Gear Discussion Forums > Rickenbacker Basses

Seller: first Ric bass ever made

<< < (3/3)

Granny Gremlin:
Well we do have pictures of 2 73 examples with set necks so if they did reach the 70s as neck thru, it was just barely.

This is allegedly a 63 - can't tell what kind of neck joint that is from that one pic with that 2 tone body business (no other pics):



Another 63; also can't tell for sure but I don't see a walnut stripe between the pup and bridge there:



Here is an alleged 69 that doesn't look neck thru (though that one grain line does seem to stop a bit short, the E string is in the way and it's hard to tell) unless they dropped the walnut stripe (which they did on similar era 4001s - but then brought it back in the 70s?):

Paul Boyer:
The "walnut" stripe (actually a strip of shedua) started in spring of 1972, so that's not an indicator to look for before that time. Later in 1972, the factory started making the 4000 bodies from a two-piece slab and cutting a pocket for a set neck. The necks featured the shedua stip, but the bodies, of course, did not. The Mapleglo example in the photo above is a neck-through, and as Granny observed, has the grain of the body wings interrupted by the center assembly.

So from, say, the middle of 1972 until the end of production of the single-pickup 4000 in the early '80s, you would have a set neck with shedua strip and a two-piece body – the "seam" would be smack in the middle of the body if you can see it. Also, the "4001S" of that time period shared a common chassis with the 4000. Interestingly, Rickenbacker price lists didn't show "4001S" at all until AFTER the introduction of the 4003/4003S. Lots of interesting tidbits in the book! :)

Granny Gremlin:
Cool info, thanks.  Rics have always been a bass that sounds great and looks great but I personally don't like the feel of and were too expensive anyway, so I never really found out much about them on account never being on the market.  This one was just so pretty and the price seemed so wrong that I had to ask.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page