New Rickenbacker bass?!

[Maude]

I've just seen these on fb. 

First thing I thought was the bridge placement is going to throw the first couple of frets out into the stratosphere if it's 34",or 33.5".

I understood that they wouldn't remake the 4005 as the tone isn't a popular one nowadays and the low sales would make it a non starter. This is hollow with toasters at both extremes of the playing area like 4005 though, so will sound very similar. Although the neck pickup will be in a slightly better place due to the bridge being so far up the body. 

It'll be horribly expensive though, I reckon. 

[AndyTravis]

1 minute ago, Maude said:

 

It'll be horribly expensive though, I reckon. 

£8000 I bet...

[Maude]

2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

£8000 I bet...

When are you putting an order in then? 😄

I don't like to admit it as I love the look of this, but your Jack Casady will likely be a far better bass than this at a fraction of the price, and a stunner too. 

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

7 minutes ago, Maude said:

I've just seen these on fb. 

First thing I thought was the bridge placement is going to throw the first couple of frets out into the stratosphere if it's 34",or 33.5".

I understood that they wouldn't remake the 4005 as the tone isn't a popular one nowadays and the low sales would make it a non starter. This is hollow with toasters at both extremes of the playing area like 4005 though, so will sound very similar. Although the neck pickup will be in a slightly better place due to the bridge being so far up the body. 

It'll be horribly expensive though, I reckon. 

I reckon Rickenbacker could make a limited run of 4005s and they'd all be snapped up by collectors, regardless of the price.

[AndyTravis]

3 minutes ago, Maude said:

When are you putting an order in then? 😄

I don't like to admit it as I love the look of this, but your Jack Casady will likely be a far better bass than this at a fraction of the price, and a stunner too. 

 

Yeah, I know.

Wonder how much they actually will be.

bloody stingrays are £2700 apparently now 😯

[4000]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Needs to come with a gallon of petrol and a box of matches....

I thought that this was a Rick free site???

That there is fighting’ talk. 😉

[4000]

5 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I reckon Rickenbacker could make a limited run of 4005s and they'd all be snapped up by collectors, regardless of the price.

The reason they wouldn’t do a 4005 was mainly because John Hall didn’t like them; he referred to them as “tuna boats”. 😂 Now he’s retired (is he really?) who knows?

[Maude]

8 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I reckon Rickenbacker could make a limited run of 4005s and they'd all be snapped up by collectors, regardless of the price.

I agree, there's a lot of people that want one. 

[Beer of the Bass]

This looks nice, I like that they've done the checker binding and crushed pearl inlays. Dare I say it, but it's almost as if they're responding to the existence of cottage industry luthiers making re-imagined vintage Ric style instruments, by dipping into that market themselves rather than doing ye olde lawyer's letter!

[Maude]

12 minutes ago, Beer of the Bass said:

This looks nice, I like that they've done the checker binding and crushed pearl inlays. Dare I say it, but it's almost as if they're responding to the existence of cottage industry luthiers making re-imagined vintage Ric style instruments, by dipping into that market themselves rather than doing ye olde lawyer's letter!

The same thought crossed my mind. Not cashing in obviously as they're Ric's designs in the first place, but realised there's a healthy market they're missing out on. 

Let's see if they price themselves out of the market now. 

[Shaggy]

It’d be nicer with the “R” tailpiece, but otherwise.......thumbs up     However, I’m sure it’ll be unaffordable to mere mortals 

A 4005 was about the only bass I’ve any GAS left for. 

[Beedster]

 

11 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

A 4005 was about the only bass I’ve any GAS left for. 

Yep

[Ricky 4000]

22 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

It’d be nicer with the “R” tailpiece

True dat. 👍

Actually, is the pic' a mock up?

The front pup housing seems to be overlapping the binding, and the PG overlapping the rear pup...

On reflection that's probably right!

 

[Shaggy]

12 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

True dat. 👍

Actually, is the pic' a mock up?

The front pup housing seems to be overlapping the binding, and the PG overlapping the rear pup...

On reflection that's probably right!

 

I think the pictured tailpiece harks back to the older Capri series semis, though I could be wrong.

Wouldn't be a Ric without a few eccentricities would it?   God knows what the pickguard is hiding....

[Cosmo Valdemar]

The early Rick's used the angular tailpiece. The 'R' came a bit later.

