r/rickenbacker

Hello all,

Looking for some advice. I want to buy a Rickenbacker and do not know what to expect from a playability perspective. I have no means of trying one out.

I have an es335, a mij strat and a PRS with pattern regular neck. All seem comfortable to me, I have medium-ish hands, really don't like flat or very wide necks, they tend to strain my hand.

I can go the route of buying a new one from a huge retailer with a solid return policy or finding some cool older ones on reverb - it seems that the price is pretty stable on these.

What would you recommend for a Ricky beginner? I tend to favor semihollows for some reason. And a Rickenbacker is on my bucket list from the very beginning.

Thank you!

Hello,

I’ve been wanting a Ric 4003S in Fireglo for about 3 years on and off.

Lately, I’ve got enough money but the music stores in the EU are always with no basses in stock.

Thus, I’d like to ask you… I’ve been looking at stores like Thomann, Muziker… anybody have any experience what is the waiting time to get the bass?

I’d hate the thought of paying, having no money nor the bass and waiting.

Any experience regarding the process (or if you have any negatives about the Ric to turn me off) go ahead.

I think the bass would be a fit… I’ve already got a Jazz Sadowsky and in my band we play stuff like Cream, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Mountain… etc.

Thanks!

A few weeks ago, I made a post after playing my brand new 2026 Rickenbacker 4003 Fireglo . This after reading many, many reviews and gathering as much info as I could find.

I think my initial impressions were quite positive, to say the least.

The last weeks, I've been exclusively playing this Ric for practice and jamming sessions (a total of around 20 hours). Has my opinion changed? Do I still like this bass, or was it just a novelty (or a justification for spending a good amount of hard-earned money?) I will be as honest as possible.

>!I still think it's awesome. I really, really like the thin lacquered neck and I love how the body is rather small and thin, yet feels substantial. For me, the ergonomics are just great (this seemed to be a returning complaint in many reviews).!<

>!The bridge pickup really bites and can be tamed a bit with the neck pickup. The tone is rich and very natural sounding.!<

>!Last but not least: this bass has kept perfect tuning since I had it. The action is as low and without buzz as the day I bought it. I've grown to really like the odd string thickness.!<

Please dont downvote me to oblivion I'm a broke uni student. I have always wanted a 4003 bass but I am far from rich does anyone know any brands or places at for a decent copy? Thanks

Hey....

So I went to try out a Rickenbacker 4003 mapleglo bass today from a large UK retailer.

I won't name any names or anything but basically, what happened is they failed to spot a couple of wiring and pickup issues before demo. It was lovely in terms of feel but without the entire pallet of sound, I couldn't make a decision on the day. They did offer to make it too priority to repair. But to me, this now feels like a bass I wouldn't go back for at the full RRP. I don't know who would have been responsible for the QC, upon shipping to the UK and of course when it arrived in the UK.

It was a 2026 model and I had heard good things about the model. So I am a little disappointed to have not taken it away and asked for the deposit back.

Has anyone else in the UK experienced his with Rickenbacker? Obviously I'm aware that there "are" overall issues with Rickenbackers for some and not others. The beck was nice and slim, fretwork was actually good.

Thanks