Ben Hall hints to a "4000 Series kinda reissue" in the next few months

[ilan]

In the corporate website forum, responding to a discussion on checkerboard binding, he wrote - "And I don't plan on using it on a certain 4000 Series kinda reissue that might be revealed within the next few months or so", and two days later added "'kinda reissue' is the important part of my post."

Paul Boyer thinks a return of the V63. My guess is a production model of the 4002S and SW.

[BTL]

I wonder where RIC gets their checkerboard binding stock.

[morrow]

Rickenbacker have been making changes , and doing some interesting runs .
I blame Ben .
With NAMM coming up I wouldn't be surprised to see something new , something old . I had to mention the possibility of a short scale neck on a 350 .
I'd be in a state if they did one .

[Dave W]

Why not a 4000 reissue?

[morrow]

Some have pulled the neck pickup and done that .
I have a later set neck 4000 and love the simplicity of two knobs .
I think the 4002 is more likely , I've seen a recent green one that took my fancy ...

[Dave W]

IIRC there were very few 4002s made and some sat around stores unsold for years. They might sell better now.

[morrow]

A friend that just passed away had one of the only fretless 4002 basses . I once had a shot of buying a mapleglo 4002 foe $1500 but thought my old 4001 was all the Ric I needed .
I regret missing that .
There are a few out there willing to pay outrageous money for one .

[gearHed289]

IIRC there were very few 4002s made and some sat around stores unsold for years. They might sell better now.

The recent 4002S is a very different animal from the original 4002. The green one definitely caught my eye, but they're still using that ridiculous mute tailpiece thing. I'm also not crazy about maple fingerboards on Rics (though for some reason, I'm OK with it on the original 4004L).

[Dave W]

I forgot about that one. Any new 4002 would probably be more like this than the originals.

[Paul Boyer]

I dunno. The whole point of the original 4002 was the low-impedence pickups and XLR jack for recording purposes. The other differences were just cosmetic. Do people who desire the 4002 want it for the electronic capabilities, the look, or its rarity? Just repositioning the pickups and putting on a different pickguard doesn't make it a return of the 4002.

My hunches are either a return of a "vintage" model like the V63 or a revamped 4004 family.

[Alanko]

It can't be for the looks because the 4002 is ugly. 

A V63 using the modern 4003S platform would be pretty awesome. Rickysounds in the UK already produce these for buyers by modifying 4003S basses.

https://www.rickysounds.co.uk/product/rickenbacker-4003s-fireglo-custom-63-edition/

[bobyoung]

Why not a 4000 reissue?

I'd like to see a stock reissue 4000, most of their new basses have been very busy looking and just flat out weird, how about some simplicity?

[ilan]

I dunno. The whole point of the original 4002 was the low-impedence pickups and XLR jack for recording purposes. The other differences were just cosmetic. Do people who desire the 4002 want it for the electronic capabilities, the look, or its rarity? Just repositioning the pickups and putting on a different pickguard doesn't make it a return of the 4002.

I think that the attractive feature of a 4002-esque bass is the Fender Jazz pickup layout, which has become pretty much an industry standard. The 4001/3 lacks a true bridge pickup; its 'treble' pickup is too far from the bridge to produce Jaco-type tones. And the neck pickup makes the bass unsuitable for slap. 4002 locations solve that and adds a bonus of not having that swimming pool rout at the weakest point of the bass and all the typical neck problems related to it.

The 4004 was a modernized 4001 that failed to tackle the main problem of the old design. A 4002S - at least the two we've seen - just needs a 4004 bridge to enable palm muting, and you have a perfect bass.

[BTL]

[...] A 4002S - at least the two we've seen - just needs a 4004 bridge to enable palm muting, and you have a perfect bass.

I hoped the Ridler would be a big hit for just this reason.

[morrow]

My favourite Jazz style bass is the Samurai .