Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Is there any historical data on how the Cresting Wave design came to be? Things like the industrial designer who was involved, influences, etc? I see the headstock's cresting wave echoed in the bodies horns, and some say the triangular fretboard markers signify shark teeth.

That Ric design is definitely the most distinctive guitar design ever. Personally, I think the P bass's design is a dud seeing that its roots are from the Telecaster. Don't like the looks of the Strat either.

The original design of the 4000 series was done by Roger Rossmeisl.

I do agree with you that the 4000 series design is about the most distinctive guitar shape...okay I'm a biased Rickensnob!

I'm not fond of the Tele shape, but I think the P-shape that came from the Tele and the Strat shape that came from the P-Bass are both pretty cool.

Rickensnob!

How about Rickensnobfather?

jps wrote:

Rickensnob!

How about Rickensnobfather?

I like that!!
Though I might have a hard time getting that in an avatar like the one I have and making it look decent.

I think Rossmeisl went on to do some work at Fender too .

Leo Fender had a gift for getting things right .

Yes Roger came up with the designs for the semi-hollow Coronado and the Telecaster Thinline models at Fender.

I do agree that the cresting wave headstock and body horns are one of the most distinctive designs, very European Art Nouveau influenced. Kudos to Roger!

coolhandjjl wrote:Personally, I think the P bass's design is a dud seeing that its roots are from the Telecaster. Don't like the looks of the Strat either.

Fair call, but we need to remember that the Tele and P-bass were the first production instruments of their type (solid body electric and bass guitar respectively), so the fact that their design is biased towards function over form can be forgiven. I personally like all incarnations of the P-bass, but then I'm a function over form sort of person myself.

Without the P-bass, the 4000 series would never have come into being, and we'd all be lugging uprights around.... or maybe tubas....

coolhandjjl wrote:Personally, I think the P bass's design is a dud seeing that its roots are from the Telecaster. Don't like the looks of the Strat either.

That comes down to personal taste, and you're definitely in the minority in those opinions.

Rossmeisl was not an "industrial designer", per se. He was a luthier, educated in Germany style at Mittenwald, which many consider to be the center of German string instrument crafting and education.

He then took his original ideas, coupled with the German traditions and techniques that he learned in trade school, and brought them to the USA.

His designs are timeless. It seems to me, however, that he ran out of original ideas in a short span of time, and Rickenbacker guitars show his entire range. Beautiful stuff, and we're lucky to still have his vision to make us happy!

There are several classic bass shapes, the 4000-series bass is inarguably one of the most prominent. The other two that stick out in my mind are the Precision Bass and the Stingray. From the front Fenders can look a little boring to my eyes but a good angled shot of a standard Precision can be pretty awe-inspiring, same goes for the 'Ray. My one major heresy is that, after going through three of them, I've just gotten burned out on the way a Jazz Bass looks from any angle. Not my cup of tea! (Same goes for the tone.)

Then there are basses that look so bad they have to be good, like the Bongo. Wonderful, wonderful instrument but a lot of people won't touch them with a ten-foot pole over the looks. Those of us who enjoy Rics are fortunate that they can sound and play so darned well or else we'd get even more of a ribbing than we already do.

I like some of the newer, "luthier-built" basses that are happening left and right these days, but few if any of them really blow my mind visually. Bill Conklin has a couple of in-house designs, like the Crossover, that I really like... but it's pretty much limited to that.

jingle_jangle wrote:

coolhandjjl wrote:
His designs are timeless. It seems to me, however, that he ran out of original ideas in a short span of time, and Rickenbacker guitars show his entire range. Beautiful stuff, and we're lucky to still have his vision to make us happy!

That's certainly true, especially when you see Roger's work later on using the same ideas (like the Fender Coronado, for example).

i fantasized the 4001 headstock was a bass clef ! great german design and timeless, as usual as previously said !

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:i fantasized the 4001 headstock was a bass clef !

I never saw that before, but now that you mention it.......

Man, there is just so much to that original 4000 design. Some things just can't be beat.

Now I know who to thank!!!! Mr. Rossmeisl's bass design got me a ton of action from the ladies in the crowd, back when I was on the road full-time. I later figured out that it was a combination of the upper horn shape of my 4001 and the playing height of the bass that was sending subliminal messages to them. Forget the obvious longer neck myth..... Thanks Roger.

Tom

btw, less girly-action when I switched to the MM Sabre. So, there's your scientific proof.

well...there's your problem...you had the less sexy MM ! should have been a stingray. they would have been all over you !

He had impeccable taste in design as well as style; how dapper does he look in either a suit, or shirtsleeves?!