Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I had a ‘98 V63 and a 4003 and the necks were subtly fatter than the other Rics I’ve owned. Was definitely less comfortable than my other basses and so it didn’t get played often. By comparison, I can’t put my ‘18 40003s down which has me jonesing for another v63. (How does that work?!)

Maybe I was lucky!

The measurements are in the Girth Chart, somewhere.

I found the measurements:

February '67 4005WB - 11.4/11.6/13.0
March '73 4001 - 11.7/11.9/13.3
July '73 4001 - 11.7/11.9/13.3
April '98 4001V63 - 11.7/11.9/13.4

jps wrote:Maybe I was lucky!

The measurements are in the Girth Chart, somewhere.

I found the measurements:

February '67 4005WB - 11.4/11.6/13.0
March '73 4001 - 11.7/11.9/13.3
July '73 4001 - 11.7/11.9/13.3
April '98 4001V63 - 11.7/11.9/13.4

Luck has nothin' to do with it - basses with slender necks are attracted to you.

Well, Gene was nice enough to send me a note about a beautiful FG '91 for sale on ebay over the weekend. The catch, it was in Japan.
After some thought I decided to buy it. Shortly after that I received a message from a very nice guy thanking me for the purchase and that he would go to the store in the morning to make sure it was still there. About an hour later I received a message that my money was refunded and that "the bass was out to repair the crack that was previously repaired" and was not available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Too bad, because that was exactly what I was looking for.

teeder wrote:Well, Gene was nice enough to send me a note about a beautiful FG '91 for sale on ebay over the weekend. The catch, it was in Japan.
After some thought I decided to buy it. Shortly after that I received a message from a very nice guy thanking me for the purchase and that he would go to the store in the morning to make sure it was still there. About an hour later I received a message that my money was refunded and that "the bass was out to repair the crack that was previously repaired" and was not available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Too bad, because that was exactly what I was looking for.

I've read elsewhere that this is a common scenario. None of those Japanese "dealer/sellers" actually have the instruments in hand. They're just guys who make lists of instruments they see at various shops and, apparently they all share the same photos to put on ebay.

jps wrote:

teeder wrote:Well, Gene was nice enough to send me a note about a beautiful FG '91 for sale on ebay over the weekend. The catch, it was in Japan.
After some thought I decided to buy it. Shortly after that I received a message from a very nice guy thanking me for the purchase and that he would go to the store in the morning to make sure it was still there. About an hour later I received a message that my money was refunded and that "the bass was out to repair the crack that was previously repaired" and was not available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Too bad, because that was exactly what I was looking for.

I've read elsewhere that this is a common scenario. None of those Japanese "dealer/sellers" actually have the instruments in hand. They're just guys who make lists of instruments they see at various shops and, apparently they all share the same photos to put on ebay.

That explains the excessive amount of notifications of the same bass as "new", with slightly varying prices, from my Ebay watches. Quite irritating, actually.

Teeder, I will continue to keep an eye out for you here in my daily European Ric hunt.

Yep, I've heard others say what JPS said above. I've gota notification set up w ebay on 4001v63, so I get about 2-3 emails a week reporting a "new" listing of a v63. As I related in my original post, they've been 3 jetglos and a Mid blue, relisted over and over again for at least 6 months... But then this FG showed up... I have my 94 v63 MG, which is bodacious, but ya never know what might pop up... I surf craigslist for the same reason... Better luck next time Teeder!

Thanks, guys!

In the past I would recommend contacting Japanese dealers like Ishibashi, Kurosawa Gakki or TC Gakki rather than ebay, but CITES seems to have stymied trade in any instrument with rosewood, bubinga or kosso components out of Japan. Whilst one should theoretically be able to obtain export and import permits for instruments made prior to the CITES cut-off of January 2, 2017, the Japanese authorities have made this impractical for the time being.

antipodean wrote:In the past I would recommend contacting Japanese dealers like Ishibashi, Kurosawa Gakki or TC Gakki rather than ebay, but CITES seems to have stymied trade in any instrument with rosewood, bubinga or kosso components out of Japan. Whilst one should theoretically be able to obtain export and import permits for instruments made prior to the CITES cut-off of January 2, 2017, the Japanese authorities have made this impractical for the time being.

But why would CITES impact something made in 1991(as this bass was supposed to date to)? I could see if it was a 1963 Rick 4001S, brimming with brazilian rosewood, but not to a bass or guitar made so recently of theoretically responsibly harvested woods? Maybe I just don't understand CITES and its regulations as well as I thought...

squirebass wrote:

antipodean wrote:In the past I would recommend contacting Japanese dealers like Ishibashi, Kurosawa Gakki or TC Gakki rather than ebay, but CITES seems to have stymied trade in any instrument with rosewood, bubinga or kosso components out of Japan. Whilst one should theoretically be able to obtain export and import permits for instruments made prior to the CITES cut-off of January 2, 2017, the Japanese authorities have made this impractical for the time being.

But why would CITES impact something made in 1991(as this bass was supposed to date to)? I could see if it was a 1963 Rick 4001S, brimming with brazilian rosewood, but not to a bass or guitar made so recently of theoretically responsibly harvested woods? Maybe I just don't understand CITES and its regulations as well as I thought...

Yeah, one would think that. Unfortunately, it works retroactively. As to that 1963 Rick 4001S, it didn't have any BRW on it, as I recall.

As to that 1963 Rick 4001S, it didn't have any BRW on it, as I recall.

That's my understanding too.

(My '62 slab-board P-bass, now that's a different story. )

teeder wrote:

As to that 1963 Rick 4001S, it didn't have any BRW on it, as I recall.

That's my understanding too.

(My '62 slab-board P-bass, now that's a different story. )

Really? So what was it that RIC used for fingerboards in those days?

In the '50s they did use BRW, but photographic evidence shows bubinga on the late '50s model 4000 and beyond.