 

[Ricky 4000]

Yup, I can't see how the bass in the OP can be designated a 4005 when it is such a 360 c63 (bass).

Edited January 21, 2021 by Ricky 4000

[CookPassBabtridge]

Just don’t try to sell it on the Basschat Marketplace, as John Hall might cry 😉

[Sarlscharisma]

No point in buying that for the pub gigs I play.  £4000 at least.  I just couldn't relax at a gig knowing that was on stage with so many beady eyes on it.

A thing of beauty for sure.  

 

[AndyTravis]

12 hours ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Just don’t try to sell it on the Basschat Marketplace, as John Hall might cry 😉

He’s retired now. Doubt the new lot give a significant shite. Hence all the new models and seemingly increased output.

Imagine that.

[Kev]

Why can't they just use a bridge that isn't some horrendous concept?

looks like a Ric copy, which is odd.

[Chienmortbb]

The tail piece is in two parts and will come off when  there is no striing tension, the bridge is tiny and strainght, no compensation. I cannot see any way to intonate it unless there are moveable saddles that are covered and even then there would not be enough adjustment for my liking. On my Greg Bennet semi acoustic it used a Tune Tune O Matic bridge tailpiece  with limited saddle adjustment BUT the bridge is angled.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Chienmortbb
Add picture

[Cosmo Valdemar]

33 minutes ago, Kev said:

Why can't they just use a bridge that isn't some horrendous concept?

looks like a Ric copy, which is odd.

I like it! To me, THE Rickenbacker guitar is George Harrison's 12 string so it all looks good to me.

[Maude]

31 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

The tail piece is in two parts and will come off when  there is no striing tension, the bridge is tiny and strainght, no compensation. I cannot see any way to intonate it unless there are moveable saddles that are covered and even then there would not be enough adjustment for my liking. On my Greg Bennet semi acoustic it used a Tune Tune O Matic bridge tailpiece  with limited saddle adjustment BUT the bridge is angled.

 

The two part tailpiece isn't a problem, in fact it's beneficial sometimes. When changing strings just do one at a time so no problem, but if you want to do any kind of work or cleaning you can just slacken the strings off, unhook the tailpiece and lay it next to the bass, do whatever you need to and then just hook it back on and tune up. The 'R' tailpiece is the same. 

As for the bridge, it's pretty much identical to the tune-o-matic, adjustable saddles with height adjustment screws on either side. Just this one has a cover. 

Yes yours is angled but looking at your pic it doesn't need to be. Draw a straight line through the centre of your saddles parallel to the tailpiece and I'd say all your saddles would fit within a parallel mounted bridge, like the Ricks. My 4005 is straight and intonates just fine, I also prefer that it's parallel to the pickups. 

I really like the look of this new bass but it shouldn't be designated a 4005.

[Chienmortbb]

3 hours ago, Maude said:

The two part tailpiece isn't a problem, in fact it's beneficial sometimes. When changing strings just do one at a time so no problem, but if you want to do any kind of work or cleaning you can just slacken the strings off, unhook the tailpiece and lay it next to the bass, do whatever you need to and then just hook it back on and tune up. The 'R' tailpiece is the same. 

As for the bridge, it's pretty much identical to the tune-o-matic, adjustable saddles with height adjustment screws on either side. Just this one has a cover. 

Yes yours is angled but looking at your pic it doesn't need to be. Draw a straight line through the centre of your saddles parallel to the tailpiece and I'd say all your saddles would fit within a parallel mounted bridge, like the Ricks. My 4005 is straight and intonates just fine, I also prefer that it's parallel to the pickups. 

I really like the look of this new bass but it shouldn't be designated a 4005.

The bridge angle mimics the tradition BBOT gend bridge when correctly intonated. Of course the string used can change the intonation but in general the E string saddle should make the active part of the E string the longest  followed by  A and D wth the G string shortest, it's saddle furthest forward.

[Maude]

16 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

The bridge angle mimics the tradition BBOT gend bridge when correctly intonated. Of course the string used can change the intonation but in general the E string saddle should make the active part of the E string the longest  followed by  A and D wth the G string shortest, it's saddle furthest forward.

Yes I'm aware of that, I was just pointing out that if the baseplate on yours was straight then you'd  still have enough room to align the saddles to get correct intonation, as the 4005 does. That's all. 🙂