Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Very nice work, Jeff. Looks festive for the holidays also. You're right, the neck does have very nice maple. Kudos.

Hey, Jeff, schweeeeet...and it's so good to see you with a pleased smile on your face!

Happy holidays!

Hi Jeff,

Sensational work. Cant wait to get my hands on it when I get home again.

Has that festive look which fits in well with the holiday season. Though, I might need to get a Santa suit to go with it.

Seasons greetings to all.

Party hard and travel safe.

Brett

Looks gorgeous! Just waiting here for the first of the year to go by before I can defile my 4004Cii Monty. It's been sitting here un-gigged because I simply cannot deal with 4 strings anymore without loding my place and going psychotic.

Nice job, Jeff! And yes, the 2030's work great as 5-strings. Jeff did a few of them and they sound good!! I always said I wanted one of Jeff's (the white or silver one) but missed out. I have a silver 5-string Musicman that I will have to make do with.. .

OK then! I think I am about convinced to try the 5-string route for the 2030. I think it could be handy to have one in the tool kit. I wouldn't ever play a single valve bass trombone at this point. Double valves are the way to go, especially for 17 piece jazz band stuff where I can play the low B natural that doesn't exist on a single valve. The alternates are also nice. It appears to be a similar case with 4 string vs. 5 string.
I'll probably be in touch soon Jeff, via PM or email.

Come by and play some 4-2-5 basses before you decide ...

When I gig this is my goto bass
When I am playing in my basement basses like this keep me entertained
and yes the 2000 series basses do make good 5 string basses

To me, drilling a hole in a perfectly good 4 stringer, ruins the bass...

Especially in an odd spot...

Ah heck.....my 4004Cii was converted by Mr Rath is is a better instrument now

Jeff, that Fenderbird is exquisite.

rickenbrother wrote:To me, drilling a hole in a perfectly good 4 stringer, ruins the bass...

rickenbrother wrote:Especially in an odd spot...

I agree in theory and wouldn't have it done to mine BUT it's a bit harsh to say "ruined" when it works out and all parties are happy with the end result. It would only be a ruined bass if it was no longer used and that isn't the case. A bass is more ruined or useless when it sits around not being used. When there isn't a satisfactory (IMO) Ric 5-er available what are the options? (not trying to stir anything up BTW)

.....an economical, fully functional solution is to "Rath/Gilbert" a Ric 4 string and stay within the Ric family.
.....do as I did and look to other brands.

I appreciate those that do what they must to get the most out of their instruments for their needs. The basses are just a tool to make music after all.

jingle_jangle wrote:Jeff, that Fenderbird is exquisite.

Thanks ... it is a player ... I have a spot on it where I wore it down to bare wood from playing it a lot ...

Actually I am doing essentially what Rickenbacker did with the 4003s to make a 4003s5, except they had the luxury to drill 5 holes in a blank headstock.

It is a shame that the first 2 attempts Rickenbacker did at making a 5 string bass had flaws. The 4003s5 had a string spacing of 2 1/16" at the bridge and the 4004cii5 had pickups with 2 1/4" rails and string at 2 3/4". My 4-2-5 2030, 4003, and 4004 basses all have a wider string spacing than the 4003s5 and all have the strings within the 2 1/4" distance of the pickups. I am simply not going to remove and replace the headwings and refinish the bass just to add a 5th string. That is why I like the Fender p-bass necks. They provide a nice place for a 5th tuner.

I'm not a 5 string guy, so I know very little about them, but I don't understand the whole string spacing bit on the 5er's.

I like small, thin necks, wouldn't thinner string spacing make a 5 string easier to play? I recently picked up a CHEAPIE Alvarez 5 string just to give it a try, and it is annoying because the spaces between the strings are HUGE! The only other 5er I had was an Alembic Essence, and that thing measured 3.5 inches at the 12th fret!
I just haven't had any luck with 5 strings. Did RIC make a 5er in the mid 80's? THAT would probably be one for me, I love the necks from that era.

I've been looking at those Epi T-birds ever since Jeff sold his green one. I REALLY liked the look of that bass.

Are you using the STOCK Epi pickups Jeff or did you swap them out with the Gibson ones? The ONLY reason I've resisted all this time is I hear they are on the heavy side. Anyone know if there is a HUGE difference between the EPI & the Gibson? Are the electronics the same, etc....

ajish4 wrote:I've been looking at those Epi T-birds.

I also find myself looking at them sometimes. I've never played one or A/B'ed them with a Gibson T-bird to see if there is much difference other than how the neck attaches to the body.
I also find myself looking at the Fender Jaguars, but I don't like the taper of the J-bass style neck that it has.