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Rickenbacker is definitely not a "typical" guitar company, and availability, wait times, special runs, and so forth have always been part of getting a Rick. Seems like many dealers often don't know when they will arrive, so when one actually has some in stock, it's best to go for it. Sweetwater was supposed to get some in sometime during late 2025 and then when I was checking my wishlist at the beginning of April, I noticed they were in stock, 5 of them. They don't list the price so you have to email them for it. I was at work so I sent in an email. I checked again at 3pm and then there were 4 left, and right as I was about I was going to call in, I got a call back. My Sales engineer was on vacation that week but his coverage knew that they wouldn't last long (they were all gone within a week or so). I looked at the 4 left, picked one, and called my shot. It arrived about 10 days ago but I've been super busy and unfortunately didn't get a time to take an actual picture until last night. One thing you're sure to notice is the new for 2025 redesigned "treble" pickup bezel, without the pickup cover. There is not even a slot for it, and also there is now a thumb rest. Some purists are up in arms, while others feel its "about time". The original 4001 basses had a pickup with a big "horse shoe" magnet, however that ended up being expensive and kinda not working well, so over 50 years ago in 1971, they changed to a standard single coil pickup with magnets underneath, and put a chromed plastic pickup cover that is cosmetic only on top of it. They also originally had a "toaster" pickup in the neck, but now both have "high gain" pickups, which have more winds now than they did in the good old days, so some people will replace the pickups with more "vintage correct" ones, or they will put in the current "toaster" single coil pickup. I even saw a recent dealer run that still had the covers, and came stock with the toaster, as well as a light blue finish and checkered binding. Anyway, it takes a bit of getting used to, but the neck is definitely comfortable, and I would consider the "new" profile to be more of a "D" shape, as it has a bit of a flat area on the sides. it plays well, and definitely has a VERY distinctive sound. The original 4001 basses had a capacitor on the bridge / treble pickup that cut a lot of the bass. This was later removed, but the current 4003 have a push / pull cap on the tone for that pickup that can give you the vintage treble sound or a more bass heavy modern sound for the bridge pickup. As expected, there is definitely a bit of hum, and the pickups are not RWRP like a jazz bass, so even mixing them together you still get full hum. If you're looking to play like Lemmy a noise suppressor is highly recommended. It's definitely going to take a while to explore all the tones in this bass, which I look forward too. Such a distinctive sound and look.

Maybe. Maybe not. I think it depends on what is important to you. For some people that 1 of 72 "exclusivity" is important. For others having a newer one is more important. "One of the last ones built!" etc. Having owned several of that run of 72 and newer ones, I think they are pretty much identical when it comes to build quality and awesomeness.

Do not let them just fill the box with popcorn. Rather fill bags with it. Garbage bags whatever and seal them. Popcorn shifts and the amps jangle around and lay right next to the cardboard.. no cushion. Best is expandable foam in a bag to fit the amp. But most use the popcorn!

"May you live in interesting times," they said. It was only recently that I found out that this was not intended to be a toast but a curse.

Thanks. I guess if I want to see the whole thing I have to pay. I found the sound files from the show here: https://archive.org/details/thebrothers2025-04-15.vwmule/thebrothers2025-04-15.vwmule.t01.flac https://archive.org/details/thebrothers2025-04-16.vwmule.t20

You could also order a solid mahogany Standard back then (4-digit era) - no bound veneer top. I've got one and can name at least 8-9 others like that!

A couple of tastes:

