Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-1978-Rickenbacker-4001-bass-Novatone-fret-system_W0QQitemZ250126517423QQihZ015QQcategoryZ41439QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There's no mention of the playability of this bass, action , etc...probably because the Novatone system was discontinued not long after it was introduced because it was ruining the necks of basses (Tony Levin mentioned that to me in an email once when I asked about them...he used to use them back in the day)...I imagine this is the worst possible mod for a Rickengbacker, expecially a 4001. They basically remove the fretboard and replace it with a magnet that the fretboards cling to. But then again, maybe this could be someone's chance to put a maple fretboard on a white bass...

that novatone thing sounds nightmarish...and they make it sound like a desirable feature. I can't imagine ever doing that, especially to a Rick.

Looking at these pictures do give me the idea that an ebony FL fretboard would look very good on a white Rick.

Sounds kind of cool to me. Since Ric have a different scale than a Fender I wonder if the fretted fingerboards frets line up correctly.

It's a cool idea gone horribly wrong. The 80's 'Guitar Player' ad for the Novatone Switchboards showed this muscle-bound guy whipping on a new fretboard whilst in the rock-n-roll spotlight (probably mid bass-solo, natch). There's no way a Fender fretboard would have worked on a Rick, it had to have been specially-made, so possibly this could be a very very rare, very very dumb item. I'm sure the person who kept this bass in the closet for a couple decades will be happy with the auction results, and I'm also sure the buyer will be thrilled as well to own such a (on paper) versatile instrument. Go figgur...