The other day, I acquired a 4003W. I've had some 4003's in the past, but this one is really a beauty, and it plays so smooth. The grain in the body is great.

I was playing The Beatles, "Come Together" today on the 4003W. What a sound. I'm totally sold on this 4003W.

One of my Ricks is a 4003SW.
And every time when playing in the band my bandmates look at each other and nod to each other.

The comment was: Sounds very crisp.

I didn't think about it any further.
Because, all the Rickys sound crisp.
But every time I'm playing THIS Walnut the guys are more happy .

Then one day a good friend came to me and plays all my Ricks at home.
My V63,my CS and a 4001 from 74.....
And then he played my walnut and told me that THIS one sounds the best.....

What !? ,really ?! I was in shock. This walnut should sounds better then my beloved CS,V63 and a 74' ????

So I tested all together..And yes that walnut sounds more harder and more trebly.
My V63,the CS sounds more softer but they are more crunchy.

I almost made the mistake and sold it.
But so many ears can't be wrong.
THIS Walnut is something special.

And I'll keep it up.

In these days of being able to capture and store sounds easily, can you allow us *listen* to the difference. I know describing the difference retains a certain mystique, but for me, Rickenbacker is 75% sound and 25% visual.

For me, I would love to hear the opening sequence of "one of these nights" and probably "Something", played on walnut and non-walnut. Non-walnut as a baseline for your set-up.

F.

4001v63, 4003 (1992), 4001 (1978), 4001 (1973)

Don't want to burst your bubble, but the Walnut is the newest, right? And it has relatively fresh strings on it, unless you have changed strings on the older basses, right? Fresh strings always sound "crisp", while ones you've played for a while may sound more muddy. Maybe you already know this and taking it into account. Just a thought.

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Author: "The Rickenbacker Electric Bass - 50 Years as Rock's Bottom"

My Walnut is from 2016.
This means that the original strings do not exist for a long long time .
I regularly change my strings on ALL my basses.

So I can say for sure, that the walnut sounds more crisp.
I can only speak for my 4003S Walnut.

But I think that part of it have something to do with the maple neck.
It is said that maple gives a more brighter sound.
Maybe that's the secret ?