Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This is the bass I've been trying to get for years now, so I simply had to take the plunge at what seemed to be a nice price for the 'bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=7358898274

It's a gamble, because the pictures aren't very good; I can't tell what is bad camera glare and what is finish damage. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

good price-if it checks out.

Replace the saddles to widen the spacing at the bridge and you will have an excellent bass ...

That was an excellent price. It will take a week or two to get used to it if you have not played a 5'er before. Mine feels very natural to me now and I can even go back to 4 without any major adjustments.

I feel somewhat guilty in admitting that this is actually my third s5---I also have a MG/white trim and a White/black trim. However, like another notorious forum member, my preferred color is Fireglo. I am still thinking seriously about reversing the trim on the MG and White s5's, but I'm waiting for the white to age a little more to get myself a CS-looking s5!

Les ... I have a chrome 4003s5 tailpiece and a brand new 4003 white pickguard that I will swap for the black ones and a 4003 chrome pickup surround that I will swap for the black one ...

I just love black trim

What kind of tuners are that?

schaller m4 ... they are stock on all 4003s5, 4003s8, and 4004 basses ...

Hey Les....sorry I cost you a few $$$$$$. I was semi-interested in giving an s5 a shot again. I had the same issues as you did with the description/pics or I would have bid quite a bit more. I hope it is a nice one....Congrats!

Ah, yes, I thought I recognized one of the names on that bidder list--you cost me $10!! If it turns out nice, it's well worth it though. I fell short on the last four s5 fireglo's (over the past 3 years) which went for quite a bit more than this one, so I still have a few mental dollars to play with if it turns out a professional touch-up job is in order.

Oh yes, nice pic there Jeff--it makes me all the more want to do that trim switch on my basses. It isn't that I don't like the black trim, but I think it might look cooler on the MG than the white. Also, having a 5-string CS look-alike would be pretty unique!

Les, so you're hording the 5'ers huh? LOL
Congrats on the S/5, it's a pretty one, great price too!!

Well, the UPS guy arrived just in time last night and I took the new s5 to my Friday night gig. As advertised, it has a number of nicks, nothing horrible but the fireglo is so nice that I think I want to get them touched up professionally. It also came, as advertised, with 4 flatwound and 1 (B) roundwound strings...didn't have time to change them, and this helped confirm my views on flatwounds on Ricks (a combination that perhaps should only be used by left-handers).

However, there is one weird thing about this bass that I'd like some input on. For some reason, the output on this thing is HOT. And I mean HOT. The thing was overdriving the passive input on my amp at minimal gain...using either and/or both pickups. I was using one of those Behringer amps with the VU meter on it, and I was redlining it with any decent hit. Given that it was a Behringer, I was wondering if my amp was screwy, so I plugged my other gig bass, an active 5-string MM Stingray (with a new battery) into the passive input, and it was much less hot...almost impossible to redline even with the active EQ way up. What gives? How can passive Rick 5-string pickups put out more gain than pre-amped pickups? I don't want to pull the pickguard yet till I get a fresh set of Rick (roundwound) strings, but surely the previous owner didn't install a preamp circuit? The seller wasn't the player, so I can't ask him...he didn't seem to know anything about basses at all.

Anyhow, I can play it through my active input fine, but I'm curious about this...I have two other s5's that don't behave this way at all. Anyone else ever seen anything like this?

I would take a look under the guard. Make sure there is noting weird going on.

Are the pickups very close to the strings?

My 4003S/5 is louder than my StingRay5 bassses. I don't even take my 4003S/5 to band practice because the Crate amp at the studio can't handle it. LOL