Hoping tu buy new 4003 in the UK....advice please?

marty · Post by **marty** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 8:37 am

First of all, I'd like to say what a great forum this is.....been browsing through the posts for a couple of weeks and have a question.

Does anyone know what I should be paying for a new 4003 in the UK?
Seems they are more expensive here than in the US...I've seen prices listed on sites ranging from £1'184.00 to £969.

Thats $2,144.81 to $1,755.34.

Does that seem expensive to you guys in the US?

Anyway ,I'm gonna get me a new 4003 sometime soon even if it does cost me in the region of a £1000, but can anyone reccommend a good dealer in London or South East of England.

Once I've decided where to get one I've got another problem....what finish to get!
I love all Rickenbackers and would settle for any finish if I had to....I've got a 74 Mapleglo 4001 that I got in 1986 and it's the only bass I own.
Sort of gave up playing for a long time, after getting married and having kids, but I wanna get back into it and thought what the heck....I'll get a brand spanking new bass....I still love the old one ,but I've never owned a new one and havn't really considered anything else other than a Ricky.

Marty.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:01 am

Welcome Marty, Sounds like your talking list prices. A new 4003 can be had here in the states for around $950.00. As far as finish goes If I were going out and buy a new Rick I think I'd go with the Blueboy finish or Montezuma brown. But thats just my opinion. Once again, welcome aboard!

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:09 am

Martin im in London. Ricks are very expensive here.

marty · Post by **marty** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:37 am

Uhmm...$950.00....that works out at £527.735 apparantly.
If only they actually did cost that much here...looks like it's costing us double for Rickys here.

I'm still gonna get one anyway...I'll just shop around a bit first even if I have to travel to say a couple of hundred miles outside of London.

Has anyone had any experience buying online?
I'd rather actually play instore, but has/does anyone buy from dealers and have them shipped without trying out first?

I know what a 4003 sounds and feels like to play,so I know what I would be getting, but I'm not too sure....I wouldn't want the hassle of having to re-ship something back to a dealer if there was a problem.

rickengrowl · Post by **rickengrowl** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:02 am

Same in France. The 4003 lists at EUR 1,790.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:18 am

I sold a '74 Ric to a guy in Italy about 3 years ago for $700+/- and it cost over $300 to ship ... so this guy got a 1974 4001 for around $1000 ...

wints · Post by **wints** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 1:09 pm

Martin, there,s a "mint" 2001 blue 4003 on the U.K. e-bay now, at 800 pounds in Brum...Would this be a possible option...

dminer · Post by **dminer** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 2:06 pm

Martin, for that kind of money you could fly to the states ($350) get a room ($35) buy a rick $1000 and still have some money left over. Jim Rhoads @ Rhoads Music ships internationally and has great prices on new ricks
http://members.aol.com/RhoadsMusi/rickbasses.html...so does Pick of the Ricks (but I don't know if they ship internationally...good luck, cheers/carry on.

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 2:23 pm

import dutys. Shipping a bass bought in the USA will be about £200 and you will need to pay import tax and VAT on both the bass and the shipping costs.

I bought a RIC back from the states (i was going on vacation anyway) .......as long as you dont get caught by HM customs here in the UK you can save so much money.

marty · Post by **marty** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:28 am

It would be great to have a Ricky shipped from the states at the prices you get them for over there, but sadly as Owen says, the customs people here will slap huge import duty fees on it when it arrives here, as well as shipping, so it will end up costing about the same as from a dealer here

I'll have look at that one on e-bay Andrew....might be worth considering....cheers.