When I spoke to the guy at the store, he said there was some checking in the finish on the body. The checking doesn't come out in pictures - it's much more visible in person. And there's a lot of it! Body, headstock, even fingerboard! But I bought it as a player, not as a collector (though of course the collectability factor is there), so I'm happy with it.
I really like the flame in the neck - on the shot from the back you can really see it, plus the wings are visible.
Now I know for a fact - I am much more comfortable with this string arrangement (I call it "octave on top") - Ric changed to the reverse ("octave on the bottom") with the 4003S/8. For me, octave on top works better with a pick, but it's also much more comfortable for my fretting hand.
Another nice thing about this bass - you can't really tell from the pic, but the bridge has the extra screws to prevent lift.
In relation to the recent discussion about "what makes an 'S'", this one has some of the features of the S - dots, no body binding - but it has the Rick-o-sound jack and a bound neck. So not really an S.
These pictures were taken inside with incandescent light (and the incandescent light setting on my camera) - if possible, I want to take some pictures in natural light, and I want to take pics of it next to my Autumnglo for comparison.
Finally, I hope to have some soundclips within the next couple of days.