Hi everyone! It's been a few years since I've done this as I typically tie it to Shishkov batch orders and getting rid of extra parts, B-stock pickups, and a few oddballs I build out just for kicks! This one is going to be a little different in that it's 100% Hamer-Specific early days reproductions. Brass frames, top quality and same as OEM. I've got enough for a dozen sets and a few extra 50mm bridge pickups. Additionally, I have six 52.5mm frames and for those of you with certain Sustainblock bridges or Floyd Rose or Kahler-equipped guitars who want ideal string-to-pole spacing, I am please to be able to accommodate with this. This is a very limited offering and if you're a HFC Supporting Member, you get the deepest discount. If you're reading this and are not an HFC Member, hey just do it: Join up! Support the coolest guitar forum on the internet by signing up and getting with our great community here! It's a great crew of people here and we'd love to have you with us. Specs: It's brass frames with all and they are exactly like squarefoot models of the early days. Roughcast Alnico 5 magnets, original spec with the internal grades of steel bits and exactly right down to the ferrous steel bobbin mounting screws. The single coils feature .671L/.187D A5 rod magnets. I fabricate the brass frames for these right here in my shop because no parts supplier offers them. *Pricing for HFC Members: Humbuckers, $120/ea. Single coils, $90/ea. Free USPS Priority Shipping! *Non-HFC Member Pricing: $150/ea. for humbuckers, $120/ea. for single coils. Free USPS Priority Shipping! You choose your favorite Hamer pickup model (PAF-type or any Slammer Prototype/Phantom variation humbucker or single coil V1, V2, V3), your choice of bobbin colors (Black, White, Ivory, or any combination there), and finally your choice of output leads: vintage braided single conductor, 2 conductor + ground, or 4 conductor + ground. Single coils come with PVC Black and White output leads, just as the originals did. I will happily advise on matched, balanced Neck and Bridge humbucker sets if you so desire. If you want covers, the ones I use are made and plated in Nashville, USA, and the best ones out there. +$20/each. Hamer PAF-type humbucker average spec: 7.7k +/- neck and 8.3k +/- bridge. Hamer Slammer Proto/Phantom humbucker average specs: V1: 10.6k +/- bridge with a 10.3k +/- neck. The V2 bridge is 12.3k +/-, and V3 bridge is 15.6k +/-. Hamer Slammer Proto/Phantom Single coil average specs: V1: 5.4k +/-, V2: 6.9k +/-, and V3: 7.8k +/- And finally, I will also build a few oddball humbucker extras using B-Stock bobbins that have mild scratches and scuffs that can't be sold "As New", posting them in this thread at discounted prices. First come, first serve with these at $100.00 - Free USPS Priority Shipping! To confirm your custom order, message me Here or at [email protected] and claim your set! I have PayPal and Venmo for payments. Thank You!

Waiting on some new hardware to arrive.

Some technical clarity is in order. The complex sounds are not made up of a bunch of sine waves, but can be represented mathematically as a bunch of sine waves - using the Fourier transform. DSP (digital signal processing) uses the Fourier Transform to analyze and process all kinds of signals, from audio to high frequency. Think spectrum analyzer. It would be interesting to hear in person. Hard to say if improvement compared to standard speakers would be due to the technique or more simply to greater efficiency of the multiple amps and speakers. Bi-amping on steroids with multiple DSP crossovers. I’m good with new ideas, why not? I don’t think there is anything revolutionary with his complex setup. I bought my first real stereo as a sophomore in college. A Luxman R1040 receiver I still have and use. I also looked at a Harmon Kardon receiver, they claimed they could pass a square wave with no degradation. A Fourier transform of a square wave has a lot of harmonics, implying they could cleanly reproduce even higher than 20KHz and very complex signals. The good ole Lafayette fuzz I once had fried my Princeton speaker due to all the added harmonics and power. Would like to hear comments from pure Class A tube amp stereophiles.

UPS

Thanks guys, the seller and I agreed to split shipping and I think that worked out ok for both of us. We made sure to insure it as suggested. Hopefully I will not be posting in the "shipping tales" thread later this week. EDIT: I forgot to add, UPS took care of packing it in addition to shipping.

By Alex Van Halen: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTGBFL1Q?tag=bg-u00-20

Ess Bak On! $100 Trons including Setzers!

Clink~🍺

Concerts took place just a week ago. Now the boys are already busy playing on my desktop/itunes. Life is good – thanx, Disturber!

I got somewhat of a preview of this lineup in February at the Dickey tribute in Macon. No Marc Q or Joe Russo, but Oteil, Derek, Warren, and Chuck were joined by Susan Tedeschi and Duane Betts and laid down some heat. Wish I could've seen these shows at MSG; I have a few friends that were there.

