Short Takes: 2026 3030
Like, extremely short takes
Had the idea been marinating in Ben Hall’s mind for ages, or did it just suddenly come to him in a flash? Whatever the answer, the 2026 3030 is one of the more unexpected Rickenbacker models in recent memory.
“So what?” you say. “It’s just a bunch of boring old 330s.”
But look again and count the tuners. Count the strings. Those aren’t guitars. They’re basses.
So yes, these things are indeed exactly what they look like: a 330 bass. 330 body, 330 24.75 inch neck, but only four strings. Most “short-scale” basses clock in around 30 inches—including the Rickenbacker 3000 (click to learn more) and 4030 (click to learn more)—just to give you an idea of how unusual these things are. I’ve looked hard for a shorter-scale production bass—and, yes, I’m ruling out the 18 inch Guild Ashbory bass because it had weird silicone strings—and I can’t find one.
The components almost all come from the Rickenbacker parts bin: 330 (click to learn more) husk and pickguard/control panel, four-string bridge and “R” tailpiece (click to learn more) from the 4005V (click to learn more), and the “hot” toaster pickups that have appeared on a number of special runs and one-offs. The only components that I believe are unique are the Schaller M4-style tuners—probably made by Gotoh—which haven’t been regularly used since the 4004 (click to learn more) was discontinued in 2017.
To be fair, there’s no way the standard Rickenbacker Kluson-style Gotohs would have fit on the back of that narrow paddle-shaped headstock.
How do you even find strings for a 24.75 inch scale bass, you may ask? Luckily the almost five inches of “dead space” between the bridge and the “R” tailpiece allows the use of standard short-scale strings—La Bella Low-Tension Flats in this case.
Five each in Fireglo, Mapleglo, Jetglo, and Walnut were produced and offered directly through the Rickenbacker.com boutique. The price was a reasonable $2,149—the same as a new donor 330. They sold out in two days, but there have been hints that more may follow.
Now there are two interesting things about what I just said that I want to highlight. First, as we’ve often seen with Boutique and dealer special run guitars, a number of these immediately showed up for resale on Reverb. However, thanks to the hints of more to come—which were dropped only after the models sold out—prices ended up being slashed, with at least a couple selling for not much more than the original Boutique price.
But the second item is more interesting. I’ve been reluctant to point out what appears to be a new business strategy, but I believe I have enough data points now that it bears mentioning.
Ben Hall has for quite some time used the Boutique to indulge in flights of fancy—a Coralglo doubleneck 620, a 350-based bass, and any number of unusual color/pickup combinations. All interesting in their own way, but for the most part, one-offs.
Since the late 1980s, Rickenbacker has reserved a portion of its capacity for some form of “special production”. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s it was the Signature Limited Edition models (click to learn more); those were replaced by the Color of the Year models (click to learn more) in the early 2000s, and since the mid-2000s it’s been dealer special runs (click to learn more).
This year—2026—Rickenbacker has started doing something new: producing its own special runs and selling them directly to consumers via the Rickenbacker Boutique.
Other manufacturers like Gibson have been doing this for a while, and while dealers certainly can’t be happy about being cut out of the transaction, they are at least used to the concept. And as long as Rickenbacker sticks to special runs and not mainline product, it’s probably low risk—especially if they continue to offer important dealers their own special runs as well.
From Rickenbacker’s standpoint it’s about as close to free money as you can get: dealer price is usually roughly half of MSRP, and now Rickenbacker gets to sell at list price and keep the difference for itself. So why not do it?
So far this year we have seen Boutique-exclusive special runs of the Noir 4003 (click to learn more), a Midnight Purple 1993Plus, and now these 3030s. Add to that the planned fifteen 4002SPCs that have begun trickling out—four thus far—and the Boutique is looking less like an outlet for boredom-killers and more like a potential key piece of the overall sales strategy. Especially if—like with the 3030 and 4002SPC—the Boutique focuses on selling not just instruments with special features but models you literally cannot get anywhere else.
Is this a new strategy? A proof of concept? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that I’m reading too much into. Time will tell. But if more 3030s show up—and only in the Boutique—I may just be onto something.
As regards the 3030 itself? There have been a handful of other 24.75 inch scale basses made over the years. The fact that you probably can’t name any of them should tell you a lot. I’ve spoken to people who have played the 3030, and they say the basses sound nice and thumpy, while the strings don’t feel “loose” like I suspected they might—that gap between the bridge and the tailpiece means the total length of string under tension is more or less the same as on a “normal” 30 inch short-scale bass.
It’s certainly a scale guitarists will be comfortable with. Is there a large enough market to put this bass into the line full-time? I seriously doubt it. But as an easy-enough-to-build special run for the Boutique every so often? That makes perfect sense. I mean, they did sell twenty of them in less than two days…
(And yes, I have an article coming on the 4002SPCs. I just haven’t gotten to it yet!)
Is the 3030 a neck through body or bolt on?🧢🔊🎛️🎸
Its got Tom Petersson written all over it. His basses are always eclectically Cool....
Always LOVE that body Style.
Would've been a great look for Gene too, God of Thunder