Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

RICKENBACKER 4003S WITH ALEMBIC ELECTRONICS

I . . . love it. Seriously. Rubber hat-knobs have always looked far cooler, to me, than any other control type (I might even buy rubber knobs and replace the ones on my 4003), and I bet the pickups sound killer . . . the only thing I couldn't deal with is switching the battery . . . it must be a pain in the rear.

That is nice. What do Alembics go for typically? Not many on eBay right now.

"That is nice. What do Alembics go for typically? Not many on eBay right now."

Neck-thru Alembics start at $1500. That will get you a mid 80's bass with one tone control and two volume pots. Alembic Series II electronics and p'ups cost $6000 (that doesn't include a body to put them in).

Hmmm, a Rick with a Q switch. That would be interesting.

Probably sounds good. Looks awful in my opinion, although I suppose you could probably sell the electronics and make near enough to pay for a re-furb.

Here's mine, conservatively valued at $12,000.00:

[img]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/Valentinejayne/Alembic.jpg[/img]

Mehh, I'd take the Ric.

Just kidding Chris, the wood on that Alembic is stunning.

I remember the last go-round on ebay for this bass. It was a couple years ago and I'm pretty sure it went for somewhere between $1400.00 and $1500.00. A LOT for a 4003S at the time, let alone a modded one.

Cool bass. I was kinda tempted then. This time I think I'm all bassed out!

To me the strings look like they closer to the G string side of the neck and the pickup surround on the treble pickup looks crooked. The lower pick-guard add-on also looks too close to the edge of the body.

Okay I'll stop now.

if it were an 86 or later I would get it ...

Why is that Jeff, it looks sweet. Was there a problem with the early ones?

Jeff prefers the 86 and later because they have a different truss rod design and the pickups lend themselves better to a 5-string conversion.

Thanks Steve!

I really like the neck through "S" basses, I crazy over Mapleglo, and I LOVE Alembic electronics.....

There's a wish....Rickenbacker & Alembic get together to make a LIMITED EDITION ACTIVE RIC with some highly figured woods. Hey, aren't they neighbors anyway?

I know a lot of you guys don't like active pups, but my Alembic's are SO QUIET. This bass would be perfect for what I need....None of that single coil noise. But I'm sure you lose that Rickenbacker "edge" with the cleaner electronics.

Very tempting.....

"Hey, aren't they neighbors anyway?"

If being about 460 miles apart constitutes neighbors, then yeah, they're neighbors!