Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I find this apparent thickening of 4003 necks interesting since back on August 27, 2008, John Hall implied that things were changing to thinner necks:

John Hall on the RIC Forum wrote:I think all of this is moot, as during this year we've been changing over to and shipping the slimmest necks ever.

It's like ladies hemlines- they change over time and thin seems to be the ticket right now.

Perhaps thin is no longer the ticket?

sloop_john_b wrote:You guys are nuts.

Well John, I don't know if everyone's nuts, but slight differences in neck size shouldn't cause a player any grief. The neck on my '08 4003 is quite thin compared to my Gibson TB. Of course Gibson's are considered to have thick necks, so this is not a great comparison. Still, I switch between the two with ease.

Anywho....the best advice has already been given. Forget online sales and try before you buy.

dog wrote:Anywho....the best advice has already been given. Forget online sales and try before you buy.

Would be nice, but the 850 mile drive to my "local" store is a bit of a pain...

But of course, that is mostly my own fault...

cjj wrote:

dog wrote:Anywho....the best advice has already been given. Forget online sales and try before you buy.

Would be nice, but the 850 mile drive to my "local" store is a bit of a pain...

But of course, that is mostly my own fault...

That really cracks me up! I guess I forgot that you are in the middle of nowhere. So, you're somwhere between the road signs that say "now entering nowhere" and "now leaving nowhere"?

But seriously, I have four basses and everyone of them came on a UPS truck. I was only thinking that the only way to know how a bass/guitar feels before you buy, is to try. Unfortunately, many of us don't have that option.

cjj wrote:

dog wrote:Anywho....the best advice has already been given. Forget online sales and try before you buy.

Would be nice, but the 850 mile drive to my "local" store is a bit of a pain...

I have only seen one Ric in person. And, oh yeah, the salesman said you couldn't try it out at all. You had to buy it before you could touch it. So "try before buy" doesn't work for this Joshua Chandler, at least when it comes to Rics. I'm 2 for 2 so far.

cassius987 wrote:I have only seen one Ric in person. And, oh yeah, the salesman said you couldn't try it out at all. You had to buy it before you could touch it. So "try before buy" doesn't work for this Joshua Chandler, at least when it comes to Rics. I'm 2 for 2 so far.

Where was this at?

jps wrote:Where was this at?

I hope I don't offend anyone, but it was at Eddie's Guitars in St. Louis. I went there in the summer of 2007 to see Tool and just popped in to see what they had. Sure enough, a 4003FL in Jetglo was prominently displayed. 4 months prior I had ordered my 4003 MG (which I am still waiting on) and had not yet even touched a Ric, once. Well, I asked if I could play the thing, and they said, "No. Any guitar in the store but this one. In fact we have 3 Rickenbacker guitars you can try, but not this bass. If you want to touch it you have to place an order for it." [Apparently this meant put money down on it or buy it outright. Oh yeah, and they were asking $2300 for it, which I found pretty ridiculous having sealed the deal for my 4003 MG at literally a grand less.]

I was pretty much speechless and very, very frustrated. I left immediately. Fortunately it didn't cause me to give up on Rics, but besides that one, I have NEVER seen one in a store in person, not once. Trying before you buy is always a good thing, of course, but for some of us it's totally impossible.

Josh, that would be my last time in that store, and also I'd let my fellow musicians about that treatment. indeed.

IIRC, John Biscuti had a somewhat similar experience at a famous 2 floor NYC music store, whose owner makes his own line of guitars and basses.

jps wrote:IIRC, John Biscuti had a somewhat similar experience at a famous 2 floor NYC music store, whose owner makes his own line of guitars and basses.

This is true. '72 4001FG. I noticed it's still there - very surprising, considering the measly $8,000 price tag.

sloop_john_b wrote:

jps wrote:IIRC, John Biscuti had a somewhat similar experience at a famous 2 floor NYC music store, whose owner makes his own line of guitars and basses.

This is true. '72 4001FG. I noticed it's still there - very surprising, considering the measly $8,000 price tag.

Someone needs to tell him those Wall St guys just don't have the $$$ anymore....

johnallg wrote:Josh, that would be my last time in that store, and also I'd let my fellow musicians about that treatment. indeed.

+10

It sounds to me like the "sales" person saw how young you guys look and decided that you didn't have the money to buy these basses. That strategy/attitude when tried on me has resulted in the loss of a good customer every time. I'm not going to buy any instrument without first playing it, any car without first driving it, any motorcycle without first riding it, etc.

Take consolation in the knowledge that tools like this will be striking out time and time again at the game of life and you will not.

I just picked up my 09 4003 MG and the neck seems very comfortable to me. It's thicker than the C64's but still a very comfortable neck.

Apparently mine is on its way. Will report...

cassius987 wrote:Apparently mine is on its way. Will report...

Cool! Glad to hear it's finally on its way!