a ric is the original boutique bass,made the same way...
RIC has done a remarkable job keeping quality high and prices reasonable. But it's not a boutique bass at all, and never has been. It is very much a production line bass. John Hall has said that RIC is the third or fourth largest US guitar maker. If you have read either the Bunnybass article or the Bass Player factory tour article, you know it is a factory, not a small-production boutique workshop.
Hmmmm, it certainly has evolved into an interesting discussion! First of all, I love Ricks; I have four, and they have tended to be my main bass over the years. They are in my opinion by far the greatest production bass ever made, and I feel that they sound and look beautiful, but having owned several "boutique basses" I do not feel Ricks are really built to the same standard;nor would I expect them to be. If I pay £4000 for a bass I expect it to be better built than a £1000 one; if it isn't I don't buy it!
I have now owned two Alembics, the first was sold to finance the second which was built for me and which I still have, and I can honestly say they are the best basses I've ever played. I also possess a 4001CS, and whilst visually it is possibly my favourite bass ever it is in no way built and finished to the same standard as my Alembic. I appreciate that Alembic are an acquired taste, and yes, they are probably not as resaleable (would you really want to sell either?), but one thing that hasn't been factored in here is that Alembic will build you anything you like; once you've decided exactly what you want, are you going to save $1000 or so and get a used bass which is not to your ideal spec, or are you going to fork out the extra for your ideal personalised instrument as most true Alembic fans end up doing (and as a member of the Alembic Forum I think I have a pretty good grasp of the "true Alembic fan")?. Bear in mind they will duplicate any historic bass or features; that means in Rickenbacker terms if you want check binding and horseshoes, you've got it.
Obviously another factor in 2nd hand sales is that they tend to be very expensive, and many people just won't pay(or cannot afford to pay) such a considerable amount of money for such an instrument. It took me 20 years to get a custom built Alembic, but it was worth the wait and also worth every penny; in fact I consider it was cheap for what I got!
Ultimately though they are a specialist instrument and do not tend to catch the public consciousness in the same way as Rickenbacker with all its historic links (Beatles etc); as such they will never be as popular. But they are in my opinion truly the Rolls Royce of basses. BTW, they will also build you any body shape, neck shape, width, radius, scale length etc that you want. And anyone who only tried one 10 or even 20 years ago, I suggest you try them again; they're making them better than they ever did. If you don't like them that's fine, but their quality is undeniable.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
