The Last Bass Outpost

And I still have it! It was my second Rick, and after having as many as 21 Ricks at one point (for about three days, I think), I've kept only two; my first one, a '72 that's been refinished and restored, and the '93 Cheyenne I bought from Dave back in '03 or '04! I did have Jeff Rath do a similar vol/vol/tone mod to it, but she's still a beauty!

That "Vas Dis" number drives me nuts. My brain is wired in mono, I guess. How anyone can play a complicated bass riff and sing/scat a completely different vocal riff is beyond my comprehension. If I were to attempt that, I could only sing the same notes I was playing. For him to sing the notes the guitarist is playing while playing counterpoint on the bass is just . . . just . . . Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Wow!

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!

Haven't heard from "Ronbo" in a long time.?

You know what they say: "Once you go Jetglo . . . "

Up charge is for the color, the checker binding, and the special run for the retailer. You expect them to not charge for it?

Sorry, but that is just sick. And not in a good way.

It's hard to say "one off" and Rickenbacker in the same sentence anymore. WOW! This being a '79 4001 explains why it doesn't have the blackened hardware as that didn't come around until 1985 (possibly late '84), but what is unusual about this is that the NECK has black binding. Most 4001 that have black binding have it on the body only, with white binding on the neck. But "never say never" and here is the proof. And a lefty at that. Fireglo with black binding is unusual enough. WOW!