many players I admired were Ricky players. If you recognize that sound, want it, and it suits the band/style you're playing with then, yes, it's worth the money. Rickenbacker are extremely good at protecting their copyright and it's difficult to find a convincing (cheaper) soundalike. They also hold their value very well.
HST, they are a bit idiosyncratic. It's part of their charm, but you don't want to spunk that sort of money and find out it can annoy you. They have a trebly/bright/attacking/aggressive tone that I like, but makes certain genres a bit of a no-no. The 10" radius of the fretboard is, again, quite aggressive and riff-orientated.
It's a bass for un-shy, egocentric bassists who have arguments with the guitarist and/or vocalist on a regular basis. People like me and, sometimes, bassists who just take over the whole group and boss them about. The more I type, the more they make sense :lol:
Yeah, make sure you really like the sound of them and not just the look...they have a definite 'Marmite' tone to them, and as if to prove a point, 1bassleft, likes it, I hate it many a good bass player has been let down by choosing the Rickenbacker IMO.
As for the neck, try one, try a bunch of others and compare them all. Then try a few more...
But you have to admit, they do look nice, nobody does a finish like Rickenbacker, the fireglo is the one to go for...imo
Jetglo (otherwise known as "black") also works for me. As Tim says (and, I hope, I put forward) this is not a bass for everybody. Make sure you do your best to get hands-on experience.
I finally found a lefty 4001 in a guitar shop in the late 1980s (price, £300). It was black, I could afford it, I loved the sound from records and gigs I'd been to, but the neck felt horrible in my hands and I couldn't get comfortable with it. Instruments are personal and subjective, so I never did buy that bass.
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