Limited run of 27 4003 CB SPC MB

[ilan]

Just announced by RIC.

[morrow]

I like that , but doubt that one will find its way here .

[Dave W]

Beautiful but I don't like the pickup placement.

[ilan]

To me it looks like an early 70s MIJ Ric knockoff/"inspired" bass. I'd rather see a limited run of the 4002S like the two they did in May - or even a production model.

[Basvarken]

I think one of those pickups with a huge moat around them plus that weird oversized chrome bevel is bad enough as it is.
But two of those is just plain silly.

(sorry guys, couldn't resist) 

[gearHed289]

I think one of those pickups with a huge moat around them plus that weird oversized chrome bevel is bad enough as it is.
But two of those is just plain silly.

(sorry guys, couldn't resist) 

Having one - it is what it is. "Historical". I don't mind it at all. But TWO? That's just stupid IMO. I also don't like those long plexi TRCs on short headstocks. Finish looks nice. 

[Dave W]

At least it's not another P/J.

[BTL]

I'm not following RIC these days, but they seem to be doing some interesting/different things.

Has demand slowed in a way that allows them to dabble in non-standard fare like this, or is something else going on that I'm not aware of?

[gearHed289]

John Hall's kid has pretty much taken over from what I can tell. I'm glad to see them trying new things for a change. The new 4002S is really cool, though I'm not crazy about maple fingerboards on Rics. They did one in British racing green that would have looked even more beautiful if they had used the Caribbean rosewood they started using a couple years ago.

[4stringer77]

Two pickups of similar character makes more sense than trying to marry two wildly different pickups. This new bass will probably sound great but the odd shape of the pickups probably explains why they aren't a more popular after market option. It seems like everybody likes to experiment with installing every other type of pickup in every different model of bass besides rics. There are Fender birds, Gibsons with Fender pickups and Darkstars in anything but never ric pickups in anything but a ric. Am I missing something or has this been done before?

[ilan]

Two pickups of similar character makes more sense than trying to marry two wildly different pickups

While this may be true for Gibson EB3, the two Ric 4001/3 high-gain pickups AFAIK are similar if not identical, only the surround is different. The huge surround/handrest unit replaced the horseshoe pickup that had to be this large because of its two outer magnets. I assume RIC wanted to keep the striking trademark appearance.

[4stringer77]

That makes sense. Keeping the pickup surrounds only for looks doesn't.

[BTL]

John Hall's kid has pretty much taken over from what I can tell. I'm glad to see them trying new things for a change. The new 4002S is really cool, though I'm not crazy about maple fingerboards on Rics. They did one in British racing green that would have looked even more beautiful if they had used the Caribbean rosewood they started using a couple years ago.

That makes sense, and so does limited run variants.

The tooling up costs are minimal, but the collectibility factor converts lookers into buyers.

[Dave W]

While this may be true for Gibson EB3, the two Ric 4001/3 high-gain pickups AFAIK are similar if not identical, only the surround is different. The huge surround/handrest unit replaced the horseshoe pickup that had to be this large because of its two outer magnets. I assume RIC wanted to keep the striking trademark appearance.

That makes sense. Keeping the pickup surrounds only for looks doesn't.

The pickups are wound to the exact same specs (12.6K with #44 wire, IIRC), but there is a difference: the size of the magnet. The "treble" pickup has a much bigger magnet, which increases the output.  To have the same output in the neck (or middle) position, they had to rout for the large magnet.

I'm sure they could redesign the whole surround/pickup raising mechanism to eliminate the gaping hole -- if they wanted to. It's obviously not a priority for them.

[morrow]

I'm not sure it would be a Ric without that big gaping hole .