Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[mc2NY]

I got offered this bass from the seller about a week ago before he listed it but passed. He said his sources told him that a number of these were made. But after doing an extensive web search, I came up with THREE......except all three turned out to be the SAME BASS.

I had photos of this one, sent by the seller. I also found the same bass in its old for sale ad in the UK....and the same bass was listed in the photo files of the Ric Resource website.

This bass has some easy to ID marks on it, so it is definitely the same one.

With all the odd things about it...and only being able to find this single example....I thought it too "iffy."

Seller DOES seem like a nice guy. Also, I had JUST bought a different high-ticket Ric bass from him that I returned , after it turned out to have issues (bad neck angle, undisclosed hidden route, swapped PUP/electronics.) He refunded my money in full, without any problems....and it had been bought directly with a bank check, so he easily could have told me to "FK off" and gotten away with it!! But he was a VERY stand-up guy. Didn't even charge me for the initial shipping, as most dealers would.

So, as a seller, I would HIGHLY recommend him.

[ilan]

4003SPC Blackstar... haven't seen one of those on the 'Bay in a long time.

[Dave W]

That looks to be in real nice shape.  Hard to see if the action might be high. Bet it doesn't stay under 2K.

[ilan]

Red 8-stringer S/8 in Germany - EUR 2,500 BIN, accepts offers -
EDIT: That's a rare 4008, not 4003S/8 - read Paul Boyers' post for the details



Desert Gold Fiver S/5 - $5K -

[Paul Boyer]

Hmm. That 8-string is a 4008. Note the somewhat smaller, more straight-sided head than the 4003S/8, and the tailpiece with the large single opening for string passage. In another photo, it shows a bound neck which clinches it as a 4008. A December 1985 4008 would make it one of the last built. Pretty rare.

[gearHed289]

Good catch Paul. And what strange binding it is. Normally on a Ric, the binding goes to the top edge of the fingerboard, then there's a strip of fingerboard visible, then the neck.

[ilan]

Good point about the shorter headstock and tailpiece opening.

What about the Ric-o-Sound and the black jack plate? Even Shadow jack plates are chrome.

Also, there's this Red S/8... anyone knows anything about it?

http://rickenbackerbass.net/1991-flat-red-4003-s8-rickenbacker-bass-rare/638

[Paul Boyer]

Don't know about the black jackplate and can't find any consistency of its use.

As stated in the book, "While there are only a few examples to study, it appears that the dual "stereo" outputs of the Rick-O-Sound were standard on the production 4008."

And:

"As with the 4003S and 4003S/5, only the standard monaural output is installed." (on the 4003S/8)

[hieronymous]

I owned an '82 fireglo 4008 for a while. I remember someone once stating that it was an S but to me the 4008 is an interesting hybrid of different aspects of both the 4003 & 4003S - unbound body & dot-neck, but with bound fretboard & rick-o-sound - what?!! Plus, the 4008 came with the octave string on top - they reversed it for the 4003S/8.

[ilan]

This 4008 has the octave string at the bottom. A transitional bass maybe?

[hieronymous]

This 4008 has the octave string at the bottom. A transitional bass maybe?

I (think I) remember John Hall stating that the reason that all the tuning pegs are the same size is so that the octave-root relationship can be easily changed - my guess is that this one has been modded? Or maybe Ric was experimenting? I switched my 4003S/8 to have the octave on top, I know that each person is different and has their own preferences, I actually think the Ric design works great in offering that flexibility and I love the way it looks!

[ilan]

My guess would be that most mods are reversing the unconventional S/8 octave-at-the-bottom to a more reasonable octave-on-top, not vice versa. That and the weird binding (?) lead me to ask if this is a transitional bass from 4008 to what would become the S/8.

4008 implies hairpin truss rods, right?

[Paul Boyer]

Again from the book:

"The new-style truss-rod system of the 4003 was applied to the 4008 basses made in the early 1980s."

However, I have not seen a 4008 with the split pick guard even though it may have the "reversed" hairpin truss rod position. And apparently, all 4008 have bound necks, a field mark that can distinguish the early model from the later unbound-neck 4003S/8.

[hieronymous]

My guess would be that most mods are reversing the unconventional S/8 octave-at-the-bottom to a more reasonable octave-on-top, not vice versa. That and the weird binding (?) lead me to ask if this is a transitional bass from 4008 to what would become the S/8.

4008 implies hairpin truss rods, right?

I personally consider octave on top to be more reasonable as well, but I feel like I have met an equal number of people that prefer octave on the bottom. As a matter of fact, the person I sold my 4008 to had it converted right away to octave on bottom!

I'll see if I can dig up pictures of the neck binding on my 4008.

[hieronymous]

My guess would be that most mods are reversing the unconventional S/8 octave-at-the-bottom to a more reasonable octave-on-top, not vice versa. That and the weird binding (?) lead me to ask if this is a transitional bass from 4008 to what would become the S/8.

I finally see what you mean about the weird binding! Mine was definitely standard:



(You can also see how the finish on the fingerboard was messed up...)