Recommendations for 4003 project

[jakeox]

Ian, if you're looking to sell your 4004L, please drop me a note -- I should be in the market for one of these very soon. Thanks.

[aceonbass]

My modified "4004V63 Cii" is still available if you're interested Jake.

[ianmatth]

It's finally done. I have the Audere wired with seperate volume for each pickup, so I can blend the toaster and single coil however I want. The toaster has a very clear sound while the single coil is louder and has what I would describe as a gritty sound (awesome for distortion), they sound great blended. As far as the 4-band preamp on the Audere, I'm still trying to figure out what I like best, but jacking up the bass while keeping everything else centered sounds pretty good. Here it is.

[ianmatth]

Here's a closer look at the body. I really like how the black pickguards blend in so much that you can barely see them, the black with chrome is an awesome look, wish it didn't have the white trim, and I'm not so crazy about the clear part on the bridge pickguard, I might take it off.

[ianmatth]

And to stick it to Rickenbacker for their TRC policy, a Rickenbacker sticker and a custom TRC take care of that, and the TRC isn't a fang shape at all, it's rounded at the top. You can't see it, but the sticker was cut so the rest of the big R is on the nut facing the peg head.

[aceonbass]

Looks more like you stuck it to yourself with that truss rod cover. RIC's TRC policy is in place for some very good reasons unfortunately. Statements like that are part of the reason John Hall doesn't post here anymore.

[rickenbrother]

Looks more like you stuck it to yourself with that truss rod cover. RIC's TRC policy is in place for some very good reasons unfortunately. Statements like that are part of the reason John Hall doesn't post here anymore.

Have to agree with Dane.
It's too bad that we lost JH's participation here. He always freely gave useful, interesting and important information to us. His humor would sometimes make my day.

[cjj]

+1
I wasn't really sure why he stopped posting, I just knew he had stopped. I can understand why if people were continually giving him flak about everything. I do miss the great information and his sense of humor...

[ianmatth]

Looks more like you stuck it to yourself with that truss rod cover. RIC's TRC policy is in place for some very good reasons unfortunately. Statements like that are part of the reason John Hall doesn't post here anymore.

I stuck it to myself because I didn't want to pay close to $200 for a little piece of plastic?

Dane, I understand why they have the TRC policy, it's unfortunate that people were trying to put real Rickenbacker TRCs on fake Rics, but it has resulted in people selling Rickenbacker TRCs for ridiculous amounts of money. In fact I saw a Univox TRC from a 4001 copy go for over $30 on eBay, and the first time it was listed it was removed. It's a little draconian IMO for RIC to go after an individual on eBay selling a TRC cover that doesn't even say Rickenbacker, but has the trademarked fang shape, isn't it enough that they went after Univox.

My statement was meant to be sarcastic, I serious doubt something along those lines are the reason John Hall doesn't post here. It was probably some of the really upset customers who had major issues with Ric policies that made him decide has wasn''t going to post outside of the official Rickenbacker forum where he could regulate the posts. While Rickenbacker makes awesome guitars, a lot of customers and retailers have issues with Rickenbacker policies (like anyone who paid close to $200 for a Rickenbacker TRC ). Rickenbacker has every right to their policies, but people have the right to say what they want in regard to disliking the policies. I could complain about a lot of Rickenbacker policies, but the bottom line is that the policies are great for RIC's bottom line, even if they drive up the price of everything Rickenbacker for everyone else and often make it more profitable for someone to part out a Ric rather than selling it as is.

My bottom line is that there is no way I'm paying well over $100 for a little piece of plastic, and if I knew I could get $200 for the real Rickenbacker TRCs I have, I'd sell them all and put the same homemade TRC on all my Rics. Anyone who knows anything about Rickenbackers knows a real Ric, even if it doesn't have a proper TRC, and outside of the resale value of a non-modified Ric (further driven up by people who collect Rics and don't even play them ) it's all about how it sounds for me, not to mention that I think my Ric looks pretty cool as well. I think my luthier did a pretty good job of taking that 10" sticker (obviously made bigger in an attempt to stop people from doing what I did) and getting it to fit on the headstock without losing too much of the lettering. All things being equal I would have preferred a real Rickenbacker TRC (and I could always use one from another Ric, but one of them would have to get the homemade TRC), but for me it is nowhere close to being worth the price. Maybe my bass will end up on some board where all the Rickenbacker purists rip on the TRC, but I have an awesome bass and the satisfaction of saving money while making a subtle statement about my dislike of the Rickenbacker TRC policy.

