4004L

[ricnbacker]

Absolutely gorgeous!!

Sepp

thanks, it is a stunning color

[ricnbacker]

I failed to add my congrats to you, Christopher! Lovely bass with a great version of MID.

[geofio]

very nice, love the look of the wood on the neck, wish i had hung on to my 4004 now lol, she,s a cracking looking bass have fun!!!!

[rickenbrother]

Always good to see another 4004, whether it be a C, Cii or L. Congrats and enjoy it, Christopher. I love the new Midnight Blue.
Post more pics after it stops foaming at the mouth!

[ricnbacker]

Another Laredo added to the Forum......congrats!

Be sure to let us know your impressions once you give it a hammering.

I played it for about 2 hours periodically switching to the 4003 to compare.

I'll sleep on my thoughts and give a report tomorrow. in the mean time heres another picture

[incubus2432]

Another Laredo added to the Forum......congrats!

Be sure to let us know your impressions once you give it a hammering.

I played it for about 2 hours periodically switching to the 4003 to compare.

I'll sleep on my thoughts and give a report tomorrow. in the mean time heres another picture

Tease!

[johnallg]

I do like MID. Nice bass, and congrats.

[BobHyde]

Great looking bass! I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the tone/feel compared to your 4003.

[teeder]

Great looking bass! I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the tone/feel compared to your 4003.

+1!

[incubus2432]

His last post, to me, sounds like he doesn't care for it. Based strictly on poor reading between the lines skills and jumping to conclusions of course.

[ricnbacker]

Great looking bass! I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the tone/feel compared to your 4003.

ok, so I slept on it and here it is....

please dont ban me from the site

tone/feel compared to the 4003

there is no comparison

truth is, with all the desire to have one and anticipation of getting in my hands gone and playing for a few hours last night...I am disappointed. I did not even sleep well last night because of it.

the Neck is awesome. lets start with that. its thinner and faster playing than the 4003 but thats where it ends for me. the pick ups didnt wow me as the 4003 does. the tuners feel flimsy, the knobs feel like cheap plastic. the body is very light in weight, the selector switch is very small ,the bridge looks a little screwy and the pot wiring cover sits off the body instead of being recessed.

my 4003 is a monster coming through the amp, it just has a unique killer tone. feels good and solid all the way around. to be honest, my Steinberger feels and plays better than the 4004...trust me, I hate to say that.

I love my Ric, nothing else has ever felt and comfortable in my hands that the 4003. I hate P basses, J's I can tolerate. my 4003 is like Thor's hammer to me, no matter what, I always play that better than anything else and it always gets compliments. my wife was like, thats it?? . She doesnt usually comment. I know something is wrong.

all I have is the Steinberger and the 4003. The 4003 stays in its case in a closet till I play it. the Steinie is just out for me to grab whenever.

I take great care of my stuff, I play the **** out of the 4003 and theres not a scratch on it. 11 years now. the sad news to report is that the 4004 also showed up with a chip on it. very very small but it might have well been the grand canyon, 2 little white chips on the side below the volume and tone knobs. to me it was as plain as day when I took it out of the case, not sure how the dealer missed it or left the factory that way

so, beautiful as it is, sorry to say....this ones not for me

[incubus2432]

One trick to really bring the 4004 alive is to raise the pickups/lower the action so the strings are as close to the strings as possible without contact under aggressive playing. With the action high and the pickups lowered a 4004 can sound rather lifeless.

As far as the other complaints if you don't like it you don't like it.

[ricnbacker]

One trick to really bring the 4004 alive is to raise the pickups/lower the action so the strings are as close to the strings as possible without contact under aggressive playing. With the action high and the pickups lowered a 4004 can sound rather lifeless.

As far as the other complaints if you don't like it you don't like it.

I wouldnt say complaints as much as observations from hands on..Complaint sounds too negative. I am truly disappointed and actually feel sad. I have a great life and rarely feel blah/sadness...this is odd

the string height and pick up height are pretty much where I would like it to be. the Bass was set up by the vendor to my specs. any lower or higher and there would be issues.

I'll play it again later for a 3rd opinion but when you know, you know

[woodyng]

that is unfortunate! i have found the hb1 pickups to be really great sounding,and plenty powerful,but i have also noticed that they don't really sound all that "alive" to me,until i kick in the tech 21 vt box. it just seems to bring out all the crispy huge warm goodness you could ask for. or if you're playing through a tube amp, i would think you would get a similar effect. some of the descriptions you were using as cons were what i would consider pros. "the body is very light in weight".....for example. i know what you mean about the tuners,too,they feel tiny,but they're on my ex-4002 and on my cii,and they work flawlessly. the mini-toggle SHOULD be replaced with a third knob,either a separate volume or a blend knob,just gives more options with the same amount of controls.
anyhow,everything's not for everybody. i basically sold my 4002 because i thought it was heavy,and i didn't care for the feel of the neck or body binding. (after playing it for 11 years,mind you....)

[ricnbacker]

His last post, to me, sounds like he doesn't care for it. Based strictly on poor reading between the lines skills and jumping to conclusions of course.

I missed that earlier....you know the lottery numbers for tomorrow?

lol