2020 Bass

redvette · Post by **redvette** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:25 am

There is a Rick 2020 Bass on Ebay right now. What are these like? Let's say compared with 4003 or 4004.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:52 am

The 2020 bass is cool ... it sounds more like a 4004 than a 4003 ... here are some pics of one ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/2020.htm

I rewired mine with 1000k ohm pots in a VVT arrangement and of course added a 5th string ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/striped.htm ... and it got a Van Halen paint job ... which is auto detailing tape so it can be reversed ... you can hear that bass here ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/pink-s.mp3 ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:58 am

they have a heavy maple body and a bolt on neck that has the same profile as a 4004 neck ... the pickups are 15k ohm series humbuckers ...

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 6:56 am

I would like very much to own this bass. If I win it, I'll be selling a fireglo 2030.

s4001 · Post by **s4001** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 7:10 am

Jeff, that 2020 sounds surprisingly Squire-like. I dig it!

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:09 am

Pretty much any bass I play ends up sounding Squire-like ... I go to blues jams with fender basses and play fingerstyle and people say I still have a squire sound ... part of it is my bass pod settings ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:14 am

the 2020 and 2030 are a little different ... the 2020 is wired the same as the 4004 and the 2020 has the same neck profile as the 4004 ... the 2030 has a whole circuit board in it and it has the slimmest neck that Ric ever produced ... the 2000 series has excellent sustain ... the massive solid maple body really helps sustain ...

the 80s 2000 basses have single coil pickups the 90s 2000 basses have 15k ohm series humbuckers ...

redvette · Post by **redvette** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:35 am

Thanks for the info. I may try to get that one. I really like the sound of the Laredo that I got from Eddie D. It has flats on it and is very mellow, yet with huge sustain.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:00 am

The 2000 series took over the "budget" Rickenbacker slot after the 3001 (and short scale 3000). Started with the 2030 and 2050 which had the circuit and four control knobs. Then in '92, the design was changed (updated?) and the designations were changed to 2020 and 2060 (don't know why they didn't go to 2040). The lower number version(s) have no binding, and chrome hardware, the higher number version(s) have binding and gold hardware. A lot of the 4004 traits appear in the 2020 and 2060, including the maple fretboard, humbucking pickups, modern tuners, one volume, one tone, and microswitch. Basically, the 2020 and 2060 became the low budget alternatives to the new (at that time) 4004 series. Here's a Fireglo 2060 that I bought off eBay last February:

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:41 am

and a 3001 for comparison

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:43 am

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:26 am

What do those typically go for on today's market? (the 2020's?)

Great basses Paul & Chris.

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:10 pm

Jeff, what do the single coils on these sound like as compared to the humbuckers, and to the 4001/3's?

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:24 pm

I've only ever seen one other 2020 on Ebay. It went for $710 to our own Jeff Rath, I believe.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:20 pm

The 2030 with single coils has a sound that is closer to the 4003 that the 4004 ...

Yep I got mine off of ebay ... I don't remember the price but it was well under $1000 ... I remember a thread here talking about how ugly the bass is ... I didn't complain ... it kept the price down ...

This one here is a real player ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/93-2030-5.htm