Rickenbacker 4003W Natural Walnut

This 4003w plays so perfect. You would think it was made by Mapons and Lugh, but no, American mortal hands made this sweet machine. The neck is on the fatter side but plays like it's not strangely enough. The sustain from this bass could battle a banshee's wail and win. It's got bottom end for days. So much so that can relieve constipation from the most uptight individuals. No, you will not be able to pick it up mess with the controls for a min and get the sound you want. The reason is, it's so versatile and can do pretty much anything but make coffee that you have to tell it what sound you want it to make. I play it through 2 full stacks. 1 is 8 10s the other is 4 10s and an 18. Yes, the edge of the body has a shaper edge on it. If you spend all your playing sitting and being lame it might bother you. Might. This bass plays so well, sounds so great and full that you can not sit when you play. You will get up and dance to your own bass. You want to play in a band with this beast. You want to punch the guitarist out and take over the leads? Then this holiest of creations is what you need. Flip the pick up switch and pull out the knob. You are now taking center stage and commanding an audience. The furniture set up (pick guard and pick ups) at first was took some hand position changes that I was not use to. After a couple hours you would think I have been playing this bass my entire life. It slaps, taps, fingers and if you are a lesser mortal you can use a pick too. In short there is nothing this bass can't do. I have a beautiful wife (fact), I told her to go sleep in the case so there is more room for Ric and I to cuddle. Yes that is the level of greatness.

I love everything about this bass. Ric sound, quality, looks. *One small note: The walnut finish was much lighter on mine than pictured.

I've wanted a Ric forever and now I have one. I've played a MusicMan forever and it's a great bass too. Of course had to get used to playing the Ric, but after several months now, I love it. Beautiful craftsmanship and I love the Walnut that I bought. After years in a band I only play for myself now and still do several times a week. I'm glad I finally own a Rickenbacker!!

Beautiful instrument. Lighter than I thought it would be. Set up with low action and after tuning was ready to play. Sounds fantastic. I especially like the ability to switch on the 4001 tone.

I've had this bass for about 2 months now. I love the tones you can get out of it, smooth as butter. It's an eye catcher too, I'm always getting comments on it. The neck is thick compared to my Ibanez and LTD basses, but the more I play it the more I get used to it. The entire bass is also unfinished so it's very smooth and fast on the neck. I haven't had any issues setting it up or getting the action low enough, the bridges lowers just fine for me. The treble pick up cover is definitely in the way of my normal playing position, going to be taking it off soon. I got a good deal with the salesman at guitar center so it helped to swallow the price tag also. I haven't had it too long but it's quickly becoming my favorite.

Great playing and sounding bass with a few quirks. The rear pickup cover gets in my way so I installed a Treble Bezel. There's never really a good place to anchor my thumb so I'm just all over the place. The binding rubs against my arm when I play it close to the bridge so I avoid that. Still, with the individual volume and tone controls for each pup plus the switching and vintage tone circuit, this bass is very flexible and full of great tones. Mine is also very light and very beautiful. Great move by Rickenbacker to offer it in natural finish walnut.