Rickenbacker 4003 Stereo - Matte Black Review

I love it.

I love this bass. There is a string buzz which I found is just the nature of the beast. A bit of different fingering and muting habits to overhaul and the sound and feel is amazing. Sweetwater is the first place to go for anything and everything musical. They were willing to pay for full setup at my local shop even though there was nothing wrong with my bass other than my bad habits.

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Back In Black Awesomeness

As a bassist of 25 years who owns many of the iconic basses to include Music Man Stingrays and American Fender Precision and Jazz basses, I never purchased a Rickenbacker due to cost and what I believed to be a limited bass tone. Boy was I wrong and can honestly say this is the best bass in my arsenal. Everything from the look (black matte), feel, craftsmanship, and most importantly… read more the tone is on point. This is the bass I always wanted and needed. So save your money and get yourself a Rickenbacker! Based on previous reviews one has to talk about the exceptional Sweetwater customer service. This was an actual birthday gift from my Dad and he sent me a beautiful mapleglo version that was beautiful, but after a week I realized that I really wanted the black matte. Within 7-days the mapleglo was sent back and the black matte was in my hands. Job well done Sweetwater!

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4003 MBL

This is an amazing bass guitar with an amazing finish! Nothing beats a Ric bass and the matte finish is one of my favorites now. Came with a high quality Ric bass case too. Very happy with this purchase!

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Poor quality control on my particular instrument. No excuse for the hardshell case.

This bass has a great sound and feel. I opted for the matte finish so the neck would feel extra fast. The edge where the forearm rests will probably bother your if you've never tried an instrument with a similar sharp edge, so keep that in mind. Now for the bad QC... -POOR fitting factory hardshell case. There's about 1 1/2 inches of space for the instrument to bounce up and down… read more in and about a fingers thickness of space for it to move side to side. -G string tuning machine is screwed on crooked and the metal sticks out the side of the headstock. -Bubbles/Knicks/Dings in the finish -Glue residue? where the neck meets the pick guard -Poor binding detailing near the bottom strap button -Some weird smudge near the nut -scratched up serial number plate near the screw -One inlay has a dark spot in it I may just be picky, but an American made instrument with this price tag should be nearly flawless. There's absolutely no excuse for this hardshell case though. I took off a full star from the rating due to the terrible case and another half a star for the quality control (on this particular instrument). Sweetwater only allows 6 photos to be uploaded for reviews otherwise I'd post more.

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There's a reason the big names play Rics!!

Quality is the word for this instrument! Beautiful, clean, great sound; makes you get that excited feeling when you hear the notes and tones from some of your favorite songs from your favorite artists coming out of you amp!! This bass has a lot of versatility, in my opinion. I don't claim to be a great player, but there is no comparison in feel, sound, precision to my old Squire.… read more Played a lot of different basses and never gave rickenbacker that much thought, this was the right choice for me and I doubt anyone would regret owning this instrument.

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