The instrument is quite different to the usual Fender-influenced basses, with a small hooked lower horn and a long extended hooked upper horn. The whole shape is often described as a cresting-wave, echoed by the headstock and is 'harmoniously curved'.

The neck-through-body construction allows the body 'wings' to be shaped to give superb access to all 20 frets; the heel only starts to make itself felt beyond the 18th. The body is nicely bound in white, although this means a lack of contouring, especially for the forearm, hence the 'sticking out elbow' technique. The balance of the bass is spot on, with no neck dive at all, and I use a pretty smooth strap. The neck is also bound and is very thin front to back, which makes for fast fingering. The varnish is unusual but looks great and makes it easy to clean. The dual truss-rod arrangement allows twisted necks to be coaxed back into shape and is completely removable should it ever break. Fretwork is very clean. The tuners are Rickenbacker's version of Klusons and are very smooth.

It's often thought to be a very trebley bass; the bridge pickup is responsible for that but the neck pickup by itself gives quite a thick bass, with the combination of the two giving a good cutting sound that is full of definition. The pickups themselves are fairly noise-free, and feature very large single magnets underneath, rather than magnetic pole-pieces. For passive pickups, they're quite powerful. The electronics are simple but very reliable.

What don't I like about it? There isn't much to dislike if you're a fan, but the lack of contouring sometimes makes itself noticed. The bridge is the other main concern; it is virtually impossible to adjust intonation without removing the strings from the saddles and removing the saddle-plate. String height is not individually adjustable. The Rickenbacker is a very in-tune instrument, so you should rarely have to adjust the bridge. Lastly, this is a bass that costs the best part of a grand, so why doesn't Rickenbacker take the time to do some cavity shielding?

In summary, the bass is extremly reliable, sounds great through a solid-state amp and even better through a valve amp. It's not too heavy either, mine only weighs 9.5lbs, compared with my considerably heavier Wal bass. The finish is hard wearing and glossy, and the construction is virtually flawless. I'd recommend replacing the plastic treble p/u base with a solid steel one for improved sound quality.

Info: info@rickenbacker.com http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/mccorp/ , select link to bass photos (see #211).

Construction	95%
Playability	94%
Appearance	90%
Sound	96%
Value	85%
Cust. Service	99%
Overall	93%