Rickenbacker 4003 red with black trim

I don’t know if Rickenbacker ever gave this scarlet colour a something-glo name – it was only used in the 80s with black trim to my knowledge. It’s certainly eyecatching! As you’ll see, I have a soft spot for the the black trim option – on most colours I think it looks a lot cooler than the standard white and chrome. Or maybe it’s because my formative years were in the 80s.

When I picked this bass up it was in excellent condition apart from the tailpiece casting, which had inexplicably been bent upwards by an enormous amount – I’ve never seen anything like it before or since! The odd thing is there are no cracks or stress marks on the tailpiece – it looks as if it was cast that way. I can’t imagine it was string tension which lifted it – any strings pulling hard enough to do that to the bridge would probably have destroyed the neck first. Maybe it was just a substandard casting. I replaced it with a black Hipshot bridge, which being a large chunk of solid brass had a major effect on the sustain (and the weight!) of the instrument.

The neck was great in that I was able to get a really low fast action on it – it was probably the best playing Rick which has passed through my hands (and there have been a few). I sold it in a period of downsizing and I do miss it. Plus point is the guy who bought it off me loved it to bits.