Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Listening to fretless Rics on you tube (Chris Brubeck and one other Jazz player) I would have to say they sound more like an upright bass than any other fretless bass.

lumgimfong wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 11:07 pm Listening to fretless Rics on you tube (Chris Brubeck and one other Jazz player) I would have to say they sound more like an upright bass than any other fretless bass.

Has anyone here ever played or heard a Fender fretless Acoustic/Electric Precision? It's pretty unique:

medium thin hollow body
flat spruce top
mahogany back, slightly rounded but not comfort carved like a normal Precision
unadjustable bridge like an acoustic guitar
unmarked rosewood fingerboard
maple neck with a Jazz profile
Lace Sensor split P-pickup in the usual placement
Piezo pickup in the bridge
TBX tone circuit

Fender Japan made these in the late 80's maybe into the '90s. I have one, bought used in 1990 at Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd. Mine is strung with nylon tapewounds. To me, the Piezo sounds raspy unless I blend in just a bit. Then it doesn't destroy the tone of the Lace Sensor, but it picks up on the sound effects from strings on the fingerboard. A pretty convincing substitute for an upright. There is also a fretted version. Later Carvin offered a bass that was pretty similar - don't know the model.

I am hoping that Rickenbacker comes through with production of the 4005 this year. I always thought they would be nice in a fretless version.

There’s a 4003fl jetglo for sale in Pittsburgh on Fbook marketplace. But pretty beat up.