Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

You've got it right, Scott!

Don't know the actual timelines... I believe the Cii started out as all walnut body with walnut wings. Then it progresses to a quilted maple top (similar to the technique used by Fodera) walnut body, walnut wings; then it moved to maple top and back with walnut sandwiched in between - and somewhere around this time the walnut wings disappeared.

I waited well over 1.5 years for my bass and that was 3-4 years ago (I think)

There was a lot of talk about bringing back the wings on this forum -I used every opportunity to ask JH about it -mainly off list and in one of his responses to me he said something like when customers like you want walnut wings what are we suppose to do - and then they reappeared.

IIRC - JH wasn't crazy about the wings under the transparent colors. When the bass was being built initially they wouldn’t know what color it would be; natural, TR, TG, TB so he eliminated them. When the wings came back, they came back on all models; 4004L, 4004 Cii, 4003

Hi Andy! Its been a long time, where you been dude????

Actually when I think about it, my timeline might be a little early,,I checked, my CII was an '02. But it did not have walnut wings.

Here's a 2003 Cii headstock without walnut, I might have been hesitant to drill into this one if it had walnut and might not have discovered how good these are as five strings.

You guys are right, I forgot that interim period with no walnut headwings.

Andy, I dunno about the first Ciis being walnut body wings on the top. Certainly the original Cheyenne (4004C) was ONLY that way, but the change to what has become known as the Cii occurred about 1998/99, and as far as I've been able to ascertain, started with the figured maple top onto what was basically a C body. The "famous" RIC office-museum example that was used by guest bands at the 75th Anniversary celebration, appears to be a prototype as it has a maple fretboard (a consistent feature of the original C), pickups in the original position, and the quilted top. As far as I can tell, the first production Ciis had maple top on the walnut-winged body structure (visible from the back), bubinga fretboard, and "dropped" pickups (like the leftie at the beginning of this thread). If you know more, I'd sure appreciate the correct info for the book. Thanks!

nyrkickazz1 wrote:

bassduke49 wrote:It did, and still does, have the walnut headwings.

There was a time when they didn't, though.

Like this one:

The 98 Laredo that I just converted had walnut headwings and a maple fretboard ... most of the 4004L basses that I converted have maple wings ...

Sonavab tch!

sigh...

cheyenne wrote:Hi Andy! Its been a long time, where you been dude????

Hey Scott!

I’ve been around – just lurking, staying out of trouble! Hahaha!

bassduke49 wrote:It did, and still does, have the walnut headwings.

That leftie trans red Cii I'm pretty sure is the one that belongs to "Mr. X" in Chicago, a friend of mine and Ted S.'s

Yep, that one belongs to Mr. X.

C'mon back Andy. If I remember correctly the last time you posted you were getting into other basses like Turner, and this is a stretch,, but perhaps Fodera basses?

Im sure other forum members miss your comments and expertise.

C'mon back dude. Once a Rick player, "always a Ric Resource member"

Thanks for the kind comments, Scott

I do now own a couple of Foderas, but I still have a couple of Rick's and there are more Rick's in my future.


cheers!

The first Cii's were maple on the front and walnut on the back. Shortly after they got the maple-walnut-maple sandwich they have today. Examples made from 1999 through 2000 sported lovely quilted maple tops, backs, and sometimes even neck slabs. The walnut head wings present in the original versions were replaced by maple ones at some point. Do the current ones have walnut?

The current Cii basses have walnut ears in their headstocks, I think since sometime in '04.