Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Thanks Jeff, and you too Francesco.

That's a big difference Jeff.

Don't even MENTION credit card companies.

"Pennies a day, only pennies a day", that actually worked on the wife ONCE!

Lighter than your V63! I think that's the LIGHTEST bass I own. Although, I don't think my wife would be too happy about another addition!

OK, I will play devil's advocate here for a moment.
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PREFACE - I know JH is sick of hearing about 4005s. So he may ignore this if he wishes.
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Please educate me. I've heard on more than one occasion about the high cost of "retooling" the factory to build 4005s.
As a layman, it would seem to me that -

a) A piece of wood is a piece of wood (for the most part).
b) The cutting of the wood is done by computer correct? As well as the routing.
c) Paining and finishing is the same (more or less) for a 4005 as for any other instrument.
d) The electronics (PUPS, wires, etc.) already exist as well as strings, tuners, etc.

So where exactly is the "retooling" cost?
I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm really curious. Thanks.

Mark: See John Allgaier's post above, with its link to the thread on the RIC factory forum, and read that thread, which ran 50 weeks ago on the same topic. It's enlightening.

SOFTWARE/DATA, for the CNC to know where to cut!

Welcome to the new world.....

Mark, basically in a nutshell, none of the CNC programming or jig exist and would be very costly to accomplish. Besides probably taking down half of the production capability to get that done. They already have about a 400+ day backlog.

And bear in mind that the actual tooling (the cutter heads, or whatever does the actual work) probably is not cheap.

I know this has nothing to do with guitar production, but tooling for the coil winding machines at a factory I used to work at ran in the $15000 neighborhood per set, per machine.
One set of tools was only used for one specific unit, and we had four of these machines, and dozens of different units to produce.
And these tools all wear out with use, accidental damage, etc.

FWIW, For approximately the price of one 4005 you can have that 4005 inspected on a CMM and have a 3-D model created from the data point cloud. Then program the CNC cut path from the model.

That's kinda of what I though Kevin. That an existing unit can be scanned and the information stored in the CNC. As opposed to having to code in every nook and cranny. But what I know about CNC wouldn't fill a thimble.

Again, this is for discussion and educational purposes only. I am NOT telling ANYONE how to run their business.

4005 is a hollow body, so although an outside scan would be useful, it wouldn't help with the internal design and construction.

There would still be significant hours of design and test construction required in order to develop a prototype.

UM, did you guys read the thread? JH talks about just this. They have a scanner and all the brainpower to accomplish this. But there is a risk involved. It's quite labor-intensive and "front-end loaded", besides being labor-intensive in production, too.

My own preference is for the WB. But you're correct--it's a light and comfortable instrument with nice balance, even if it does look like an oversized catcher's mitt...

To further extend the visual metaphor: the eight-stringer looks like a catcher's mitt barbecuing a potato.

LOL!

Catcher's Mitt. Tuna Boat. Toilet Seat.
Call them what you will but the 4005 is my favorite bass of all time. More so the WB version.

Paul, I agree about the 8-stringer but wish I could afford one.

Not sure who wrote it but my WB feels heavier than a standard 4005. I compared the '66 WB to the '82 standard. Major difference.

Oh yeah;
TM

When we did the Columbus confluence I had my first opportunity to compare the standard and WB versions and the WB was quite a bit lighter. I believe Ted, Chris and Marc can confirm this. Both were from '67 IIRC, at least I know mine is '67 and I think the other was too (Mike G's, I think).

I don't want to get everyone too excited but I may be parting with my 66 Mapleglo 4005 that I bought a couple years ago from the Bass Emporium. Ronn Roberts has actually seen and played this bass when it was there.It was modded with PJ pickups and then returned to stock but there is still the route from the PJ pickups. The good news is the neck is straight as an arrow, low action and it sounds amazing.It's in really good condition with the original case. I don't really want to sell it but need the money. I'll let everyone know if I deceide to sell it.