Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wow! What a find. Thanks for posting, Ilan.

I don't think Elys has anything in Ruby yet, does he?

That is a nice price...

If I didn't have an FL on order, I'd nail it.

I wonder if it has a nice slim neck like my 88 V63?

I would think so. I have three 4003's from '87 and '88. Those three and all others I've played from the late 80's have a nice, small neck.

You were right, Jeff, I didn't

Tony, Chad and Evan say she's mint, 9.5+, with a very thin neck compared to others they've seen. You must be right about the 88 neck. My 88 4003v63 has a very slim neck too.

Congrats, Elys!



(For the love of God, when will it end?!)

Looks burgundy to me.

First of all it's metallic (Burg isn't), and second, Burgundy was discontinued four years before this bass was made. So I'm pretty sure it's Ruby. If Ruby is like Fender's Candy Apple Red, then it darkens with age.

Definitely Ruby. Look at the way the metallic particles reflect light back on the body shot.

It is opaque, and BG is not opaque. Even the older eggplant burgundy of 1970-1973 was not opaque - you could see grain through it.

It should be a flat red, which is proper from 1985 to 1999. But that is not what the seller says...he says it is ruby because it has metallic sparklies under an original finish.

Ruby has a gold metallic undercoat which is solid and opaque, and then a moderately-transparent red is sprayed over it. That gives the gold metallic sparkles under the red "candyish" look to it.

Chad named it burgundy metallic in the ad. So I asked him to hold it up to sunlight and then tell me about the sparklyness of the paint in detail, to tell me if it is the flat red that should be proper for 1988, or if it is really a metallic red as should only have been possible until 1984.

He said it did have gold sparkly under the transparent red paint. That should mean it is a real Ruby alright, with original case, perfect flat neck, and in mint condition, it has never been played by the looks of it, or at least played lightly and then stashed under someone's bed for 19 years. Zero buckle rash on a glass-smooth back, like it has never been strapped up and worn before, weird.

Thank you Ilan for the lead, it is a rare bargain find at $1199, that's for sure! I do not know how a 1984 Ruby finish got onto a normally-red 1988 bass. Either it is factory or it is a refin. I didn't think I would ever see one of these in this excellent shape for less than $2000 - if it is really ruby on an 88 - and I would have gladly paid that in-person to anyone

Does you money ever run out!

Some of us hope so.

He who ponders (me), loses!

The timeline for Ruby is wrong. I've seem 86, 87,88s and I have an '89 4003s that is Ruby. As far as I know RIC never used gold metallic as an undercoat. I believe it's always been silver.

Silver was my recollection too, Mike.

Elys, leave some for the rest of us!!!