Rickenbacker 4003S FG

Electric Bass

Body: Maple, with rounded edges
Neck: Maple, through body
Fretboard: Caribbean rosewood (metopium brownei)
Dot fretboard inlays
20 Frets
Scale: 845mm
Nut width: 42.9mm
Schaller deluxe machine heads
Pickup: 2 Bass single coils
Weight: approx. 4.1 kg
Colour: Fireglo
Case included

Further information

Colour	Sunburst
Soundboard	Maple
Neck	Maple
Frets	20
Scale	Long Scale
Pickups	JJ
Elektronic	Passive
Incl. Case	Yes
Incl. Bag	No

Customer ratings of similar items

Rating from Rickenbacker 4003S W

This one is a keeper!! ;-)

30.05.2016

This is the 4th Rickenbacker I've owned.

I 'ummed and arred' about getting another, until I saw the walnut and maple 4003, but should it be the 4003 or the 4003S? The slab body, binding and gloss finish of the 4003 is pure Ric, but something about the slimmed down and contoured 4003S really appealed to me. I bought one.

Thomann seemed to be the only people in Europe with one in stock, and having dealt with them many times before, I knew it would be an easy purchase.

It arrived in the UK in 4 working days and was packed in its case, in a box, in another box. Top marks.

Mint condition, all the case candy as expected.

Much lighter than a maple 4003. Little bit of neck dive, but nothing annoying or problematic.

How does it sound? Truthfully? Like the Ric you hoped it would. On the bridge pickup, growly, snarly, full bodied, with that treble bite that just cuts through like no Fender ever can (I have 3 Fenders as well!!)

The neck pickup is always the Ric weak point, but it's mellow and refined. With the selector switch in the middle position, it calms the bridge pup but without deadening the overall tone.

I thought I'd prefer to run the Vintage/Modern tone control in the classic 4001 vintage position, but it actually sounds so much better in the modern position that I can't see me using it much.

Overall verdict - superb build quality - I know there have been issues with Ric QC in the past. Awesome sound (if you like the Ric sound) Modern feeling neck - Precision wide, but not a fence post. Wide range of tones. Lightweight(ish) body.

Very, very happy with it :-)

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Rating from Rickenbacker 4003S W