Rickenbacker 4003 Stereo Bass Guitar - Walnut

Name: Rickenbacker 4003 Stereo Bass Guitar - Walnut
Brand: Rickenbacker
Rating: 5 (16 reviews)

4-string Electric Bass with Walnut Body, Maple Through-neck, Maple Fingerboard, 2 Single-coil Pickups, and Stereo/Mono Outputs - Walnut

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Item ID: 4003W

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Rickenbacker 4003 Stereo Bass Guitar - Walnut

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Rickenbacker 4003 Stereo Bass Guitar - Walnut

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The Iconic Rickenbacker Bass — in Stereo

"Roundabout." The sound of that legendary Yes bass line is seared into the auditory memory of many of the musicians here at Sweetwater: an early-1960s Rickenbacker 4001S strung with roundwounds. With their punchy treble, solid bottom end, and ringing sustain, Rickenbacker basses helped forge the sound of classic rock in the capable hands of progressive bassists such as Chris Squire and Paul McCartney. It's an iconic sound, and there's only one way to get it. Today's formidable Rickenbacker 4003W delivers those inimitable bass tones, along with stereo output, in a sleek instrument that's primed for a new millennium. Forge your own legendary sound with the Rickenbacker 4003W bass.

Stereo Rick-O-Sound output opens up a palette of sonic possibilities

Rickenbacker spec'd the 4003 bass with two output jacks. The first is a standard mono output. The second is a stereo Rick-O-Sound output, which outputs both pickups as a seperate signal. Why let your guitarist and keyboard player have all the fun? Just think about the possibilities! You could send the neck pickup to one amp, and the bridge pickup to another. Pan the pickups hard left and hard right. Insert different effects pedals in each signal path to craft immersive stereo soundscapes. With the Rickenbacker 4003, you're no longer relegated to simply holding down the bottom end.

Rickenbacker 4003W 4-string Electric Bass Features:

An iconic bass, immortalized by Paul McCartney and Chris Squire
Walnut body and maple through-neck, for serious sustain and treble zing
Body binding and triangle fingerboard inlays add a touch of elegance
2 single-coil pickups deliver the classic Rick bass sound
Stereo Rick-O-Sound output lets you route each pickup individually
Mono output for traditional operation
3-way selector with 2 tone and 2 volume controls
Schaller Deluxe tuners are stage rugged and studio dependable

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Tech Specs

Number of Strings: 4
Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
Body Shape: 4003 Traditional
Body Material: Walnut
Color: Natural
Body Finish: Hand-rubbed Satin Oil
Neck Material: Maple, Neck-thru
Radius: 10"
Fingerboard Material: Maple
Fingerboard Inlay: Triangle inlays
Number of Frets: 20
Scale Length: 33.25"
Nut Width: 1.6875"
Nut Material: Bakelite
Bridge/Tailpiece: RIC bridge and tailpiece
Tuners: Schaller Deluxe
Neck Pickup: Single-coil
Bridge Pickup: Single-coil
Controls: 2 x volume, 2 x tone (push/pull treble tone control), 3-way toggle pickup switch, 2 x 1/4" outputs (standard, stereo)
Case/Gig Bag: Hardshell Case
Manufacturer Part Number: 99922

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Reviews

4.8

Customer Photos & Videos

This is hands down the best bass that I've ever played or owned. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid to own a Ric and now as a adult I can say I own one and it's the best thing I've ever purchased. Thanks to Tyler my sweetwater sales engineer for all his help on making this a reality..
I was super surprised when I was able to down tune the bass all the way to C standard with almost zero adjustments. This thing came straight out of the box ready to play and sounding beautiful.If you can get your hands on this expertly crafted instrument I highly recommend it you will not regret it.

The new 4003W bass stands apart from other older models of Rickenbacker basses in 3 important ways:

1) No longer are the necks built with an antiquated twin truss rod system. They now have one dual action truss rod, adjustable at the headstock.

2) the bridge has been updated as well with a design that doesn't pull up at the end and has individually adjustable saddles.

3) the natural oil finish looks beautiful, but it also gives the bass a satin smooth feel. This is a matter of personal preference, but I vastly prefer this over a glossy finish, which gets sticky in my hands. Not to mention it shows off the beautiful grain of the walnut. Every bass is going to look a little different as a result.

I gave this a very careful examination and noted no issues at all with fit and finish. It's an exceptionally well crafted instrument from headstock to bridge. The case is fantastic too.

I did end up replacing the bridge pickup cover with a treble bezel from Tubeampology. Again, just a matter of personal preference.

Pickup positioning on this bass is unusual by modern standards - the bridge pickup is at the 2.5th fret harmonic (i.e. the same distance from the bridge saddles to the center of the pole piece as it is from the nut to the mid point of the 2nd and 3rd frets) and the neck pickup is at the 5th fret harmonic. I usually don't like bridge pickups soloed, but on this bass it's perfect. I've experimented with a lot of different knob settings and there are lot of different but good sounds that this can produce. Don't listen to anyone who tells you a Rick bass is a one-trick pony! When using both pickups, it sounds good to back a little way off one or the other, depending on what kind of sound you want.

That's not to say it's a Swiss army knife bass. There are some things you just can't do well on it. This is not a slapper's bass, nor is it ideal for someone who wants to palm mute. But it sounds great with fingers or pick and with the treble bezel, finger style playing is no hassle at all.

A couple of very minor (to me) issues that don't warrant knocking this down to a 4 star rating, but I'd be remiss if I ignored them:

1) the mute system that is built into the bridge is useless. Seriously, don't even mess with it. It's not a big deal to me as I don't ever play with a mute like that, but it might be for someone else.

2) the strap buttons are designed to work with Schaller S-locks, and the hardware for your strap isn't included. I ended up buying a set and putting the other set of buttons on another bass. Turns out I really like them! You probably can get away with the rubber washer trick if you don't want to buy Schaller locking hardware.

3) this doesn't affect playability at all, but another unique thing about the walnut series basses is the maple fretboard, rather than a darker rosewood or bubinga. Maple boards are fine with me but the white pearloid inlays just sort of disappear into it. A darker color inlay on the maple boards would be nice. Maybe it'll look better as the maple darkens with age?

As I said these are negligible issues for me, and everything else about this bass is exactly what I want from a Rickenbacker.

I bought a brand-new, Jetglo Rickenbacker 4001 back in 1978 at 8th Street Music in Philadelphia, and I sold it about 6-7 years later. It is the ONLY instrument I've ever regretted selling! I've actually had dreams that I still owned it. Well, I started on social security in February of this year (2024) and I bought myself this one big present. The dream is now a reality, and I could not be happier with this bass. There is nothing else like a Ricky! So happy to be back in the family.

I'm a sucker for aesthetics, but Ricks go far beyond just looks. I love to crank the mid tones and get that raspy growl, or turn the tone knob back and get a thumpier groove. It's the perfect bass for me, and I don't want to play anything else.

I was lucky enough to be gifted one of these great instraments and after a year of owning it i can easily say this thing can hit tones like nothing else. This bass can hit the smooth lows like nothing else and cut through a mix like a bullet. and nothing feels like one either huge neck and thin body this thing absolutely kicks it! Ive spent a stupid amount of hours on this thing and cant say anything negative!