Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Any word regarding when fretless production might start up again?

I was on the hunt for one and found a 2008 that was in mint condition and I was trying to find out the answer to that question as well. Truth be told, no one really knows. If you want one soon, I would keep your eyes peeled on here, Talkbass, eBay, Gbase, etc. I found mine because Carl (Jim Dandy) saw one in a store in his neck of the woods and I snatched it up. I really wanted to wait for one with the new 2-piece neck design like my '10 4003 has, but I didn't want to wait what could be a few years to get one.
I would suggest reading my posts in this forum as there is a lot of good info some of the more knowledgable folks on the RRF contributed and hopefully that will answer some questions you may have.

Happy hunting,

LEL

Low End Lover wrote:I was on the hunt for one and found a 2008 that was in mint condition and I was trying to find out the answer to that question as well. Truth be told, no one really knows. If you want one soon, I would keep your eyes peeled on here, Talkbass, eBay, Gbase, etc. I found mine because Carl (Jim Dandy) saw one in a store in his neck of the woods and I snatched it up. I really wanted to wait for one with the new 2-piece neck design like my '10 4003 has, but I didn't want to wait what could be a few years to get one.
I would suggest reading my posts in this forum as there is a lot of good info some of the more knowledgable folks on the RRF contributed and hopefully that will answer some questions you may have.

Happy hunting,

LEL

Apples had a black fretless several months ago but wanted $1,949.00 for it. They wouldn't budge on the price because it was, apparently, the last on the books to be delivered by Ric, and they knew it. Needless to say I left and the bass stayed in inventory. $1,949.00 is more than $500 over what you can get a fretted model for.

Guess I'll have to wait.

A few years ago, every new Ric bass was going for $1949; supply was really low. I'd venture to say a 4003FL is actually still worth that price if not a little more due to scarcity.

I paid 2K for my '08 FL almost two years ago on a "by it now or best offer" on ebay. I think they were asking $2,100 and I offered something like $1,850, but they wouldn't budge below 2K as the FLs had recently been discontinued. And get this - mine was lightly used (not a mark on it), so I didn't even get the warranty.

You didn't see many new or nearly new FLs then, so I snapped it up and I certainly don't regret it.

The FLs don't react to the market in the same way fretted Ricks do. Although fairly rare, the more vintage examples don't command too much of a premium because of limited demand, but the newer models aren't being made, so they don't drop in this market like the fretted models. You know, c'est la vie.

Don't like it? Deal with frets.

JH said that they were officially on HIATUS until they catch up on the back log, along with the lefties if I remember correctly.

And Ben said that lefty 4003s are scheduled for the first half of 2011... So, perhaps FLs aren't too far behind...

The thing about hiatus is that it can mean any number of things. To seller with one of the last few FLs made prior to the hiatus, clearly it's going to mean that "you may not be able to get one of these for a long time, if ever!" To a buyer, it means buy it now or wait an unspecified amount of time. So, I bought it.

Yeah, that was my feeling too when I bought my 2008 4003FL AFG. And yeah, it wasn't cheap, cost more than list. But it was new, and I'm sure the dealer priced it based on the fact that FL's were on hiatus and it's a COY...

FretlessOnly wrote:The thing about hiatus is that it can mean any number of things. To seller with one of the last few FLs made prior to the hiatus, clearly it's going to mean that "you may not be able to get one of these for a long time, if ever!" To a buyer, it means buy it now or wait an unspecified amount of time. So, I bought it.

+1. I did the same thing. I figured my July 2008 in dead mint was as close to new as I was going to get for awhile. I would much rather spend my time mastering the FL than waiting for the 2-piece neck. No regrets, here!

LEL

Somebody could generate some real cash by reading entrails for you guys...

I don't know about entrails, but it's obvious one can make a few bucks with a nice lookin' Rick...

cjj wrote:Yeah, that was my feeling too when I bought my 2008 4003FL AFG. And yeah, it wasn't cheap, cost more than list. But it was new, and I'm sure the dealer priced it based on the fact that FL's were on hiatus and it's a COY...

More than list!!

You are serious about your Rickenbackers.

Low End Lover wrote:

FretlessOnly wrote:The thing about hiatus is that it can mean any number of things. To seller with one of the last few FLs made prior to the hiatus, clearly it's going to mean that "you may not be able to get one of these for a long time, if ever!" To a buyer, it means buy it now or wait an unspecified amount of time. So, I bought it.

+1. I did the same thing. I figured my July 2008 in dead mint was as close to new as I was going to get for awhile. I would much rather spend my time mastering the FL than waiting for the 2-piece neck. No regrets, here!

LEL

S,o the last fretless basses produced were single piece construction and not two-piece construction?

Ric N. Backer wrote:

cjj wrote:Yeah, that was my feeling too when I bought my 2008 4003FL AFG. And yeah, it wasn't cheap, cost more than list. But it was new, and I'm sure the dealer priced it based on the fact that FL's were on hiatus and it's a COY...

More than list!!

You are serious about your Rickenbackers.

Or maybe just nuts. But when you decide you want a FL, and you want a new one, not used, well, there just aren't too many options out there...