RB-414CS Classic Series : Fits my needs exactly

Summary: A beautiful instrument which I enjoy very much.

However, it does have its weak points. They don't matter to me, but if

any of these are significant to you, you may want to reconsider.

The bass came with perfect setup, both intonation and action. The PUs

and the electronics provide a good range of tones that are angled more

at rock rather than jazz (but you'd probably tend to go fretless for the

latter, anyway).

The tuning machines are so-so. They hold the tuning very well, but they

have a lot of "latency", meaning that you can turn them for quite a way

(roughly 1/4th of a turn) before they take effect.

The finish is near perfect over all, but is a little rough on the insides

of the cut-aways. The neck is on the thinner side (suits me well), if you

want to get a real handful, that's not it. A few of the frets have

sharpish edges, but can be easily filed down.

It is perfectly balanced on a strap; sitting down it has a small tendency

for neck-dive.

The nut is cheap, but cut well. The bridge, though, leaves me scratching

my head. Works well enough as delivered, but trying to understand how it

works makes me want to change it for something more standard, and shouldyou want to put stronger strings on (comes with .040 to .100), well...

Quite a few caveats, I know. Don't get me wrong, these are for those who

expect a cheap Rickenbacker copy, which the bass is not. I love it for its

strengths: easy to handle and very good sounds. A good bass, regardless

of price.

j