Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Brian -

I put an initial bid in but I'm not sure if I'm going any further with it or not....I really need to know more about it......

I've got my #1 Shadow, my 4005, my v63 Seafoam, my v63/FG and my Hofner bass....so I'm still pretty happy if I don't get this one!! lol!!

PLEASE....somebody here on this forum, GET this bass!!! If I have to swoop in at the last second and take it from a 'non-forumite', I'm gonna be ticked!!!

I don't see any evidence that this is actually a Shadow, most likely it's just a 1986 4003 with black trim that for some reason was made with checkerboard binding. And it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few more of these around.

That's because I've seen a few Rics from this era that appeared to be stock models except for the checkerboard binding. Most recently (2 years ago) I saw a 1986 white 320 that appeared to be stock except for checkerboard binding. I had never seen a 320 with any binding, much less checkerboard.

I wouldn't mind having it..

The ZK serial number is very Shadow-y. All the forum Shadows are late '86.

Perhaps RIC made more Shadow body wings than they needed so they applied some to standard neck slabs to move them out. The Shadow was a custom order for GC as I recall. I don't know how it works around RIC but in manufacturing in general there is normally a small amount of over production to offset defects.

Ted, we should make a bass like this...

It would not be difficult.

The last 4 #'s in the serial #......do they actually MEAN anything?? Because this particular # is EARLIER than the Shadow I bought from Kendall, and earlier than the "geezer" one that sold recently on the 'bay...

RIC wouldn't have started using up the "extra" Shadow wings BEFORE they finished making all the Shadows, eh??

It’s most likely a sequence number Chris

For those of you interested in bidding on this baby....

I sent Mr.Hall an e-mail about this bass and
with his permission, here is his response:

"ZK3198 is not a Shadow Bass, not part of the limited edition. Unit 1 had a
"Z" prefix serial number, all others had the new serial number system as
production of these coincidentally started in the first month of the
changeover.

It's probably a unit we built just to see what it might look like, before
details were finalized. We do this kind of thing all the time."

Cheers,


John Hall

Thank you John for taking the time to respond!!

Chris,


GO FOR IT!!!!

(gritting teeth)

MUST CONTROL MYSELF !!!!

So is it or is it not a prototype? "built just to see what it might look like" sounds like a prototype to me. Which makes it more desirable IMHO. I hope it ends up with a Forum member.

And thanks to Mr Hall for the valuable (as always) input.

I'd say it's most definatley a prototype, potentially one of a kind, literally !!!

"... We do this kind of thing all the time."

Can we see some pictures?