[aceonbass]

Wait a minute...you actually PAID someone to make that TRC? I thought it was something you'd have whipped up as a joke. RIC TRC's are not just "a little piece of plastic". They are a trademarked shape with a trademarked logo on them that helps identify a brand. The open market cost of a TRC will increase the value of your instrument by at least as much as you pay for it. Having been on this forum for over 8 years, I can tell you that it is just such statements about RIC's policies that contributed to JH's leaving, as well as some of the policies they have. You'd be surprised at some of the perks enjoyed by those who do not voice opinions about RIC in that fashion. It's not a subtle statement if you make it here.

[ianmatth]

I gave him the sticker and told him to do what he could after he'd given me the price, it was something he whipped up at the last moment, but I think it looks good for what it is. Thank you for the advice Dane, I'll keep my Rickenbacker TRCs. It seems ridiculous to me that a Rickenbacker TRC will increase the value of the instrument by $200, but supply and demand is what it is. IMO paying $200 for a TRC would only contribute to more people taking the TRCs off their Rics and selling them, so in principle I still won't buy one, but I won't be part of the problem by selling one either. And since I'm just an recreational bass player, even if I towed the Rickenbacker line, I doubt I'd see any perks out of it, however I'm sorry if I'm messing up any RRF perks by posting such things here, I guess John Hall takes these forums pretty seriously. Feel free to delete this entire post (or back to where I posted the pictures) if it'll help RRF out, I get the feeling that rocking the Rickenbacker boat isn't so cool here, and I don't need to have this thread go down the toilet. I have the custom 4003 I want, and I really appreciate the help from guys like John and Joshua. I can always slap a Rickenbacker TRC on the bass, take a new picture, and make a new post so people don't get riled up about the homemade TRC.

[rickenbrother]

I guess John Hall takes these forums pretty seriously. Feel free to delete this entire post (or back to where I posted the pictures) if it'll help RRF out, I get the feeling that rocking the Rickenbacker boat isn't so cool here, and I don't need to have this thread go down the toilet. I have the custom 4003 I want, and I really appreciate the help from guys like John and Joshua. I can always slap a Rickenbacker TRC on the bass, take a new picture, and make a new post so people don't get riled up about the homemade TRC.

Ian, you have to take in consideration that this is a site for the APPRECIATION of all things Rickenbacker. Some people look at this site as a fan site, okay fine, whatever they want to call it.
For someone like me who would like to see JH participating here again, the sarcasm is not appreciated and sets my hopes back further.
I'm not locking up or deleting anything yet, but the continuation of this thread will be watched closely.

[cjj]

I think John Hall takes his business pretty seriously. Sarcasm and excessive criticism in this forum likely makes Mr. Hall feel it's not worth his time in participating.

As Joey said, this forum is for the appreciation of Rickenbackers. Sure, we can whine, complain and berate RIC to our heart's content, but that does little to foster a good relationship with the company and the people who run it. It also does little to further the aims of this forum and just generally makes the forum a less fun place to "hang out"...

[ram]

When it comes to Ric's I have little to nothing to complain about. I genuinely like them - would like to see JH do some things to them but he has a business to run - not a 'gee what can I do for Tom today’ organization. We have an agreement, I don't tell him how to run his business and doesn't tell me how to play my bass.... it's been working since 1974.... I do miss his comments here though – seems like a nice guy. I too didn't know that is why he doesn’t comment here anymore – what a shame.

[aceonbass]

Yep, it only took a few apples to spoil this bunch with JH.