That’s interesting, thanks for sharing. The way I read this is that, along with increases in the level of tariffs, there has been a lowering in the threshold requiring a more formal customs process from $2,500 to $800. This will definitely throw a monkey wrench into having guitars shipped from Japan to the US, at least using the major private carriers. I’m assuming that FedEx and UPS has already or will soon change their processes. Personally, I haven’t used the private carriers for my shipments from Japan for quite some time, mainly due to cost. I use EMS, which is cleared through a US Customs port (for me, Chicago) then picked up and delivered by USPS. In all my years of doing this, I have only been charged duties twice and never been asked to participate in any sort of formal clearance process. Many have been well in excess of the $2,500 declared value. My concern/question going forward is will the changes in tariff levels and this lowering of the formal clearance threshold change the EMS/USPS Customs clearance process and experience. This question along with a significant reduction in the USD/JPY exchange rate has definitely affected my willingness to import anything lately.

Never played one. But my Vanguard is from 1999, so it seems likely.

Years ago, I read about John Entwistle doing a bass clinic tour. He would play to preprogrammed songs on a drum machine. At one stop, the machine went haywire and was just spewing out random drum patterns, which he played with for a bit, then said, "Huh - kind of like playing with Keith Moon."

How dare you.

All of my guitars no matter the brand are loaded with Gravelin Pickups. Josh is my first call in the pickup department.

https://nashville.craigslist.org/msg/d/columbia-hamer-usa-standard/7840309731.html I think the asking price is not realistic, but whadda I know?

Why? Are Gibson Maestro pedals made by Harbor Freight??

No. No Elites. SuperPro == awesome. Elites, smash with rock. I feel like this has been covered already. Monaco Monaco is also awesome. I'll allow one of those. Monaco III, great. You get the idea.

It depends on what kind of music you play. And if is the P90 or humbucker version. The tone chamber can make the P90's sound fatter in a good way. For himbuckers I think it matters less. If you play harder rock or metal definitely go with the studio. They sound tighter and meaner. f you play more classic rock or pop the Artist can make more sense. If you play loud. Especially loud with gain the studio makes more sense. But the P90 Artist loves it loud too. If you play at normal rehearsal or studio levels the Artist is fun as the tone chamber gives a humbucker guitar a little more air. Good with Fender type of amps. If you are a bedroom noodler it makes no difference at all, you won't notice the tone chamber. As for changing you nut to graphtech I don't think it matters much. Hamer's lubricate nuts are very good. Gibson used nylon nuts back in 59, no one complains about the tone of old Les Pauls. I think much of these so called upgrades are snake oil. I bought a used Hamer with a Callaham bridge, swapped back to the original Schaller and it sounded better to my ears. Hamer knew what they were doing.

Evidence that an idiot once owned said guitar. What a pretty top!

2 screw holes in the wood for sure, hopefully not a Rick Nielsen signature

I did want to mention that you can hide an Apple airtag under the neck pickup of a guitar so you can track it in shipping; there are also some Android compatible versions that look to be thinner and might be a better fit (the airtag can be a little tall depending on the neck pickup routing depth). The airtag would have fit in the control cavity, but I'm not sure if Hamer's shielding paint would have affected the airtag signal. A big thank you to Dr Bear for mentioning airtags; it's easier to look something up on your phone and get a locational update rather than depend on the tracking info.

This might affect some HFC members, both here in the US and in the UK/Europe, due to the change in the value threshold: DHL suspends shipments of more than $800 in response to Trump tariff plan Will the change in the value threshold affect used and new guitar shipments from Japan? The article doesn't say, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

OKay, my "shipping tale" is an "inexpensive sequel" to a USPS episode from a number of years ago where someone sliced into a manila envelope and stole the vintage guitar catalogs therein. I was sending them to Vintaxe in St. Louis so they could add the pages ot their website (I've been using it for research for at least a couple of decades. Recently I mailed a small package containing some memorabilia--celebrity picks, key chains, etc. to a friend in CA. Same tyep of event---envelope precisely sliced open and contents removed. Dollar-wise, not particularly valuable but a gesture of appreciation for our friendship based on and around guitars. And I don't collect anymore, but the recent incident underlines in a small way why, at times, I don't miss the collecting phenomenon. But those times aren't permanent.