The Illustrated Rickenbacker

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:07 am

My fourteen year old daughter, who has evidently decided to make the viewing of Anime shows her life's work, was pursuing her vocation last Monday when she came upon the attached. The program is called "FLCL", the character's name is unknown. It is a sign of her good taste and breeding that she recognized the bass ("Didn't sound like a Rickenbacker though". Good girl!).

Although clearly a 4003LH, the unfinished neck and special motorized attachment mounted on the back cause me to suspect that the instrument may not be entirely original.

Domo Arigato.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:20 am

rickde · Post by **rickde** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:24 am

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 4:09 am

Yes, that bass even makes the cover of DVD disc 3 in the series. Amazon lists the show as Fooly Cooly.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 6:34 am

You've got a cool daughter, Lindsay.
Have you considered letting her have a RIC bass and develop her chops?

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 6:45 am

Paul, you've just confirmed my already lofty opinion of your taste and judgement. Thanks!

If I encouraged her to play I might have to share, maybe I should buy another one...

infernalaffair · Post by **infernalaffair** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:30 am

Actually the character's name is Haruko Haruhara. How do I know this? I work for the company that brought "FLCL" over to the US from Japan. I wanted to post something about this before, but forgot. The original creator based the design of the bass off of a 4001 that a collegue owns. It happens to be left handed.

There's different variations (in one drawing there's even a tremelo, which is weird), but it's supposed to be a left handed 4001 with toaster bass pickup. There's actually several minute details that make it different from a normal 4001 (the unpainted neck is one of them), which are explained in the booklet for the 3rd DVD.

The show is currently playing on Cartoon Network in their Adult Swim block (12 midnight). Be warned though. The show is really WEIRD (but I love it to death).

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:05 am

Thanks, Chris! I'll print your post and give it to her; she loves any trivia about any Anime, this is very cool for her because there are two of 'em in the basement. The level of detail in the drawing is fascinating too.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:43 am

Thanks, Lindsay.
Hmm... buying another one seems a fine idea!
You could always have it back if she eventually got into something other than music playing.

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:27 am

! That's cool!

wkargel · Post by **wkargel** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 4:53 pm

Doing a "Google" search on "FLCL", I got A LOT of hits...this one seems the most "official" (it is a Japanese site, of course)... http://www.gainax.co.jp/flcl/index-e.html

Anything that "promotes" Rickenbackers is fine by me...! I must assume that the 4001 that was the inspiration for the bass was AzureGlo...!

I would have thought that as an anime program, they would have "modified" the finish...I could easily see a Pink one...or some other garish monstrosity...!

I think you have a good "excuse" to get another Rickenbacker bass...!

Regards,

Bill

*******************************************

[email protected]

Visit my homepage at http://www.geocities.com/wkargel

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:21 pm

I bought an action figure of this character, complete with RIC bass (!) and motor scooter for a friend of mine who is into scooters and has a bunch of die-cast and plastic model vehicles of various types. If I get a chance, I'll take a picture of it next time I'm visiting him and his family and post it.

infernalaffair · Post by **infernalaffair** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 9:16 pm

Bill: Yeah. That's the website of the production company in Japan that made the series.

And though I don't wholeheartedly think I got a Rick because of the show (my co-workers tend to think so), I must admit that the show did have some influence in my getting an Azureglo one (burgundy would have been my second choice).

Actually, there's three instruments total in the show: an Azureglo Rickenbacker 4001, a candy apple red Gibson EB-0, and a white Gibson Flying V. All are pretty accurate representations of the real thing. GAINAX, the studio that created the show, is really keen on detail. But they did modify it by adding a motor, and many board members would be in shock if they found out that she uses the bass as a weapon for hitting things.

Here's an article describing the action figure:
http://www.animejump.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?go=toys/haruko

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 1:54 am

Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for helping to raise my status at home from "old dude" to "old dude who talks with cool dudes on this Forum thingy". Believe me, it is an improvement. I've been printing off your posts so that she can use them as the basis for her future doctoral thesis.

I refrained from mentioning the club function for fear of upsetting some of our more delicate members.

infernalaffair · Post by **infernalaffair** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 8:29 am

Lindsay: Hey, you seem like a cool dude to me. Coolness transcends age. But that's just my opinion.

Doctoral thesis eh? I've written quite a few college papers using anime, music, or other hobbies as a reference. Is her thesis going to be on how Rickenbacker transcends cultural boundaries?