I play j basses and rics. It took me many, many years to find a ric that did it for me. Like you I was put off by heavy. club necked, disappoInting basses. After trying quite a few (a drawn out 15 year search!) the bass I went for was a super light 78 4001 with a very thin neck and the most incredible deep and even McCartney-esque tone. Strung with thomastik flats it honestly does something that no other bass can do. When you get a good one they are fantastic basses it seems. They also look very beautiful indeed. Also, I play the ric with a pick and keep the cover on while i play my j the usual way with fingers. The ric suits a different approach for me.
Regarding buying one I would try some of the recent 4003s with a thin neck that come up here and spend closer to a grand instead of the silly shop price.
Nick
[quote name='12stringbassist' post='1250889' date='May 30 2011, 10:31 PM']I own a few 4003's. If you sit down and spend some time with it, you'll either get used to the neck and the pickup cover,
or still not like the bass.
I agree they are wildly overpriced now.[/quote]