The Last Bass Outpost

https://www.guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/for-sale-1973-rickenbacker-4000-bass-new-price-more-pix.155945/

In case y'all can't see that:

"VERY good condition and ALL original. The 4000 series basses are rare birds indeed.
neck through construction, cresting wave headstock, cresting wave body, finished Padouk fingerboard, 33-1/2" scale, 20 frets, Grover sealed back machine heads, combination tailpiece/bridge assembly with string mutes.

This bass is the first bass model that Rickenbacker produced. "

CA$3300 shipped (within Canada).  Dude's local to me (also has a beauty 66 Gibson EB2 that I can't afford and is a bit on the pricey side).









I'm skeptical, but hardly an expert.

Not perfect, but interesting nonetheless and probably pretty helpful to the kids.  Personally I think it would be improved by at least stating what settings (pup if there's a choice; where da tone knob at) were used, and I'm not sure it was fair to use a 70s P but a 2010 Tbird, but that might be hard to improve upon for most mortals.

Fingerstyle, it was hands down Ric or Tbird, with honorable mentions to the Stingray and surprisingly, the thumb.   I don't remember Ps sounding that bad (relative to my personal tastes of course); musta had the tone wide open.

With a pick the Thumb just sucked; again Ric or Tbird for the win, though the P was back in the game.

(I skipped they whole slap section)

Didn't make me reconsider my dislike of J tone at all.

Any of youze know if anyone makes a (good) copy of these?

Failing that, do we know anything about the construction of them, i.e. are they a 4 pole version of the guitar minibucker or a sidewinder like 70s F/TBirds or what?  I know they're 6.6-7.7(ish) K depending on year.He's hoping he can ask one of the pup makers he knows to wind one up. 

A guy I know needs one and I won't sell him mine

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/msg/6078866989.html

Recovered with carpet and no original grilles, but still think it's a good price since they're in very nice shape and the drivers have been upgraded to JBL E-140s (very heavy, but great speakers).  The one on ebay last week (it's been years since I saw one there) went for 205 (all original aside from the Black Widow speaker and one damaged corner with missing hardware) + shipping from Texas (which woulda been +85 for me, whch I was surprised at and almost upped my bid on it, but let it go in the end): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Music-Man-115-RH-Electric-Guitar-Amp-Amplifier-Monitor-Speaker-/142360877906?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=11nfyzhFRbQCHkPVkqbFQEMe6YI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Listed on craigslist Rochester/Buffalo but actually located in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.

No price in the add, but I emailed the dude - he won't split the stack (sell the head only) so I'm out (like I was ever in, for what these things go for these days), but only wants US$2K - which is actually surprisingly good considering what just the heads go for these days (US$1.5 - 2K, though granted, demand may have been a tad inflated due to the whole Doom/Stoner guys getting into them in a religious way, but it looks like they succeeded in raising a lasting awareness of the awesomeness of these amps).

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/msg/5998229600.html

Came across this in a local shop (went in to pick up a pair of vintage Altec 417s, but they were already gone).



Wasn't about to clear shit out the way to get a better pick, but the bottom cab is a 1x15.  Also much more grey IRL than beige as it looks in the pic. Figured it would go reeeeeeeeeeal nice with one of those limited edition Ric 4003 Noirs (http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=10300.0). 

I argued, amongst other things, that it was a danger due to how it tends to drop limbs if you look at it funny. I provided documentation of previous incidents.

Then I got a new car last week (used, but barely).

Then we had a crazy storm last night.

I'm just glad that it wasn't worse (hard to tell from these pics, but the trunk fell straight down, hit the ground next to the car and then snapped over the car resting mostly on the fence , another tree and a phone line; 3-5 inches over and I'd need a new rear door; it also completely missed all windows including the panoramic sunroof), that it fell on my property only (4 neighbors and a public alley are in range of various parts of the tree; 1 of 4 main trunks came down; 20-30 feet long), and that nobody was hurt (it's a busy alley). Insurance will cover it all; no big deal, just a pain in the arse. The city arborist is going to get a terse email from me though.

I’ve done it now.  There was just no way around it, that 4x12, matching my studio partner's head and 1x15, for C$80 all in.  And all the speakers work. There was no choice really.  Had to be done.  It's been nagging at the back of my head for a month since I ran across it in the junkiest of used gear shops; a gem in a pigsty of mediocre gear in partial working order.  Went back to get it yesterday.

I think we now collectively own the entire Riviera line (a Pepco, aka Pine Electronics, ‘stencil’ brand - made in Canada).  I certainly can’t find any other models when I search online (though there were different versions of the 725 head, some with more knobs; no clear pics so hard to tell what’s going on there).  As far as speaker cabs, I have never even heard a whisper of any Riviera other than the 1x15 (which is great, and if you ever see it grab it).  The 725 amp is good too, but so much better after some tinkering (the tone stack was rebuilt on this one).

What I love most about both these cabs is that they were obviously designed for guitar/bass dual use (the 725 has separate guitar and bass inputs) in that they are MUCH larger than other similarly equipped cabs of the era.  The 1x15 is perfect and I wouldn’t touch it and also it's not mine (I have seen someone on Talkbass refer to it as a Showman copy, but that's Talkbass for you, where everything has to be compared to the closest Fender model - but I think this is actually larger, certainly a different shape).  Might change out the speakers in the 4x12 because they won’t handle the power of my new Sunn 1200s without getting farty (I opened her up and looked in there - 15-20 watt Marslands but nicer/better quality than most Marslands of the 70s - really nice cones and look more solid than the crappier ones Traynor was using by the end of that decade).  Might stick these Marslands in the Hiwatt 4x12 my other bud is trying to sell or give the buyer the option; they do sound good with guitar.  They sounded good with bass too at lower volumes - tried it with some newish solidstate Fender bass amp  in the store (one of the wedge monitor shaped combos)

Replaced the rubber feet on the bottom (completely worn down to more of a rubber washer around a screw with it’s head ground down - bit of a pain to get off) and glued down some ripped flaps of tolex.  Gotta find a strap handle for the right side there, and then maybe some castors (side mount for a tilt n roll) cause it’s a beast - not that heavy, but large and awkward to carry - it’s actually bigger than the Sunn offset style 4x12).

To give an idea re the scale of this beast, it is 30 x 41 x 12" (vs a standard geetar 4x12 which is 30 x 31 x 13). The amp head is tiny.