Sparky Mark

I owned a matte black 4003S for a while. The neck finish felt amazingly fast, like Teflon but was a little prone to collecting fingerprints.

The playing technique of both hands is exceptional. The thumb of his left hand leaping from behind to over the fret board was interesting; it looked like he was using it to mute and/or fret the E string.

It will probably be quite heavy but should sound as good as any other 70's Jazz.

I think the neck does belong to that body. Everything points towards an abused early to mid 70's bass. The pickguard white layers also look too white for 59. It'd be strange for the body wood to be parted from all of its original components. As he says the pups are dated 74, so I'd put the bass at 74 earliest.

Estimate says £12,000 to £18,000.

Mine has just the right amount of mojo thank you very much!

That's lovely and £1,000 more than my one.

Looks wrong. I've never seen that decal before. This is a 64L

And you've even kept the pickup cover in place!

I'm not too sure, in the last year or so I believe. Hopefully someone with the knowledge will confirm.

The vintage push pull pot has been on the 4003 for a few years now. The bridge and truss rods are the new improvements.

I can see a lot of sales to new players who were previously put off by the old bridge and dual truss rods. I doubt Rickenbacker will increase manufacturing output so even longer waits in the future probably.

I don't do Bookface so missed out. Although that's probably too expensive for me anyway nowadays.

Yes, that is very sad news. I didn't know straps were available. How do you buy those?

Did you receive your bass Kevin?

My 4003SW was definitely more resonant and brighter sounding than my matte black 4003S

My 4003SW had the SD pups fitted when I bought it. The previous owner included the originals so I swapped back. To me the SD took something away from the classic Rickenbacker sound and eccentric output mis-balance between the bridge and neck pups. I'm perfectly happy with the Rickenbacker pickups and sold the SDs on here, making my 4003SW a bit cheaper too.

Nowadays Rickenbacker basses are all maple through neck construction, so it's only the body wings that are walnut on the 4003W and 4003SW. I also hear more zing from my 4003SW and wonder whether it's due to the lack of the thick gloss finish that is used on most of the other colours? Saves a little weight too.