What, a new 4003 cost almost $2,000?

[lowendbob]

I have only been out of touch for a few years, but I cannot believe how much the 4003 has increased in price.
I should have never sold my Monty Brown I bought for $850. Looks like those prices are long gone.

Lurking about it's great to see some of the old members are still active on the forum.

Hello to everyone, it's good to be back.

Cheers,

Bob

[Kopfjaeger]

Bob,

Yup, I paid $1,600 and change for my brand new Jetglo 4003 a few months ago. Fit, finish, and playability were all top notch. It still is quite a price to pay when other "name brand" basses sell for much less. Still, I wanted a Rickenbacker so settling for something else was never an option for me.

Sepp

[analogpackrat]

Unfortunately many other brands have also gotten more expensive in the same time period. A new American Standard Fender P is $1200. Nice bass, but compared to the Rick it has: one pickup, no binding, no inlays, bolt-on neck, and simpler electronics. Is all of that worth $400 more? A more comparable Fender would be the American Deluxe Jazz at $1600 (two pickups, bound neck, inlays).

I kick myself regularly for not scooping up several nice used Ricks I saw in local shops 8-10 years ago.

[jps]

Welcome back, Bob!!! What have you been doing?

[Tarrbot]

It's still possible to find local deals out there.

I got my 4003S/5 about 3 years ago as the whole economy was tanking for $900... a month after a similar bass sold on ebay for $3600 iirc.

And it was a case queen for 20+ years. I figured it was just waiting for me to come along and find her.

I saw a craigslist ad a couple of years ago for $500 intact and pretty decent from what I could tell. Too bad I was like an hour late for seeing it online so I missed it.

I find that it's hard to even find beaten on ones. I'd like an 4003FL but I'd be ok with with any color beater that I could make a comfortable home for. I just don't find them that often either unless they also have a $2000 price tag.

[rickenbrother]

Welcome back, Bob. With the economy the way it is,the prices are unpredictable all over the place for new and used instruments. Some places sell high, but some places offer good deals or have limited time sales. Gotta be patient and do some homework. Then you'll find a good deal.

[teeder]

Hi Bob!

[johnhall]

What, gasoline's almost $5.00 per gallon? Geez, in 2001 it was only $1.60!

What, the CPI is about 225? Geez, in 2001 it was only about 175!

And so on.

[cjj]

Now, if only my salary had gone up since 2001...

[scotty]

Pah i laugh in the face of $5.00 per gallon! you still dont know your living....

[cassius987]

Pah i laugh in the face of $5.00 per gallon! you still dont know your living....

Ah, the endless joy of riding a bike...

[paologregorio]

What, gasoline's almost $5.00 per gallon? Geez, in 2001 it was only $1.60!

What, the CPI is about 225? Geez, in 2001 it was only about 175!

And so on.

Amen: The dollar's lost a lot of value, and the entire economy runs on energy=fuel.

[leftybass]

Just went out and looked at a new 2011 Explorer Limited that they are prepping in the shop.....$50K.

I about fell down.

[coolingitdown]

Pah i laugh in the face of $5.00 per gallon! you still dont know your living....

Alas, Scitty is right. I was in the UK last month. Are you ready for it?

$9.00 a gallon!

At least you guys have pretty good public transportation over there. It's almost non-existent here in Orange County, CA. And I would use it!

[cjj]

But what's the real cost of the fuel? By that I mean, how much of that $9.00/gallon is taxes? In my part of the country, the taxes on each gallon are only about $0.50, so with gasoline running about $3.80, the actual fuel cost is about $3.30/gallon...