Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I got my new bass, I love It! It plays better and sounds better than my last Ric. a couple of question though.
1) The mapleglo finish is a lot lighter than the older ones. will it darken with age or is it just a lighter finish?

2) I LOVE the Rickenbacker strings on her. When I put Rotos on my last bass I thought the bass lost some of its playability. So is there a recomendation for similar sounding/feeling stings to replace the rotos? something that my local shop might stock?

Thanks Brett

Hi Brett and congratulations, any chance of posting a few photo's? I have also noticed most of the recent Mapleglo's have been a lighter colour, whether 4003 or 4004. Maybe its a slightly different maple they are using now!

Pics Brett mate...

I think John Hall has mentioned that the finish will darken with age.

Hi Brett - congrats and enjoy!

I use either RIC strings or DR Lo Riders on ALL my Ricks

cheers

Congrats on the purchase! I like Mapleglo and I must agree with Jeff's comments.

If my '93 MapleGlo is any indication they certainly darken. I actually prefer the lighter hue though.....

I'm wondering about the stock Rick strings too, as I am very impressed with the feel of my new Laredo. From the documentation it seems that the strings are .040-.055-.075-.095 Kind of an odd range of guages-I can't seem to find any commercial set with exactly that set of sizes.

I did some research an found that you can buy bulk Ni rounds from either MF or JustStrings.com and get that set...and ironically the average price per set is EXACTLY the same at both places (creedence to the theory that there really aren't that many string manufacturers...), although MF sells the bulk in packages of 3, JS in packages of 6.

I'm leaning towards giving the MF sets a try. Hey, WTF? It'll be about $12-13 a set, if they suck oh well, I'll experiment with a more "reputable" brand. But with the power of the PU's on the Laredo I don't have to work as hard, so maybe my aversion to rounds is passe. Besides, with such a light guage (the Fenders I have been using are .050-.065-.085-.100) it only makes it easier.

Ironically, it doesn't seem that Rick acually sells that precise set, unless I missed it.

Congratulations!! MapleGlo is great.

My '00 Mapleglo was very light at first and has indeed darkened a little bit. I had to look at it again tonight and think back to when it was brand new, but yes, it's just a little darker. And that's only 5 yrs. I also think Mapleglo ages very well. Seems to handle life's little dings well. Enjoy!

I have tried Rotosounds and Ernie Balls on my Rics, but I am back to Rickenbacker brand strings. The Rotos I used really ate the frets, and the EB's just didn't give me what I wanted. Strings are pretty personal to the player, though.

You can order Ric strings direct from Rickenbacker, which I have done. It's a little pricey, but that is kind of a weird string guage set (45-55-75-105 for the 4003's), so unless you can fanagle a custom order in bulk like Ed described, you likely face changing string guages if you switch string manufacturers.

We might oughta start a thread on string guages. Call me crazy, but I think having relatively heavy bottom and top strings and somewhat lighter middle two somewhat adds to the Ric sound. Just a thought.

If I can find photos from when my '00 Mapleglo was brand new, I will post them alongside the current look, if anyone is interested. I will have to dig for the photos - they're packed away from when I lived in Oklahoma, and I haven't dug 'em out since the move.

I noticed a brand new 360 in mapleglo (price here is around 1500€) in a guitar shop here in Rome....the maple finish was VERY light....without any yellowing shade that usually come after a few years

My '93 V63 has yellowed nicely! I prefer this to the new look, but good things come with time.
I like light gauge GHS Boomers.


Someday I need to take a better picture of it.

Here's two, a yellowed '91 4001V63 and a non-yellowed '96 or '97 360V64 taken at the same time and lighting. I am not so sure that part of the yellowing has to do with the type of maple used. The 4001 may have started more yellow.