Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

cassius987 wrote:Nice! I bought one much like yours from Wildwood a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. Only Ric bass I've owned that hasn't needed any set up work at all out-of-the-box (though Wildwood probably poked at it a bit before it came to me). I am planning to post a review when I have more time.

Nice to see that you bought one! I remember you playing my old early 80's jetglo at Dan's bass store. I'd be curious about any differences that you might remember. My 4001S neck is a bit on the "chunky" (but stable - not much of a dead spot) side. I am guessing that the newer ones have a bit more deep end.

Thanks, everyone! This 4003 is awesome. I haven't put it down all weekend.

cassius987 wrote:Nice! I bought one much like yours from Wildwood a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. Only Ric bass I've owned that hasn't needed any set up work at all out-of-the-box (though Wildwood probably poked at it a bit before it came to me). I am planning to post a review when I have more time.

The set up on mine was really good, too. Dave's may have tweaked it before sending it out. I changed strings so I had to tweak the neck ever so slightly, intonate and file the nut slots a bit. It was nice to have a good starting point and my new strings (D'Addario EXL 170BT) weren't too far off from the stock set.

rickboy88 wrote:Nice to see that you bought one! I remember you playing my old early 80's jetglo at Dan's bass store. I'd be curious about any differences that you might remember. My 4001S neck is a bit on the "chunky" (but stable - not much of a dead spot) side. I am guessing that the newer ones have a bit more deep end.

I didn't play your bass for too long but remember liking the feel and the tone quite a bit and thinking you had a keeper. It sealed the deal for me wanting a proper S bass. Whereas I'd previously played C Series basses and wasn't as impressed with them. Though it has been a while, comparatively I'd say your bass had a more "C" neck profile to my 4003S's "D", had an only slightly chunkier neck and may have been a tad heavier. These are very small differences between the two even compared to more recent Rics I've played, and own.

My new 4003S bass is also "dead spot free" like yours, though what's really going on is that the classic 130 Hz/C dead spot on the D string is shifted up to the C# and is much less noticeable. In my experience this is really the way to cure dead spots -- increase the frequency of the resonance and somehow the amplitude also drops, so the effect is the perception of the dead spot goes away. It's exactly what happened when I put Hipshot ultra-light tuners on my 4003FL.

I think something about the pickups is different now than other recent examples I've played. The neck pickup is louder in the overall balance and has more low-mid presence, making it more user friendly to mix in without having to change preamp settings as much when going from the bridge pickup soloed. The string balance is really good. Love the look and feel of the unbound but finished fingerboard and the round pearlescent inlays. The neck has perfect curvature all the way to the 20th fret (no ski ramps or anything). So far I am just going to leave the stock strings in place but I'll eventually switch to something like Jay is using (light balanced strings). While I am a big fan of flats, it seems a shame not to have nickel rounds on this bass. It growls like a hungry monster when you dig in. I am surprised how often I am using both pickups at full blast, something I almost never do with my fretless basses, but it sounds punchy, warm and a bit fat.

If my 4003S is any indication, I wholeheartedly think RIC is going in the right direction, keeping QC tops and targeting the right market. I think this bass will convert lots of people on the fence about a 4003 due to the price and the binding. My bass cost less than a USA Jazz, and I didn't have to haggle.

Nice review Rhys, I also purchased a 4003S FG and took delivery back in May from POTR. I was not happy with it at all, I decided to hold onto and give it some time.

I had to adjust the rods, file the nut, bridge saddles and lower the bridge pick up, raise the neck pick up(the neck pick up is no where near the output of the bridge pick up). It plays great now and is comparable to my '82 4001S (except the 4003s neck
is slightly larger. I also put a set of light gauge exl220bt D'Addario.

How does the neck on your new S compare to your modified 4004 bass?

basmansam wrote:How does the neck on your new S compare to your modified 4004 bass?

A great deal slimmer side-to-side and a bit slimmer front-to-back.

woodyng wrote:Fabulous,Congrats!

+1!

doctorwho wrote:

woodyng wrote:Fabulous,Congrats!

+1!

+1 Lovely Fireglo

cassius987 wrote:

basmansam wrote:How does the neck on your new S compare to your modified 4004 bass?

A great deal slimmer side-to-side and a bit slimmer front-to-back.