5 string ric copy.

nofi · November 27, 2011, 11:56:16 AM

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/jeffbass.htm

scroll down a bit.

Dave W · November 27, 2011, 10:33:28 PM

Those aren't copies, they are real Ricks that Jeff has modified.

ilan · November 28, 2011, 06:20:12 PM

He calls them 4-2-5's.

Dave W · November 28, 2011, 08:48:14 PM

Is he posting anywhere these days?

nofi · November 29, 2011, 06:37:10 AM

i randomly found him on talkbass. i don't know who he is.

Dave W · November 29, 2011, 10:14:10 AM

For years he was one of the most frequent posters at Rick Resource Forum. Ilan has said that he was banned there, this was about three years ago. No idea why, he may have been too critical of the company's practices to suit the forum owner.

nofi · November 29, 2011, 10:20:03 AM

on a similar note, if one of his 5 string rics appeared on ebay would hall be inclined to abort the auction. i am aware of ric's strict trademark defense.

Dave W · November 29, 2011, 10:41:49 AM

I don't think they would or could do that. It wouldn't be any different than selling any other real-but-modified Rick.

leftybass · November 29, 2011, 11:02:25 AM

He replies to just about any Rickenbacker post on Talkbass. I believe he's "Ric5".

the mojo hobo · November 30, 2011, 04:26:45 PM

Quote from: nofi on November 29, 2011, 10:20:03 AM
on a similar note, if one of his 5 string rics appeared on ebay would hall be inclined to abort the auction. i am aware of ric's strict trademark defense.

At least one had been listed on ebay, a trans blue 4004CII, and IIRC nobody wanted it for the starting bid and it was a beautiful peice of wood. I considered buyibg it and converting back to 4 string, but there would be that extra hole in the head.

IMO Jeff comvinced a lot of guys to seriously devalue their basses.

hieronymous · November 30, 2011, 06:54:13 PM

Quote from: the mojo hobo on November 30, 2011, 04:26:45 PM
IMO Jeff comvinced a lot of guys to seriously devalue their basses.

I never thought of it that way! Personally, I would never do that to a bass of mine. But at the same time, they're pretty cool - basically a customized Ric fiver in a configuration that would never be produced by Rickenbacker themselves. I like my 4-string 4001 as-is - if I want to play more strings I'll switch to a different bass and enjoy it for what it is rather than try and convert it into something it wasn't designed to be... To each his own!

Dave W · November 30, 2011, 09:30:42 PM

Yeah, a lot of these were done before Rick values really took off. OTOH even when he started everyone knew what an alteration like this would do to value. Their eyes were open, they wanted a 5-string Rick more than they wanted value down the road.

exiledarchangel · December 01, 2011, 01:53:25 AM

Those things string spacing must be tight as hell!

uwe · December 01, 2011, 03:11:29 AM

As it is on a regular Ric 4003S/5, not that I mind as pick player, but for a finger player it would be awkward. But the less than full long scale on a Ric defeats the concept of an optimal-sounding B anyway. It's a flabby affair and Ric even had the nerve of delivering its own reg 5ers with a custopm Ric string set featuring - wait for it! - a manyly 115 as, no, not the E but as the B string. Possibly, I got it wrong and that gauge was supposed to be the high B? ; - )

Dave W · December 01, 2011, 08:58:24 AM

IMHO it's really too tight for a pick player too. But if you gotta have 5 strings and you gotta have a Rick, that's all you can do.

In the latter days of the Pit, when JH did a little posting there, he said that according to a music trade mag, none of the top ten selling basses were 5 stringers. With the traditional models selling faster than he could make them, it's easy to see why he didn't consider a 5 string Rick to be a high priority.