Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I recently acquired a fireglo 4001c64. It is a wonderful bass and plays fantastically. It has the cool Beatle vibe with the reverse headstock.

Really, the only two things that are bugging me about it, I was wishing the fireglo finish was darker like how you see Paul's in photos from the mid 60's. The reissue is very, very red, where Pauls was much more dark, almost like autumn glo.

The only other thing was it seems like having so many MIJ and US fenders, this bass seems like it *could* have been made in japan and offered at a MIJ price point, rather than a US price point.

Not saying it is a cheap or lousy build, just that it plays and feels closer to a MIJ fender bass even though it was made in USA. Probably the finish more than anything. You just associate nitro finish with US guitars.

Thats unfortunate Karl. I've never had the opportunity to play a C series or even see one in real life for that matter, but I've only heard good things about them.

I don't know about the build quality being inferior to any other Ric bass. I have several basses and it seems to be on par with them. I noticed that it is lighter and the neck profile is thinner than my 4003, but both of those work in my favor. I think it's a wonderful bass.

P.S. - Some days I think the Japanese Fenders rival or outdo the US Fenders.

Ron, I concurr- for your money, the MIJ Fenders are superior. I bought a Blue Flower '54 RI sight unseen on the indirect recommendation of many of the posters over at the Fender Forum (Andy McRory, Rudy, et. al) and it is superb. Also have a CIJ '51 RI in Schoolbus yellow and it is a fine bass as well. They do a very good job at building basses.

The finish will darken/amber with age, & I'm pretty sure there's never been nitro anywhere near your bass, unless it's been sitting close to a vintage Fender or Gibby.

too light?

My c64 is absolutley top notch in every way, a perfect compliment to my 4003 - I keep Pyramids on the c64 and Roto's on the 4003, which gives me any tone I could ever possibly want. The build quality is great on mine and I love the finish, it's plenty dark for me.

About the MIJ/CIJ Fenders, i've never played a bass but do own two guitars, a '62 Strat and a '62 Tele, and both are absolutley top notch. There was no point in me keeping US-made ones when the MIJ/CIJ ones were just as good IMO. Also owned a CIJ Jazzmaster which was great.

Give the finish time to acquire it's deeper color. This is my '98 V63 and it has darkened nicely.

One of the major draws, though, of Rickenbacker is that they ALWAYS make their stuff here, never make cheap models, higher or lower or equal equality, overseas. While I have nothing against instruments made outside America (for example, violins and cellos and such from Europe tend to be twenty billion times better than ones from the US), people usually outsource production because they want to mass-market a cheap product, which, more often than not, involves cheaper materials and shoddier construction. While that's not always the case, it does happen an awful lot. I would go wild if Ric suddenly dropped their prices, but at the same time, I don't mind the prices as they are now considering the high quality of the instruments. Not to give them any ideas, but I'm sure they could charge quite a bit more and people would still buy.

I can`t see Rickenbacker instruments being produced outside of the USA. This will not happen under the current and hopefully future management, ever. This is a family owned company that made history and is full of tradition. Let`s keep it that way.

"MADE IN AMERICA". Just part of the charm.

Made in the OC of the good old US of A!

I just hope they ship my C64 before the current production run ends!

like I said, it is a fantastic bass, I can't really fault it, and the beatle vibe had a lot to do with its purchase

it was just disappointing to pay 5 grand (8 grand list) and after playing it, getting the similar feeling from a $600 MIJ Fender bass. Lucky it was in stock, cause I would have been upset to wait 1-2 years for it.

$5K?