Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

4004L MID just won on ebay.

Thanks to Brian (and his LK) for the motivation.

There I was at MARF II minding my own business in the store area of POTR with everyone in the back watching Jason, Mark & John perform. So I thought, I am probably not going to get another chance to see an LK much less get a chance to play one. I played un-amped for about five minutes when I moved from the fifth fret to the twelfth and BAM! I was sold on the LK. The finish on the neck was amazing. The contour and thickness were great (I like all Rickenbacker basses in that regard), but the natural finish was unbelievable.

Brain suddenly appears, as his sixth sense told him the LK was not where he had left it, and proceeds to walk me through all the possible paths to and reasons for 4004 ownership. JB arrived at this point to provide an assist. 5 days later I succumbed.

btw - Thanks to all who put up with the newbie at MARF.

Would this be Midnight Blue or Montezuma Brown?

Corrected.

Aha! So you gonna have it "modded" like you had talked about?

Not right away. I will play it for awhile until I decide if I "need" the LK feel or not. My 4003 is still incubating in Santa Ana so this allows me to dump the Epi bass and have an all Ric "band". Note - Band = a guy in his basement recording stuff into his computer.

I almost bid on that one ... but I am in house buying mode ...

Todd, it was great chatting with you throughout MARF! I didn't recognize your name from the Forum when I met you but I just figured you were from the other side of the tracks (guitar side).....I would have acted more civilized had I known you were a relative newbie.

It was a bizarre feeling to look where I thought the LK was and find an empty stand. I'm certainly glad it got plenty of use at this confluence.....it just sat on it's stand at the last two. I think people were to afraid to pick it up.

BTW congrats on the MID Laredo. I look forward to your review once you get to jam it in your "band".

That's the second 4004L that sold on Ebay for under $1100.00 this week, yet the mapleglo one goes for over $1800.00. What's up with that? Two go cheap and one goes WAY too high. Go figure. These are excellent, very modern basses for sure, and soon I will have the only known 4004C fretless.

Brian convinced me to try one about a year and a half ago with his comments on the forum and I'm glad I was paying attention. I like them so much I sold all of my 4003's and Fenders to finance more 4004 and 4001 acquisitions. Thank's Brian!

Brian DIDN'T convert me. I did that all on my own!

Great to see more finding this model bass appealing!

Hey Todd...Thanks for the Scratch-X and Zymol tutoring. My wife went right out and bought me some and the soft cloths. I can't wait to get on the 73 MapleGlo. Congrats on the 4004!

I'm not surprised at the MG going for so much. I wouldn't have paid that but it was a nice looking example in an uncommon color so I can see how it was worth it for someone. I paid $1500 for my Red Laredo.......most probably think I paid too much but it has a maple board, my favorite p/u spacing and is a rare color so for me it was a steal. Plus it's in "new" condition so the price wasn't out of line IMO.

I had just received my LK for the Columbus Confluence in '05 so I wasn't too familiar with 4004s yet but I played Paul Boyer's FG Laredo and fell in lust. I then went on the hunt and found my Ci and have been sold ever since.

Hey Dane!

I didn't wan't to pay that much for the only 4004L MG I've ever seen, with walnut wings and the more classic pickup positions, but someone else wanted it ALMOST as much as I did.

They lost and the beauty is heading to NV.

Is that the "classic" PU positioning? The original 4004's had the same PU positioning as the newer ones. The positioning closer to the bridge is IMO the "intermediate" configuration.

Just splitting hairs here.

I prefer ripping hairs out with my teeth...

Classic as in closer to the 4001 / 4003 location.