Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[Paul Boyer]

That's the Midnight Blue 4003S/5FL that is featured in the Second Edition of the book! A vendor a few years ago had this one and a Red one (not Fireglo, but Red). The pair could be the sum total of 4003S/5FL made!?

[ilan]

That's the Midnight Blue 4003S/5FL that is featured in the Second Edition of the book! A vendor a few years ago had this one and a Red one (not Fireglo, but Red). The pair could be the sum total of 4003S/5FL made!?

[Paul Boyer]

Uh, yep! That's the one!

[ilan]

Mani's (Stone Roses) 1974 4005 JG. $9,192

[wellREDman]

might be his, but prob not his main one, when I saw them it was all stickers and road rash

[Dave W]

I had never heard of them until Chris P. mentioned them years ago. The celebrity value would probably mean little or nothing here.

[ilan]

I had never heard of them until Chris P. mentioned them years ago

I first became aware of them in 1991, in Tony Bacon and Paul Day's The Ultimate Guitar Book - a Burg 4005 that I thought was really beautiful. A few years later I actually got to play one and was underwhelmed.

[gearHed289]

Great looking basses, but I've read mixed reviews of the tone. Geddy Lee played one for one song on the final RUSH tour, and it was easily the least impressive of the 19 or so basses he played that night. Kind of "tubby" sounding.

[ilan]

I thought it sounded thin, not very acoustic-y, and the large body with the long-scale neck makes it a lot less comfortable than a 4001. The bridge pickup, as expected, was useless solo'ed.

[Rob]

I have always considered that body to be the best looking Ric bass out there.

I have also come to realize that the best looking does not equal the best sounding by any stretch.

[Jeff Scott]

Great looking basses, but I've read mixed reviews of the tone. Geddy Lee played one for one song on the final RUSH tour, and it was easily the least impressive of the 19 or so basses he played that night. Kind of "tubby" sounding.

I've got recordings of my old '67 4005WB that would very much belie that statement.

[Jeff Scott]

I first became aware of them when I traded my late '60s Jazz Bass for one, not knowing exactly what it was, then not sold it until 2011.  Worked quite well for my purposes.

Ilan, here's a photo of your countryman playing it.

[ilan]

Jeff, you know that Gil owns one too... a '67 Fireglo. Four years ago I had the honour of shunting its cap.

[Pilgrim]

Most Rics just look "OK, nice..." to me, but that body style and color are off the charts.  Gorgeous!

[Jeff Scott]

Jeff, you know that Gil owns one too... a '67 Fireglo. Four years ago I had the honour of shunting its cap.

Yeah, I remember when he got it; he was looking for one for quite awhile, IIRC.

The wiring harness on mine never had (or it was modded) the .0047µF cap so I have no experience with a 4005 that has/had one.  Mine also had a ROS jack where the 5th knob would normally be.  I hope that Paul Wilczynski did not alter that when he "restored" the bass for its current owner as it looked original to the bass.

Something I have noticed is that a standard 4005 is considerably heavier than the WB version.  IMO+E, that does affect tonality.