4003/s Midnight Blue

[jc-sz]

I was going around the RIC website and found this 4003s Midnight Blue with colored fingerboard and microdot inlays and I noticed that except for some parts of the hardware that are chrome, the rest is exactly as the so called triunvirate (redneck/tuxed/blackstar), so my question is, any idea why this one is not included in the bunch?

Cheers!

jc

ps. I forgot the link! http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_sea ... model=4003
ps2. Now I see that the blackstar also had those details in chrome... so I am more puzzled

[johnallg]

Good eyes! Great question.

[berth]

Wow. No answers to your question, but since this is my favorite color combination and I like the S model I think this model should have been in production.

[bassduke49]

That's a new one on me. And it's a relatively new addition to that page as I've studied the RIC Gallery pages for photos and hadn't seen that one before. I'll bet it was an experiment to possibly expand the SPC series that didn't see production.

[aceonbass]

I don't think that fingerboard is painted at all. I think it's just a very dark rosewood.

[bassduke49]

Might be the lighting. I was thinking the "microdot" position markers looked a little big. Hmm.

[rickenbrother]

I think it's the lighting. One definite exception is that it has all black hardware except for the pickup covers.

[jc-sz]

It's true that they look kinda big compared to the microdot markers on the others but they are no way close to regular dot markers. As for the fretboard, I changed my screen settings to see everything lighter and I would bet it is painted. I had also checked the site other times and had never seen that bass before, but I might have skipped something, plus I came to that gallery using a kind of search engine the website has, using the "service > model identification" tool...

I thought it was going to be an easy silly question but it seems it isn't! lol

as for the hardware, the Blackstar seems to be exactly the same, acording to that same gallery,couldn't tell in other cases since I've never had the pleasure to see one in the flesh...

Cheers!

[doctorwho]

I don't think that fingerboard is painted at all. I think it's just a very dark rosewood.

+1

Also, on my monitor, the dot markers on the Tuxedo, Blackstar, and Redneck are hardly visible, whereas the dot markers on the 4003S MID really stand out.

[Tarrbot]

I won't claim to be an expert on the subject but looking at the neck near the body it seems to have a blue tint.

The problem here is that the picture is too low of a resolution to accurately determine.

Can we get a shout out to someone at the factory for clarification or even a higher resolution image?

[jc-sz]

You're right Scott, maybe we can get some more attention at the RIC forum and see what they say about it. As I said, the position markers definitely look bigger than those in the others, yet they are considerably smaller than the regular S dot markers, and as I said, try changing your screen settings to make everything lighter and it'll most likely show to be blue and not dark rosewood, which I believe it's far from. Again, I'm not trying to pretend to be an expert, it's just that I looked at all those details before I posted and after checking them I came up with that question....

Cheers mates!

jc

ps. EDIT: I meant some attention from somebody at the RIC co. not that nobody is paying attention to this... sorry about that

[jc-sz]

A little update, I just checked and it shows to be same year and the SPCs (1987).

Another thing, while it's silly and not very relevant as a proof, it's promo pic is in the same fashion as the SPC models.

Cheers!

jc

ps: not trying to contradict anybody, its just that i'm pretty sure of what I see, I hope nobody takes it like I'm trying to prove anybody wrong, definitely not the idea just curiosity and maybe a hard head.

[ilan]

It could be an experimental model and the debate here could be the reason it didn't make it to full production: the bass doesn't look very different from a MID 4003S BT.

[marc61]

looks like an ebony board to me.

[s4001]

Blue