Model of the Week Eleven: The 2030/2050

[rickaddict]

The "2030" Glenn Frey bass is an oddity, designation-wise. I believe it came out at the same time the 2030 and 2050 had morphed into the 2020/2060, and it shares the same pickups, wiring, and controls of those models. It really "should be" the 2020GF, but it retained the older designation. Strangely, in one RIC pamphlet, it is listed as the "203GF" (missing zero) - apparently a typo. I was going to include the GF with the 2020/2060 family in a couple of weeks due to its shared features.

Oops! Okay, I'll just re-post this again there!

[Elnjaybass]

$800/500/250; even 1300 for those Rics?
That's wild. I've never seen anything like taht, even G-Base had a 3001 for $2K or something, and it looked to be in pretty bad condition.

Why "Glenn Frey"? Did he endorse/sanction/use/or design?
(Btw, he produced a cool pocketR&B-Blues based album by one of my secret loves- Lou Ann Barton- called
"Old Enough" and it is a masterpeice of that style, containing some solid Mussel-Shoals eg type feel.
Lou Ann never had the career her great talent warranted...'cause she drank and missed gigs! My kinda Woman!)

Anyway-
Those are very funky looking basses- Love to have a chance to play one...Where are all your symposiums where I cancome and take your Collector Bass home with me for a month or 2 to LEARN the Ric legend and lore??
Or better yet, if you Fed-Ex'd them to me.....

[rickaddict]

Why "Glenn Frey"? Did he endorse/sanction/use/or design?

Yes he endorsed the series. Not sure how much input he had with the design of them. Also...Its kind of odd to me that there is a bass in the series as that's not what GF is known for. Supposedly only around 30 of the basses were ever made.

Here's a link to a copy of the original RIC promotional flyer:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/catalog_boo ... talog=frey

[Elnjaybass]

AH, I see, they had him endorse the guitar and spawned a bass model from it.
Strange Marketing concept, as in the "Eric Clapton" Model J-Bass or such!

I can gladly furnish my "Ship-To" Info should you care to participate in the NEW!
"Loan-and-Lend" program I am developing here at the Forum-

Wherein you send your Vintage Rickenbacker Bass to me- And my Sonic Laboratory- where I shall see that the bass meets all sonic requirements as designated in Section 6, paragraph 42-A of the Mfrs. Code.

Thanks! I'm here to CONTRIBUTE best I can.

[Chris P]

A friend of mine used to have a 2000 series bass in a nice Fireglo and with a 4005-like pickguard. Very nice sounding bass!

[blueflamerick]

A friend of mine used to have a 2000 series bass in a nice Fireglo and with a 4005-like pickguard. Very nice sounding bass!

That would be a 2020 or 2060.

[atomic_punk]

I think it is interesting in the RIC literature that they called the bass model the "203" instead of the 230.
Obviously just a typo, but no one noticed?

[bugman]

I had a red 2030 a few years ago that Ibought for $300.00. I sounded good--kinda of a blend of a Fender and a RIC. Now if they had made the body shape like the 325 ala Lennon that would have been a keeper.

[bassduke49]

Yes, Steve, that's the typo I mentioned in my second post in this thread. It should have read "2030GF."

Chris P., any 2000 series bass with a 4005-style pickguard would be the later 2020 or 2060 basses which will be featured in the "Model of the Week" sometime in February.

I think we can all see now how useful a book on Rickenbacker basses will be to the collector. All these mysteries will be revealed!

[rickfan60]

The 2030 basses had single coil pickups of a "hum cancelling design" that were actually the same pickups from the 3000 & 3001 basses without the mounting ears so they could be adjusted from the rear. The HB2's didn't come along till the 2050 and 2060 basses were introduced. The bridges were the same model Schaller that is currently used on the 4004 series.

Mine has humbuckers (HB2s). Jeff Rath said some 2000 series had single coils and some had humbuckers.

[rickfan60]

The 2030 is ugly, rude, and loud. There is nothing subtle about the model. Jeff Rath described it as sounding like a P/O'ed P-Bass. To be honest, I can't think of a better way to put it. Mine is a '91.

2030-front-sm.jpg

I'm thinking the "P/O'ed P-Bass" analogy is a GOOD thing!

That headstock looks great,
and that 4-bass collection...
Pretty amazing.
Can I be crass and ask how much a near-mint or dead-mint, or even "Good" condtion model of this type brings on the market??

Very cool looking instrument- WHERE do you guys get them???

Yes, it is a good thing - a very good thing. Despite comparing it to a New Yorker in Maine, I love my 2030. In fact I did a detailed thread on the model a while back where I took mine apart to show how it was built.

They are hard to find mostly because RIC did not sell that many of them.

[Elnjaybass]

"A New Yorker in MAine!"
that's pretty good!

I'm from California, & I once phone-ordered really nice moccasins from a guy in Maine...
Arrow Moccasins in case anyone gives a hoot...about Moccasins anyway.

I asked him:
"So when will I get them?"

He replied:
"When they're done!"

Do you have a link to your thread??

[rickfan60]

A link you say? Here it is complete with commentary from JR himself.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92187&start=15&st=0 ... hilit=2030

This one has a lot more detail and commentary from JH.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=306290&hilit=+2030

[atomic_punk]

Ted and JR were right about that. I played JR's 2030's a lot and they rock, for sure. Different sound than a 4001/3, but a nice different.

[Elnjaybass]

Thanks for the link- interesting read.

Man, you guys here are really something... Of course I would not have ventured into this forbidden land had I not on pure whim ordered a Laredo- Now it's like entering "Dungeons and Dragons" or something...
Guys who make 5'ers outta things, unscrewing their Laredos (a PERFECT! bass) and putiing stacked knobs on-

Hey- RESPECT! Love for the brand- I under-stand! (rhyme).

I myself would very much like to get with that 2030 bass guitar. It looks so no-nonsense- No frills, no pretty tonewoods,
no ruffles- Just BASS.
I'm thinking setting it up to my taste, plugging it into the ole' Mesa-Boogie shall we say, and having at it..

Where do you find these?? Do you look at Marketplace here; E-Bay, or just keep your eyes peeled like people finding old fishing lures at garage sales???

You serious Rickenbacker Forum Forest-Dwellers are really something.

I'll try & behave....OTOH I have (2)---Doesn't that make me a "Knight-Attendant" or something???