NGD 4003 Montezuma Amberglo

[Arthur02]

Figured Montezuma Amberglo 4003's have started to ship from Wildwood Guitars. This arrived yesterday, it was worth the wait.

[thx1955]

Oh that is very nice, congratulations, if only they'd do a Fireglo version !

[bassduke49]

Oooh, yummy! Curse RIC! Now they're bringing out the pretty stuff with the new features, and I'm not collecting/playing anymore!

[cheyenne]

It might be fatigue from working overtime due to this dam* Covid ****, but does that toaster look slightly different to anyone else?

[supazar]

Congratulations! Beautiful figuring of the maple wings. I can't wait until mine ships. Hopefully I'll be hearing soon.

[fireglo]

Thanks for the pictures! It's beautiful!

[cjj]

Wow, that's SWEET! If I still lived in the States, I'd probably be getting one myself...

[iriane]

Hmmm...

Is anyone as surprised as me to learn that these are mono only?



I'm not a Rickenbacker historian, but I always thought that all 4003 basses were stereo besides the 4003s and the different 4001 V and C series over the years. These Montezuma Amberglo basses are being sold specifically as a 4003, and the listing on Wildwood mentions nothing about the output in any way. Strange, since some use Rick-o-sound and would buy one of these assuming it was stereo-capable and would surely be upset when it arrived with a mono-only output.

I wonder why they would go through the trouble of routing the body specifically for the mono-only output jack but mention nothing of it in the sales literature? Why go through all the trouble?

I understand Rick does stuff on special editions just to be different (such as putting the giant plexi TRC on the small headstock which just doesn't look right) but even so it seems weird to do such a change and not mention it anywhere as a selling point.

Just wondering.

[bassduke49]

Hmm. Interesting. It could be an oversight. Once in a while there were S models that had the two outlets. A less significant deviation was a V63 that I owned for a while with a position marker on the 19th fret - most didn't have them.

[iriane]

To address my own previous post, I finally received an answer regarding the lack of stereo output on these limited basses. Here is what I was told when I asked why this mono "feature" was not addressed in the listing:

"the Ric O Sound is just a seldom used feature and the extra wiring just takes some of the guts and punch away in my experience"

So, there you have it. I guess it makes it more rare and/or special. Unless you use Rick-o-sound and buy one of these expecting it, then it probably would be the opposite of "special."

[Dirk]

Extremely classy flame for sure, that looks perfect in that finish, plus in my opinion, you'll always get extra points from me for checkerboard inlay!
Enjoy it!
Dirk

[henry5]

That is absolutely gorgeous. That’s possibly even nicer than the BRG.

[bottom4]

Perfect all around including the mono output imo!

[teeder]

That's the nicest looking bass Rick's put out in a long time!

[pauleway]

This is what is called a teaser. This is what Rickenbacker shows what they can do, but just give you a little taste and then just keep on knocking out the same old thing year after year!!