After purchasing two Fender basses and a Music Man, I felt it was time to retire my trusty 76 Rick 4001 from professional use. This Rick (my second) had served me well for over 10 years and I didn?t want to subject it to anymore abuse.

Shortly after retiring the 4001, I joined my latest band. Now this is my first band playing without a Rick. None of my band-mates had a clue of my 24yr history with Rickenbackers. They were quite content with me alternating between an old P-Bass and a Stingray.

I played Rick-less for several months, but something was definitely missing. I felt I was being called by something. That something turned out to be a slightly used 1999 Fireglo 4003. I saw it, fell in love with it and much to my wife's dismay, purchased it.

I didn't think Rickenbacker could improve on the 76 design, but they did. Sure the bass had the same handsome looks as its 25 year old sibling {see Rickenbacker 4001 2nd) with some minor changes, upgrades and refinements.

The sound was the same beautiful Rick growl, deep and smooth. The pickup design has been improved slightly over the years giving them a little more output, much more than my Stingray or P-bass. The bass has so much output I have to use the active input on my SWR Super Redhead, and then I can only set the preamp as high as 7 without the preamp clip light flashing. With all that power, the bass's tone is still very controllable and predictable. All notes are even, smooth and uncolored. Real Rickenbacker tone!!!

The neck is now constructed from a single piece of maple (rather than 3-ply like the 76 4001) and is about 1/8 inch wider. The wider neck normally would bother me, but this feels correct for this bass.

The headstock is now tilted back several degrees, as opposed to the old configuration, which is more or less straight. This keeps the strings better pressed to the nut. It also looks better from a playing perspective.

The bridge pickup chrome surround is now scooped out. Why this was done is a mystery to me, as my 4001 has low low action and I have never had any trouble with the strings on my 4001 hitting it.

The headstock and upper and lower horns seem to be a little different. The horns are somewhat thinner and the headstock is more elongated. More like the older Rick basses of the late 60s (I think that was the idea). None the less it still has the same Rick appeal and is barely noticeable unless you sit them (the 76 4001 & 99 4003) next to each other.

As I expected the fit and finish is impeccable. I always wanted a Fireglo. It has to be the coolest finish available anywhere. SWEET!

Anyway?..when I showed up to the first gig with the 4003, there was mixed feelings from my band-mates. Everything from nice bass to oh, a Rickenbacker  This particular venue had poor acoustics. After a bit a tweaking during sound check, (I love that word tweaking. Can you say tweaking?) I achieved the perfect Rick sound (rich mids, a touch of sparkling highs and gobs of low end). It cut through the muddy mix and sounded great! By the end of the night everyone was convinced, this would be my new main axe. In fact I brought the P-Bass with me to the last two gigs (as a backup) and the Lead Guitarist said, I hope you brought the Rick?. That right there says it all! RICKS RULE!

Construction	99%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	90%
Overall	99%