Shaggy

Thanks Grossmit - hoping your Roscoe goes! No other BC love for a fab fretless?

I really like that - pure rockabilly - rather like the Sparrow Hot Rod guitars that are also Canadian I think. If I didn't have 4 semi's already ( [i] oo-er, F'nar F'nar[/i] etc ) I'd snap this up, but bumpo for a cool bass

One-time price drop to £1150 - after tonight will be away & PC-less until next Tues (7th); any PM's replied to then G

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.........though I admit the original opal white p/g looks more "trad" Ric, and as stated will be included with the bass. The idea was also - since I was upgrading the bass to my personal tastes - to make a "twin" for my maple-board '78 fretless Fender P, which is also natural / tort.

Au contraire, that [b]is[/b] the reverse shape; [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/Thunderbird_1963.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/Thunderbird_1963.php[/url] & this is the non-reverse; [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/Thunderbird_1966.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/Thunderbird_1966.php[/url] Anyway, whatever it is - cool bass at cheap price from top guy to deal with!

[quote name='Beedster' post='933512' date='Aug 23 2010, 12:07 PM']I have to say that, with much recent DB and fretless playing, this bass is starting to really 're-grow' on me, albeit somewhat too late in the day! When I owned it, although I loved its depth, I found the lack of really tight and sparkly top end, compared to fretless Fenders for example, a little limiting. Now I've learned how to get the best out of the dusty end of a DB fretboard, I'm realising that the fault was with the player not the machine. In my bass playing experience, DB and electric, I've yet to come across a bass on which the strings resonate with the whole instrument as they did with this bass. I remember reading Ric's marketing and thinking 'there's no way that's gonna sound like a Double Bass', but it really can produce a lovely sweet and melodic 'loose' sound. That said, it can do the opposite also - the first time we did Whole Lotta Love this baby absolutely rocked the place with a monstrously powerful sound that made me realise why the likes of Lemmy use Rics. And McCartney's lines? Whadaya reckon? Anyway, I sincerely wish I had £1200 lying around that wasn't already earmarked for the studio! Greg's also a great guy to deal with also, so you'll know you're getting both a special bass and a totally up-front genuine seller here C[/quote] Thanks Chris, great description of the bass, and I'm really going to have to get into this DB / EUB thing myself! Though given a pot of money I'd have snapped up that unfeasably gorgeous LPB '64 P of yours Best of luck with the studio project! [quote name='Stag' post='933594' date='Aug 23 2010, 01:17 PM']As an avower lover of Ric I would really like to hear this actually, never heard an FL one... someone is gonna be a happy happy man I think, free pickups and spare guard, Beedster's seal of approval... what more could a buyer want! [/quote] ......I swear that cat blinked at me......

Holiday Bump from a soggy Wales Been some speculation in other threads about what these rare birds sound like. Unsuprisingly sounds like a Rick; a fretless Jazz Bass is still a Jazz bass, a fretless Wal is still a Wal; just with added "mwah". So on the classic combined p/up setting you get that cutting, middy growl; but here considerably mellowed by the use of flats - think late Beatles-era Paul McCartney and early Pink Floyd. I was thinking of trying D'addario half-round ("groundwound") strings on the next change to get a bit more zing without trashing the fingerboard lacquer. What did make a big difference to this bass was fitting the vintage toaster; as I mentioned in my OP it sounds remarkably double-bassy; not just the tone but the whole attack / swell / decay dynamics of the note. No "clank" here, although I'm sure it could be got!

Thanks for the good words guys!

Bit of a speculative sale this one; I’ve had this bass up FS before and eventually withdrew it - being happily resigned to keeping it I spent a good few hundred upgrading to my ideal spec (replacing the previous Seymour Duncan p/ups with Ric ones, fitting cellulose tort pickguard) So essentially; [list] [*]2005 Rickenbacker 4003 FL (fretless) in mapleglo (natural), almost blemish-free; only defect is 2mm ding on rear of body so small I couldn’t get it to show in a close-up pic [*]Walnut headstock “wings” [*]VT tone circuit [*]Fretless lacquered rosewood fingerboard, side dot markers on 1/3/5/7/9/12 etc fret positions. Has always been strung with flats, so board almost unmarked, currently strung with Pyramid Golds. [*]Brand new Rickenbacker bridge pickup and cover just fitted, replacing previous SD. [*]Vintage late ‘60’s Rickenbacker toaster neck p/up fitted. (see how much the new ones cost on ebay, then see how much vintage Ric parts cost!) [*]WD Music cellulose 5-ply tortoiseshell 2-piece pickguard just fitted, imported from the US. This is the proper vintage quality tort material, far superior to modern acrylic. Original Ric opal white p/g included (see last pic), I just felt the white looks a bit bland with mapleglo, and tort p/guards were offered on some vintage Rics. [/list] “Fretless” and “Rickenbacker” aren’t normally included in the same sentence, which is a real shame; they're so playable, the all-maple and neck-thru construction make for fantastic sustain, and the single-coil pickups are wonderfully articulate. The vintage toaster p/up in particular gives a fabulously deep, warm, double-bassy growl. Price £950, shipping on top or collected from near Swansea, S Wales. No trade offers please – this is only to finance purchase of a specific bass. Any Q’s please PM me. Cheers, Greg

PM'd

PM'd re Gibsons

PM'd re the RE-20 Space Echo

[quote name='Beedster' post='914908' date='Aug 4 2010, 01:36 PM']I still have a black surround for the bridge PUP (sorry Greg, I'd completely forgotten I had it, and it turned up in a box the other day). Happy to forward that to whoever buys these if required C[/quote] Cheers Chris, appreciate it..............and black is the new black of course.

Ric cover sold pending P/ups still available

Bump for a snazzy bit of kit, and Oli's a top guy to deal with