New 4030's

[ilan]

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[ilan]

Insane grain on the walnut. And 1lbs. lighter than the rest.

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[morrow]

I prefer short scales but the tailpiece placement just looks odd to me.

[gearHed289]

I prefer short scales but the tailpiece placement just looks odd to me.

Yeah, same. I'm not a fan of those contraptions in the first place, and it looks really wrong in the middle of the body like that. I do like the green color, but I'd do black plastic with that.

[amptech]

Rick short scale for real? I might want one!

[Alanko]

I'm wondering what the shorter scale does to the intrinsic Rickenbacker tone? Presumably it has a bit more rumble and a bit less focus in the treble? It would be cool to hear one.

[ilan]

A thicker sounding G string couldn't be bad.

I like that they used a standard 4003 carcass, just made a new two-octave 30" scale fretboard and moved the bridge. So now the nut is still where you're used to, the bridge is like on a guitar, the bass is balanced on a strap just like a 4003 thanks to the extended upper horn design, and the new pickup locations are now more like a 4002 or a Fender Jazz. Probably better with the short scale not to have a neck pickup.

Looks like they used rosewood or maple boards this time. Previous 4030's had Richlite (not that there's anything wrong with that).

[uwe]

I predict: They won't be offering those for long. I don't see a market. If you want a Ric, you want E-string growl. Not gonna happen with a shortie.

That bridge smack-dab in the middle of the bass looks terrible.

[Alanko]

I predict: They won't be offering those for long. I don't see a market. If you want a Ric, you want E-string growl. Not gonna happen with a shortie.

That bridge smack-dab in the middle of the bass looks terrible.

The Rickenbacker dealers here seem to be flooded (as in, two or three in stock) of these shortscale basses.

The bridge being so far into the body from the end suggests it is a fairly standard 4003 body and they've just chopped 3" off the scale length, moved some frets around etc.

[gearHed289]

Yup, 24 fret fingerboard in the same space as the regular 20, move the bridge forward and voila!

I like the 4005XC shorties that they made recently much better than this.

[Pilgrim]

The Rickenbacker dealers here seem to be flooded (as in, two or three in stock) of these shortscale basses.

The bridge being so far into the body from the end suggests it is a fairly standard 4003 body and they've just chopped 3" off the scale length, moved some frets around etc.

A full size body might combat neck dive..?

[patman]

I might be interested in one these if the price was realistic.  It isn't.

[ilan]

A full size body might combat neck dive..?

Full scale (33.5") Rics balance perfectly thanks to the extended upper horn, a Roger Rossmeisl design. So the short scales should also have perfect balance and no neck dive.

[Alanko]

Rickenbacker have tried a shortscale 4003/1 in the past via a different route.

[Rob]

Rickenbacker have tried a shortscale 4003/1 in the past via a different route.

I like it more than the newbies.