Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi

I have an impending delivery of a 4003fl. Just wondering if the mid 2000 fretless basses only came in fireglo?

All the best

Stevie

Stevie they came in a number of finishes not just Fireglo. Do a search in the Register and you can see for yourself. Congrats on the upcoming new arrival.

It’s an odd one I thought I had bought a Fireglo and the fellow selling has told me he also has an identical natural bass. I’ve only ever seen fireglo.

The other bass is Mapeglo and it has a matching headstock not the two tone one you sometimes see, I'm in a quandary.

Fretless basses are fairly rare, so you may not find many examples around to determine their spread across the color spectrum. Although fretless was considered by the company to be a separate model, it really was just a feature. The only difference was the fingerboard that had no frets. Additionally, the company listed only the original 4001FL and the subsequent 4003FL, but there are examples of fretless 3001, 4000, 4001S, 4002, 4003S, and 4003S/5 models.

The contrasting "head wings" was typical of basses from the '60s, and the feature was resurrected in 2005. So in between, no contrasting head wings.

Much more info in the book.

I have the book but can't find it!, as in It's packed away somewhere!

Would there be any instances of a 2005/2006 mapeglo without wings?

Sure. Nearly all of the finish/equipment changeovers were a gradual process, no hard and fast date of change.

Thanks for the reply I just have to decide between the fireglo and the mapleglo now.

I find the FG more stunning with the bursted fronts and backs of headstock and body-and neck!!!
The MG is gorgeous in its own right, too. So you can’t lose.

My former '04 4003FL.

jps wrote:My former '04 4003FL.

Lucite-Pickguard-b&w-02a.jpg

WOW! They made a fretless Rick in the "Zone" scheme???

bassduke49 wrote:WOW! They made a fretless Rick in the "Zone" scheme???

Yes, a special one-off 4003FL/AA.

Here is the enlarged, colorized version that Ted Turner made of that image.

StevieDee wrote:Thanks for the reply I just have to decide between the fireglo and the mapleglo now.

Fireglo ..... nothing beats a nice Fireglo finish, each is slightly different, all are lovely.
I have both a Fireglo (73) and Jetglo (07) Fretless and both are really nice, the 73 Fireglo still prevails