Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone know what the original Rickenbacker bass strings look like (the ones in the red cardboard box)and when did they stop making them.Thanks.

They're flats, the pack I had (for five seconds) seemed quite "rigid" in nature but apparently they're low tension. The wrap material looked sort of like Chromes with more spaces between individual wraps to my eyes. I don't remember what color the silks were.

I think you'd have to be quite familiar with them to distinguish them from other vintage flats without an identifying package or color.

The NOS Rick flats (Maximas) that I have were not stiff but pretty floppy when taken out of the package. They are lower tension strings and feel like TI flats on the bass. Search the forum for Maxima and you can read all we've posted about these strings over the years.

My vintage strings are what appears to be black silk strings and the set number is 4445,I couldn't find any info on them, I am hoping a forumite might help. Thanks

The lighter weight strings had dark red silk, while normal to heavier weight sets had bluish-purple ends. A few of the plain strings were the same gauge, so sometimes you saw some sets with both colors.

Multicolor sets were not Maxima sourced, but came from Rodgers, another small German maker that's also long gone. Don't confuse these with Rogers strings, which were U.S. made (in Michigan, as I recall).

Now I'm really confused , the set I have are black wrapped and the strings themselves are black and appears the be made of silklike material and small gauged flatwound. The box I have states that there are set number 4445 or 4415.the length of the string are long and fits my 71. I guess the big question is are these actual rickenbacker strings or some others in a rickenbacker package.

Somebody said that Maxima strings are now produced under name Optima. Any info about that? Web search gave me lots of rumours but no definitive answer. http://www.musiksaiten-optima.de/

glking14 wrote:Now I'm really confused , the set I have are black wrapped and the strings themselves are black and appears the be made of silklike material and small gauged flatwound. The box I have states that there are set number 4445 or 4415.the length of the string are long and fits my 71. I guess the big question is are these actual rickenbacker strings or some others in a rickenbacker package.

Okay, that's a different string entirely, the nylon wrapped string. Yes, black akk the way around.

mikko wrote:Somebody said that Maxima strings are now produced under name Optima. Any info about that? Web search gave me lots of rumours but no definitive answer. http://www.musiksaiten-optima.de/

The original Maxima is long gone, the old formula gone along with the owner, I'm afraid. A fishing line company took over the Maxima brand but the strings are nothing like the original ones.

too bad about that,because they were/are great flatwounds,not so light as the TL'S, but still very flexible and thumpy. i plan on keeping my set on my 4000 indefinitely.

My former '68 4000 came from the factory with black nylon wrapped strings with gold silks.

I think those strings on your 68 are Rotosound 88 Trubass,that's what's on my 71

johnhall wrote:

glking14 wrote:Now I'm really confused , the set I have are black wrapped and the strings themselves are black and appears the be made of silklike material and small gauged flatwound. The box I have states that there are set number 4445 or 4415.the length of the string are long and fits my 71. I guess the big question is are these actual rickenbacker strings or some others in a rickenbacker package.

Okay, that's a different string entirely, the nylon wrapped string. Yes, black akk the way around.

mikko wrote:Somebody said that Maxima strings are now produced under name Optima. Any info about that? Web search gave me lots of rumours but no definitive answer. http://www.musiksaiten-optima.de/

The original Maxima is long gone, the old formula gone along with the owner, I'm afraid. A fishing line company took over the Maxima brand but the strings are nothing like the original ones.

Thank you very much for your info,would you happen to recall when those black nylon wrapped strings were discontinued by RIC.

Notwithstanding John Hall's information about the string manufacturers (thanks John), but can someone clear this up? I have three sets of Rickenbacker Electro, from or in the red box. Two sets are 4440's (one on my April '73 4001FL and another new set I'll slap on there about 10 years from now, assuming I'm still kicking) and a 4445 set.

So, why are these referred to as "Maxima?" The word Maxima appears nowhere on any of the packaging. To me, these should be called RIckenbacker Electro since, well, that's what the package says they are. At the bottom of the gold printed square on the cover of the box it states: Electro String Inst. Corp.

To the OP; the 4445's are very much like the now discontinued Fender nylon filament strings. They look to be a nylon-wound that is ground to a smooth surface. The result is a "dusty" grey appearence. I can't say whether my experience is typical, since these were new, very old stock, but I found the 4445's to be uneven: the G was too zingy, the D was perfect, the A was muffled, and the E was extremely muffled to the point of very little tone, just pitch. The 4440's are similar, but a bit more even - only the low E bothers me because of a muffled sound.