Fireglo question

[cheyenne]

Does anyone have any good pictures of the current fireglo finish being applied at the factory?

I'm about to order a new 4003S, and cant make up my mind on the finish. Front / back / and headpiece pictures would be really appreciated.

[jps]

No back shots but:

http://www.andybabiuksfabgear.com/brand ... namm-2015/

[cheyenne]

Actually, I don't want to be critical here, but did they get away from the notorious "Clownglo"?

[bassduke49]

Actually, I don't want to be critical here, but did they get away from the notorious "Clownglo"?

Yes, some years back. The rather contrasty "clown glo" application was prominent in the early oughts, but they seem to have done better later in that decade.

[henry5]

That FG really is rather tasty.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

As this is relevant to this thread - Tom Gallo who bought that first FG 4003S from Pick of the Ricks has shared a great review of it on the RIC facebook group.

"4003s Reissue First Impressions

I ordered the reissue 4003s the day after Rickenbacker announced it. As luck would have it the two basses they showed at winter NAMM 2015 were shipped to dealers and my dealer got the first FireGlo bass. I was the first one to place the order, so I am the happy recipient of the the fireglo 4003s reissue.

The bass arrived yesterday and after letting it sit overnight to acclimatize, I cracked open the case this morning. I have not yet plugged in the bass.

Initial Inspection:

There are two notable things, which I'll touch on later, but nothing dealbreaking. The bass was clearly well cared for by Rickenbacker and by Chris at Pick Of The Ricks (PoTR). Inside the case are the bass, the usual Rickenbacker case candy along with the bridge cover and original strings that came with the bass. A couple of extra pieces of bubble wrap were in the case to prevent the bass from moving during shipment. The case is in new condition, with no scratches, or other issues.

Set Up:

At my request Chris set the bass up with a new set of TI Jazz Flats. The setup is exactly as requested, with the action as low as possible. The bass was just below concert pitch when it arrived and after tuning it, it still has low action and is easy to play. As someone who has a chronic tendonitis issue and is developing some finger joint arthritis a good, low
action setup is crucial.

Finish:

The finish, as mentioned before is FireGlo. It's a great color and looks great on this bass. The reds are red and the translucent areas really highlight the maple underneath. I can't say if this is better or worse than other fireglo finishes, but it looks great to me. There is however, one small finish flaw. On the edge of the upper horn there is what looks like a finish drip that never got cleaned up. This isn't noticeable, except at close inspection. I doesn't bother me, but I am including it for accuracy and compeleteness. I didn't find any other finish issues.

Hardware:

The hardware, for example, the bridge, pickup surround, etc are all problem free and also completely clean when I received the bass. The only notable issue is that the bridge pickup is a little slanted. this is very unlikely to cause any issues in terms of sound. This also doesn't bother me much, but I'm including it for the same reasons as mentioned above.

Weight and Balance:

I don't have any way to weigh the bass, but it seems lighter than other Rick basses I've owned, aside from the 4000L, which was very lightweight. It weighs more than my 2003 Fender Highway 1 P Bass, so I'd say it's not too heavy. From the balance perspective, there's a tiny bit of a neck dive, but very, very slight. This is not different from other Ricks I've owned. I'll add here that the bass sounds good and seems quite resonant when not
plugged in.

Neck:

The fit and finish of the neck is very well done. The finish is clean, with no blemishes or other issues. The fret ends are clean, with no burrs. The neck width seems to be pretty much standard for Rickenbacker 400x basses. The construction is standard neck through body. I can't quite describe the fingerboard. The wood looks like it has some sort of pattern or something in it. It looks quite distinctive to my eye. Much different than my 2004 620/6. I think it looks good and adds another dimension to the overall look of the bass. The neck is on the chunky side, but not clubby. I'm coming from usually playing shorties or my P which has a J neck, so almost anything will seem chunky to me.

Overall Impressions:

I'm happy with this bass. It looks great, plays well and when I finally get to plugging it in, I'm sure it's going to sound great as well. But that's for another review."

He has also shared some lovely pics at this link.

http://imgur.com/a/GRt0Q

[BigJohnAZ]

Awesome pics, Brian. I downloaded a couple of them and adjusted the white balance, the colors are very rich. Enjoy that bad boy!

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Awesome pics, Brian. I downloaded a couple of them and adjusted the white balance, the colors are very rich. Enjoy that bad boy!

Not my bass. It belongs to Tom Gallo. I just reposted his facebook post here is all. For the benefit of Scott who started this thread.

[BigJohnAZ]

Ooops, sorry about that. Still, they do look nice.

[squirebass]

Wowsers, that is nice, especially the fretboard! I have put down for one of these puppies myself, from Wildwood, although I don't expect to see it next week exactly...
I did some serious MG vs FG tossing and turning, but just love the FG they've been turning out of late...
But I'm curious why his guitar arrived without the bridge pickup cover installed? Clearly this was one of the NAMM basses, did they do that to display something new/different about the bridge pickup?
Its funny, but when I purchased my first new Rickenbacker bass, in the '90s, the first thing I did was remove the bridge pu cover. Earlier this year, when I took delivery of a new 4003, after years of playing 4001v63's almost exclusively, I left the cover on, and I think it's gonna stay that way(or possibly be replaced with a horsey)