The Last Bass Outpost

Wow! I had Jeff Rath modify it to vol/vol/tone so the microswitch is gone. Did that not long after I bought it from you. Gigged it for a while. After the book was published (and it is featured in the book), I sold most of my basses, but held on to the Cheyenne for a few more years. I sold it maybe four or five years ago. Loved that bass!

Dave W sold his to me back in '03 or '04! I sold it a few years ago, some somebody else is enjoying it. The lightest Rick bass ever!

One of my favorite lyric lines is in "Tequilla Sunrise" - "workin' on a dream he planned to try" - four "conditionals" stacked into one line.

I don't believe Paul Wilczynski was an "old factory guy" with RIC, but was, for a time, licensed to produce acoustic guitars bearing the Rickenbacker brand in his own shop in the 2010s. He is known for his beautiful rebuilds and restorations, several of which I have owned.

Thanks!

Photo credit: Paul D. Boyer. Featured in "The Rickenbacker Electric Bass - 50 Years as Rock's Bottom."

That was awful. Too slow, then too fast, the bassist never settling in, and the drummer still looking for him.

It's hard to believe that this drivel came out of the same group that produced the amazing music of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall!

That's not a vintage 4002, but a recent factory built salute. The positioning of the pickups, pickguard, and black-bordered checker binding are like the original, but the low-impedence feature is absent, as is the 21st fret and bound headstock. I think this was one of a small batch made. Beautiful!

If I have it correct in my book, B9171 would have been the 71st Rickenbacker bass made. B stood for bass, and 9 for 1959. The rest of the numbers back then stood for a numerical sequence that started with 100 in 1957. The numbering system changed in late 1960 and then several more times to the present day. It's kinda complicated, but more clearly (I hope) explained in my book.

I dunno. The whole point of the original 4002 was the low-impedence pickups and XLR jack for recording purposes. The other differences were just cosmetic. Do people who desire the 4002 want it for the electronic capabilities, the look, or its rarity? Just repositioning the pickups and putting on a different pickguard doesn't make it a return of the 4002.

My hunches are either a return of a "vintage" model like the V63 or a revamped 4004 family.

You have to wonder how many Rick tailpieces have failed so spectacularly. Or are we seeing the same photos of a few like this one over and over and over again? It is well known that the blackened tailpieces were terribly weak, and it lead to the factory adding two more screws to the bottom end of the tail piece for a time. And this is also old news. This tale of troublesome tails comes from the late 1980s.

Oooh, I love it!

Quote from: morrow on May 19, 2021, 05:49:21 AM

If they ever do a short scale 325 shaped bass I'll be in danger of hocking a kidney .

How about a 360-shaped short-scale with checker binding? Done and dusted. Just made 90 of them in celebration of the company's 90th anniversary.

https://www.facebook.com/ricguitars/photos/pcb.3818415391575417/3818415304908759/

Looks like a Ruby 4003S in great shape. Definitely not a fake.