What don’t you like about Rickenbackers?

[PennyroyalWe]

I’ve never owned a Rickenbacker, and have only managed to play one in a store once, very briefly 10+ years ago. That being said, I really dig the sound they get, and the look of them and would one day like to get one, BUT...I often read people here saying they got one and didn’t like it at all for “ergonomic” reasons, which is horribly vague.
So, my question is, what are these reasons that people don’t like them, specifically?

(Poll included to gauge how many people are actually speaking from experience.)

 

[Beej]

I love their style but they are like a really skinny, bony lover. All knees, ribs and elbows.

Sorry if that was weird, but it was the first kind of accurate comparison my brain came up with.

 

[bholder]

I've owned 3 and I've kept 3. What I don't like: questionable QC, and I don't care for the way the owners run the company. But I love the instruments.

 

[Picton]

If you get a good one, there's nothing better.

The "if" in the sentence above is a problem. I don't like a company that sometimes does things brilliantly, other times abominably.

I was interested in Rick guitars for years before I played bass. I never thought I'd own one: I'd only ever touched a 4003 once at a GC for a terrible price. Then I saw a 4001 posted here that... I dunno. I just fell in love. I offered a trade and it was in my hands 3 days later; I'll never get rid of it. But then, about a year ago, I saw a brand-new 4003 at a local shop, pulled it down off the wall, and was COMPLETELY underwhelmed.

You shouldn't have to luck out to get a great bass from a well-established maker, but with Ricks? That seems to be the way. At least with me.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

I have never played one, but I SURE want one!

 

[Bent77]

I love their style but they are like a really skinny, bony lover. All knees, ribs and elbows.

Sorry if that was weird, but it was the first kind of accurate comparison my brain came up with.

It’s an accurate representation for those of us in the know

 

[Roger W]

I’ve never owned any but back in the late 80s when a friend who owned a 4001 was traveling, he left it with me for about a month. I was a guitar player at the time and also had the chance to try out several Rick guitars in stores. In every case I didn’t like the neck profile; they seemed Like an Art Deco ‘D’ meaning flat on the back side of the neck instead a C or, my favorite for guitar, soft V.

 

[ctmullins]

I’ve never owned one, but I have built myself several clones and love them (“carrots”).

Ergonomically, there are two main points:

• The regular (non-“S”) models have binding, which means a sharp edge that can cut into the player’s wrist, depending on technique. The S models are contoured instead. My builds all use the S contour, and are extremely comfortable.
• They’re wider at the nut than a Fender; they’re narrower at the bridge than Fender; the body is a half inch slimmer in thickness than a Fender. If Fender is your standard, then these are quite different, which turns some people off.

 

[KohanMike]

I like the look of Rics, but because I only play 21" to 24" bass ukes/mini bass guitars, I had one modified to look like a Ric walnut with skunk stripe and bought a Chinese knock-off 325 guitar that I had converted to a bass.

 

[jd56hawk]

I’ve never owned a Rickenbacker, and have only managed to play one in a store once, very briefly 10+ years ago. That being said, I really dig the sound they get, and the look of them and would one day like to get one, BUT...I often read people here saying they got one and didn’t like it at all for “ergonomic” reasons, which is horribly vague.
So, my question is, what are these reasons that people don’t like them, specifically?

(Poll included to gauge how many people are actually speaking from experience.)

It's not that I don't like them, they look good, bit there are so many other basses without their shortcomings.

 

[Phalex]

The body binding on a 4003 is pretty much a perfect 90 degree angle. That never bothered me for the 10+ years that she was my main bass, but after playing a contour body fender for a while, that sharp angle really bugs me. I don’t know if I changed the way I hold my right arm or what, but the thing I never noticed before is something I notice a lot now.

So yeah.... Ergonomics

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I’ve never owned a Rickenbacker, and have only managed to play one in a store once, very briefly 10+ years ago. That being said, I really dig the sound they get, and the look of them and would one day like to get one, BUT...I often read people here saying they got one and didn’t like it at all for “ergonomic” reasons, which is horribly vague.
So, my question is, what are these reasons that people don’t like them, specifically?

(Poll included to gauge how many people are actually speaking from experience.)

In 1973 I bought a new 4001 Ric. To me it sounded gimmicky compared to my friend’s 62 P bass. So I sold it. Two years ago I bought a 4003SW and it was so poorly made I returned it. I really wanted to love it but couldn’t. Frets were bad finish looked like an amateur had dropped tools on it and filled it poorly. This thing just sucked except for the sound. Great sounding! Very poor QC. B STOCK OR LOWER! I returned it to MF!

 

[msb]

I love a good Ric . Have two .
I love the feel , they sound great . They're not built like other basses .
And don't understand the compulsion some have to slag them .
Many that have never really owned or played them .
I've had one for about fifteen years now , and it's still a beauty .
I have just over twenty basses , and the Rics are in a league of their own .

 

[Killing Floor]

Nothing. They’re fine. Why?

 

[HubbardsFate]

I owned one (bought it used) for about ten years. To this day, I have never owned another bass that hurt my left (fretting hand) wrist as badly as that bass did. Within about two minutes of starting to play that thing, I would be in serious pain. I'll never own a Ric again for that reason alone.

I used to be really enamoured of the looks of those basses, but nowadays, I don't even care for that aspect of 'em. As far as sounds/tones go, yeah, in the right hands they can sound pretty great, so I'm glad they work out for some people...just not for me...

 

[jamro217]

They are unique instruments that run the gamut from great to firewood. If you get a great one, they'll be your favorite. They seem to have no consistency as far as specs go. Don't think of them in terms of mass produced candy cutter instruments, but rather as bargain boutique one offs. The necks are all of a different thickness, the upper horn bouts vary in thickness, the angle of the bridge pickup is wherever the glue sets, the QC is practically nonexistent, but they still are gems. No other instruments sound or feel like them. The fretless 4001/3s sound as much like a DB as you'll find in a bass guitar. Hope this helps.

 

[Gunga Din]

Marmite instruments. The shonky QC and John Hall did me forever with them. New ones, anyway.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Bought one and got rid of it after many attempts to bond with it. It wasn't meant to be.

 

[jamro217]

Forgot to mention the only thing I really find obnoxious about them is the lack of shielding. It's up to you to supply and install the foil tape. I guess one good point of that is that you get to familiarize yourself with the inner workings of your instrument in the process. I love opening up instruments and see what makes them tick (or clank in the case of a Ric). The single coil pickups are wired in series instead of parallel, so they tend to hum regardless. Like I said, they're unique instruments.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

A great bass with a few ergonomic "challenges" that are largely overcome by the "S" models with no binding. Weirdly polarizing on TB for reasons I still don't understand. It's a few pieces of artfully assembled lumber with some wire tensioned on it, not a Political Statement, though you'd hardly know that based on the pro/con Vitriol on TB. It was designed to lool Cool as Hell, which it succeeds at brillantly, with the massive fringe benefit of sounding utterly unique. If you don't like that tone or look, get a Fender, like everybody else.