Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Please excuse my ignorance;

However, other than the obvious name, what is the story behind the “Dumpster Bass”?

What is it made of???

it is a bass that was being made in the Rickenbacker factory and a cosmetic flaw in the wood became obvious ... so it was headed to the dumpster ... but it got rescued and a laminate was put on the front and now it is a one of a kind 4003 dumpster model ... that's the short version ... maybe John Hall can chime in with the complete story and pics ...

Those at the SoCal Confluence should definately chime in. Wonder what it was like to hold and play. How did it look in person, or does it just photograph well.

Here''s John Hall's famous Dumpster Bass. The front has a bubinga laminate, as well as the headstock, then the pickguard and TRC in bubinga, too. Checker binding, and the "German shoulder" front make this a sweet bass -- if you like wood. I don't think anyone there but myself touched it (just to move for the photos), and no-one, including John, plugged it in to play. We should have asked, I suppose.

Here's the backside, for those interested:

Paul, thanks for the info

The “German shoulder", is that like the 381 carved top?

I cannot tell from the photo.

The Dumpster Bass started out like any other 4003. After the body wood was routed, a knot in the wood was present on the top corner of the body where your arm would cover when playing it. This is not acceptable for a guitar, even with a solid finish. If you are not familiar with what a knot in the wood is, they are those round dark spots that you see in plywood or wooden fences. Knots loosen and fall out. If you see a wooden fence with a hole in it, there was a knot there.
So that bass was headed for the dumpster, until it was decided that it would get a top to cover the knot. You can still see the knot on the side since it is right at the top corner of the maple. The Dumpster bass is a beauty, the back has some flame figure in the maple. Pictures of it on the forum do not do it justice. I will post better pics on my website soon. I don't think anybody played it at the confluence. It sure was admired plenty. I was thinking about asking John Hall if he wouldn't mind that I give the Dumpster bass a try. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded, but he was just getting ready to leave when I thought about asking him...maybe next year.

Me next to the Dumpster Bass:

If I was there I surely would have picked it up and played it! Hey, I've played Gary Wilis' and Percy Jones' basses! So I'd have no problem playing John Hall's bass (with permission, of course!)

Dave, the German shoulder ,they revere to is a route around the body like on a 381v69 on the inside of the checkerboard binding.It looks awesome.

love that

Wow.

"I've played Gary Wilis' and Percy Jones' basses!"

Cool! I played Jeff Berlin's Dean bass last month. I did ask first!

I was really amazed at the difference between Gary's and Percy's Ibanez'. Gary's action was so low I could barely play it without buzzing all over the place, and Percy's action was way off the fingerboard. I couldn't believe Percy could do the things he does with it so high. He and I talked about that last November when my band, Rare Blend, played with Tunnels in Baltimore. He was complaining about hand and arm soreness, no wonder!

Jeff Berlin has REALLY low action too! And very low wide frets. Everyone who picked up his bass, stopped and said "Wow!" because it was so low. His bass hardly buzzed at all. This inspired me to go home and do an extra careful fret dressing on my 5 string (not a ric) and lower my action! Jeff also uses pretty light strings.... I think his G is a .040. You have to have your neck dead straight.

Stanley Clarke said in a post at his web site forum that he sometimes uses very high action. He said when he was recording Silly Putty, he realized he made it a bit too high, and had some trouble playing the song!