New Rickenbacker short scale, the 4030S

[Beedster]

I'm not in the market as I imagine they won't be cheap, but the main problem I had with the only short-scale I've owned was that it sat in the wrong place for me, sitting down was OK, the only gig I did less so. I loved the frets being that little bit closer and the neck being that little bit faster as the result, but I couldn't get used to, well, dare I say it, the shortness! I considered getting a full length instrument with short scale fretless neck a while back because there's a few things I like to play on FL that challenge me on a full scale neck, so while I understand that people who might want an overall shorter instrument are not in the market for this, I would prefer this approach, albeit in the form of a fretless Precision 👍

[Beedster]

...have to say that if there were an FL in the new range I would be thinking seriously however, as Ric FL tone is sublime...... 👍

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Surely scaling the bass down to build something with similar metrics to retrovibe's l'il Richard would be so much better, but of course it would cost more for RIC to tool up for that.

 

 

[Woodinblack]

14 minutes ago, Beedster said:

...have to say that if there were an FL in the new range I would be thinking seriously however, as Ric FL tone is sublime...... 👍

 

Seeing as on a fretless you don't really need to change the frets for scale length, if you want one of these as a fretless you just have to get a normal one and move the bridge 2.5" up the body

[Beedster]

4 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Seeing as on a fretless you don't really need to change the frets for scale length, if you want one of these as a fretless you just have to get a normal one and move the bridge 2.5" up the body

 

Fair point, although I did think of that a while back but it causes some some back PUP placement problems

 

I am pondering though, I might look for a short-scale FL neck and do some experimenting with a rather interesting test-bed body I have 👍

[Happy Jack]

46 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Seeing as on a fretless you don't really need to change the frets for scale length, if you want one of these as a fretless you just have to get a normal one and move the bridge 2.5" up the body

 

But ... but ... will nobody think of the Dots? 😱

[Obrienp]

Just echoing what most other people have said: how lame can you get Rickenbacker? They had an opportunity to come up with something that would tick all the short scale boxes: less reach, smaller lighter body (important for Rickies), pickups in the sweet spot (but still different fundamentals from the scale), etc. it could have been a Rickenbacker for players who hanker after one but can’t handle the size and weight of the standard offerings. They could even have taken the opportunity to fix some of the other shortcomings like the bridge/intonation and the sharp edges! Opportunity lost IMO!

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

I'm struggling here. I imagine I've read something wrong, but is the idea that you can convert a longscale into a shortscale just by moving the bridge?

As per my  comment: you can use the neck, but need a new fretboard (& frets).

They missed a trick: they could've done it as a fretless!

[prowla]

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

I’m reserving judgement until someone’s actually played one 👍

I don't think I'll be playing one.

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

 

But ... but ... will nobody think of the Dots? 😱

You missed my comment about "spots" earlier!

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

Just echoing what most other people have said: how lame can you get Rickenbacker? They had an opportunity to come up with something that would tick all the short scale boxes: less reach, smaller lighter body (important for Rickies), pickups in the sweet spot (but still different fundamentals from the scale), etc. it could have been a Rickenbacker for players who hanker after one but can’t handle the size and weight of the standard offerings. They could even have taken the opportunity to fix some of the other shortcomings like the bridge/intonation and the sharp edges! Opportunity lost IMO!

Those ones have the V2 bridge, which has been stock for 3 years now.

[Woodinblack]

33 minutes ago, prowla said:

Those ones have the V2 bridge, which has been stock for 3 years now.

 

The new bridge seems like a good thing, and of course if you get the 4003s they don't have sharp edges (neither do the 4004s)

 

[Lysdexia]

22 hours ago, Maude said:

I know Ric bashing is a sport

Only for the complete bankers of the world.

[ajkula66]

15 hours ago, prowla said:

I think the 1960's long-scale Gibson EB0 was 34.5" 

 

 

Correct. Most Gibson long-scale basses (EB-0L, EB-3L, RD, Victory,Bass IV/V...) are 34.5" scale.

 

 

[prowla]

8 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

 

Correct. Most Gibson long-scale basses (EB-0L, EB-3L, RD, Victory,Bass IV/V...) are 34.5" scale.

 

 

So, Gibson & Rickenbacker basses have "non-standard" scale lengths.

And most other basses are derived from Fenders.

🙂

[ajkula66]

On 27/09/2025 at 04:09, prowla said:

So, Gibson & Rickenbacker basses have "non-standard" scale lengths.

And most other basses are derived from Fenders.

🙂

 

Well..."standard" is in the eye of the beholder...or something along those lines.

 

In my house, 30.5" is "standard"...

[Stag]

Ive had it on very good authority that these are going to have an RRP of between £3499 and £3799 due to Rosetti putting their prices up.

For that reason I am very much out, thats an insane price for these "S" version basses which presumably wont have the stereo circuit or binding like their "standard" counterparts

[Woodinblack]

 

2 hours ago, Stag said:

For that reason I am very much out, thats an insane price for these "S" version basses which presumably wont have the stereo circuit or binding like their "standard" counterparts

 

They don't - you can see that much in the pictures of the OP

[Obrienp]

3 hours ago, Stag said:

Ive had it on very good authority that these are going to have an RRP of between £3499 and £3799 due to Rosetti putting their prices up.

For that reason I am very much out, thats an insane price for these "S" version basses which presumably wont have the stereo circuit or binding like their "standard" counterparts

The 90th Anniversary semi short scales (was it 4005?) seem to sell for over £4K, so the pricing doesn’t surprise me. The semis might arguably be a better attempt at an SS bass. I doubt Rickenbacker will have any trouble selling the 4030s though, even at that money. I guess it is supply and demand; limited run and no doubt they will at least hold their value, if not appreciate.
 

I would still love to own a Rickenbacker but that sort of money puts it well out of range, even if it were a perfectly designed and executed short scale. Shame.

[Stag]

3 hours ago, Obrienp said:

The 90th Anniversary semi short scales (was it 4005?) seem to sell for over £4K, so the pricing doesn’t surprise me. The semis might arguably be a better attempt at an SS bass. I doubt Rickenbacker will have any trouble selling the 4030s though, even at that money. I guess it is supply and demand; limited run and no doubt they will at least hold their value, if not appreciate.
 

I would still love to own a Rickenbacker but that sort of money puts it well out of range, even if it were a perfectly designed and executed short scale. Shame.

I think its difficult to compare the 4005XC's with these basses other than the scale length. The 4005XC's were a special run for the 90th Anniversary of the company as you say so limited in production, not sure if these will be - im told the green ones are only a run of 25 like the British Racing Green 4003's a while back, but no confirmation on the "standard" colours being a limited run. The XC's are hollow-body which makes construction that little bit trickier, hence the list price of the standard 4005's too. The XC's are bound (very nicely I might add) and also have the stereo circuit. They are also naturally bigger because of that big 360 style body shape... and finally they come with the Ric silver "vintage" deluxe case rather than the standard black plastic one. 

It will be interesting to see how they take off if at all - and dont give up on Rics, theres loads out there second hand usually at decent-ish prices (although not many shorties out there admittedly...)

Edited 2 hours ago by Stag