GC Rickenbacker 4001S Special?

[wints]

Andrew,

A beauty, for sure!! I know you have indicated you may be selling her but I have not seen any sale post. Have you listed her anywhere?? Not that i can afford her but I'm very curious and infatuated by her beauty!!

Sepp

Sepp,

I have not officially put her up for sale...just testing the waters, so to speak. As for a price, possibly not as expensive as some might think...but, as discussed here, if 6/10 and 7/10 basses missing original hardware and with normal wear are selling for $7-8K a 9.5/10 bass should be around 25-30% more. When it comes to collecting, original condition still remains the priority, along with rarity.

At this point in time, it's probably the most recognized '68 in the world...thanks to Paul B!

[wints]

Anyone who wants to chat about the bass, can PM me here...

[wints]

Thanks! It is a special bass.

It's soitanly is!

[eddied]

I went to pick up my GC 4001s special today. It was shipped from Wisconson to NH, where I drove to pick it up. I paid $3289, If you want to know about how it arrived , ( I took it out of the box) at the GC store to check it out and go over it, email me and you will be amazed. It's not good, in fact for the price, shocking. All I will say in public is that one of the two clip latches was broken when I took it out of the box. Part of the clip part broke off and was at the bottom of the box. This is the retro- silver case.
[email protected]. If you really want to know the details. I have owned Rick basses since 1974 and I consider myself an expert on all 4001, 4003 models since 1974 and quite capable of setting them up to play and sound amazing.

[heinpete]

Them cover girls can be expensive!

Bookcoverweb.jpg

...not speaking of centerfolds!!!

[jdogric12]

I went to pick up my GC 4001s special today. It was shipped from Wisconson to NH, where I drove to pick it up. I paid $3289, If you want to know about how it arrived , ( I took it out of the box) at the GC store to check it out and go over it, email me and you will be amazed. It's not good, in fact for the price, shocking. All I will say in public is that one of the two clip latches was broken when I took it out of the box. Part of the clip part broke off and was at the bottom of the box. This is the retro- silver case.
[email protected]. If you really want to know the details. I have owned Rick basses since 1974 and I consider myself an expert on all 4001, 4003 models since 1974 and quite capable of setting them up to play and sound amazing.

It sounds like you understandably have issues with either GC's shipping, the case quality, or both. You mention bass setups at the end but not this one. Are we to believe you were less than enthused with the 4001S's setup?

[eddied]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

[heinpete]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

...doesn't matter as long as it obviously sells...

[Lefty4003S8]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

PM sent

[Kopfjaeger]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

So did you take custody of it or did you pass on it? If you passed on it, did you attempt to get another or was one all you needed to see to know you were done?

Sepp

[johnhall]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

I'm sorry if the setup didn't meet your expectations. However, you should understand that the saddles are cut to optimize the centering of the strings on the bass, not to center them in the saddles.

As far as a zero-fret is concerned, perhaps you could explain to me why you think it should have one. This is not a 4001C64S.

[JakeK]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

PM sent

Ditto

[FabGearHead]

I have told my customers for many years now that new guitars or basses are only 95% when they purchase them. The playing action is a personal preference issue and no factory built (or hand built) instrument for that mater, comes "perfect" right out of the case. Some guys want a dead straight neck with no relief, others need a bit of relief to accommodate their playing style. Set-up is an after-the-fact issue.

To be fair, Rickenbacker makes their instruments out of wood which has a tendency to move. That factory set-up which was dead on prior to shipping, can change somewhat by the time it arrives at the store. John Hall doesn't need me to defend his company, I'm simply speaking from personal experience.

Jim

[Kopfjaeger]

Too be perfectly fair, I would rather tweak my new instrument to my tastes but I realize not everyone can or knows how to do the most basic adjustments. I'm not implying the OP meets that statement. Quite the opposite, I'm sure he can.

I was very shocked to hear a very established bassist, and Rickenbacker owner, takes her instrument to get the strings changed and have it set up. When I told her it was pretty straight forward and easy, she simply was not interested in learning. She'd rather pay someone else to do it for her. Hey, back in the day when I only owned one instrument, I did the same thing. I guess I learned out of necessity since I own multiple! That and I'm pretty mechanically inclined and inquisitive.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised when both on my new Spectors came from the music shop adjusted exactly how I like it! Either they got lucky both times or I'm a "run of the mill guy", in relation to my set ups. It was nice that both basses worked so well for me out of the box but I would have had no issue tweaking it if I needed to.

Important stuff like fit and finish, playability, tone, structural soundness, and feel are so much more important in the long run, IMHO.

I'm seriously hoping RIC knocked these 50 basses out of the park!

Sepp

[eddied]

Set up was like an amateur did it. It was a really bad example of a poor quality controlled bass coming from the factory. I also do not understand why no "0" fret? All the important, yet simple things for best playability were overlooked. Regardless, of personal playing preferences, all four saddles were improperly cut, and off center. I won't elaborate anymore. Email me.

I'm sorry if the setup didn't meet your expectations. However, you should understand that the saddles are cut to optimize the centering of the strings on the bass, not to center them in the saddles.

As far as a zero-fret is concerned, perhaps you could explain to me why you think it should have one. This is not a 4001C64S.

John,
First off the spacing of both the E and D strings looks defective. The distance between the A nd D was visually too wide. Any other Rick i've ever owned or currently own, has a definite even spacing between each string the string DOES sit much closer to the middle of the saddle. The E and D are way off the the side of it's saddle. It looks like a defect. The notches were hardly cut (not much depth). None of my other Ricks were ever like this. As far as the "0" fret, I guess you can blame GC on this one because they state that the 4001s Special is designed to be like McCartney's 4001 as it is today. To me that equals a "0" fret, just like you built the C64S, which I also own.