Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

right above or just past the neck pickup, other locations change based on the action.

cassius987 wrote:

cjj wrote:You really need to pick up a 4004, then you'd have everything that really counts...

Heresy! The 4002 is the Apollo of Ric basses!!

(The god, not that starship thingy.)

Well, you are, of course, right about the 4002, it's just that they are so hard to come by, and when they do, so expensive, it's pretty hard to consider them...

This may be blasphemy but I'm not too keen on the 4002. I think its kind of an ugly thing to look at. But thats just my opinion

Prowl wrote:This may be blasphemy but I'm not too keen on the 4002. I think its kind of an ugly thing to look at. But thats just my opinion

You're entitled to your opinions, however wrong they may be...

*sniffle sniffle*

with that in mind why is the 4002 the near holy grail of rickenbacker basses anyway? and what can it do that others in the 4000 series can't?

To start with, the 4002 has pickups that are unique to it alone, and along with unique placement of said pickups, produce a tone that, yep, you guessed it, is unique to the 4002!

The 4002 is THE Rickenbacker as far as I am concerned (and as much as I deeply love my 4003s). I have gigged and played the same one six or seven times. It is a dream come true. Seriously... RIC discontinuing that model would be like Celestial Seasons discontinuing Tension Tamer, Sleepytime, and all of their Zingers.

Seriously dude. They are fantastic.

Prowl wrote:This may be blasphemy but I'm not too keen on the 4002. I think its kind of an ugly thing to look at. But thats just my opinion

I've never cared for the pickguard myself, but the fretboard's ebony, and it's got black binding on the headstock, and they're pretty much all excellent figured maple, and the pickups that aren't ever going to be in any other model again, and even that XLR jack which seems kind of excessive. But that's part of the charm - it is excessive! They've always insisted it wasn't meant to be a special/limited-run instrument, but it's certainly outfitted like a "limited edition."

And by all accounts they are awesome to play, but like most people here I've never had the opportunity, and probably never will...

The only Rics I've ever played were 4001 - 4003 - 4003S/8 - 4008 - well, that's a lot for an "only" but basically the basic setup - I guess I basically like to play between the pickups:

recent with pick:


'long time ago with fingers:

wow I love the 8 string. I've always wondered what those sounded like. I know Chris Squire played them, but I was always under the impression that that was a custom thing for him. I'm curious how a modern one sounds like .

Prowl wrote:wow I love the 8 string. I've always wondered what those sounded like. I know Chris Squire played them, but I was always under the impression that that was a custom thing for him. I'm curious how a modern one sounds like .

In order to keep "on-topic" here's a clip of the 8-string clean:

8 Echo Dr.

It's on-topic because if you really listen, you can hear my pick hitting the neck pickup, especially in the second part. I recorded this with the bridge pickup cover in place, and that prevented me from playing where I wanted to, which is why I took it off and put a Pickguardian cover there instead.

Here's a thread with more pics and a sound-clip or two.

hieronymous wrote: 8 Echo Dr.

Always a favorite of mine.

I tend to stay above the neck pickup and try to float it. Hand positition changes depending on how fast I play though. I tend to move back to the bridge pickup (right above it) on faster parts. I now find myself using the end of the fretboard as a thumb anchor from time to time too.

Edit: pick playing is right next to the bridge. As far back as I can get it.