The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Rickenbacker Basses => Topic started by: chromium on September 28, 2011, 01:09:23 AM
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Just sharing some photos of a 4001 that I recently adopted.
Apparently this bass must have gone through Rock and Roll Vintage at some point, and I had found these pics in a Google image search a while back. I recognized it by the wear patterns and the sharp-cornered bridge pickup surround. Haven't taken any photos of my own yet, but these do the bass better justice than any shots I could produce...
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/march1973rick4001.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/march1973rick4001front.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/march1973rick4001stock.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/dsc03757w.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/1973-Rickenbacker-4001-Jetglo-Big.jpg)
I've been GASing for an early jetglo Ric most of my life. Bought a '78 mapleglo in the late-80s when used Rics were unpopular and cheap, and that bass was (and is still) a fantastic player.
Anyway, this bass surfaced on Ebay back in August. I had bid, but didn't hit the reserve. LBOer Nokturnal emailed me a couple of weeks ago and let me know that it was back up on Ebay. I got in contact with the seller that day... Really nice guy, and we were able to work something out. The bass is everything that I could have hoped - couldn't be happier. Guess it was meant to be! Looked like he had it up for sale over at RR, but I hadn't noticed - haven't been keeping up over there.
The neck is just slightly chunkier than my (ultra-slender) 78's neck, and the fingerboard radius feels different to me - flatter. Love the feel. I'll probably end up bypassing the bridge pickup cap, but other than that I'll leave well enough alone.
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Congrats! One day I will own a (non-fl) JG again. I love the looks of them.
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Wow, looks like my first Ric... a classic, congrats!
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Nice! Haha, it's nice to see a Ric with battle scars. :)
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Yeahh saves me from having to wear it out myself ;D
One of those thumb marks is actually worn about 1-2mm into the wood :o You can tell this was loved. Finish is worn on the neck around the 3-5 frets, and amazingly whomever was responsible for this wear wasn't sporting a Lemmy belt buckle. Body finish is decent back there. I'll post some shots of the back later.
Frets are still original and in good shape too.
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Beautiful bass, love the checkerboard binding!
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sweet. i had a FG 74 that i still, to this day, regret the most of any bass i have ever sold. Actually traded... Enjoy
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[envy] You're a lucky man, Joe... [/envy] ;D 8)
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I just drooled all over my keyboard! That is the epitome of bass for a lot of people...
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Nicely done! There's always a isk on what neck dimensions you'll get when you buy a Rick online so glad it worked out.
Will you be parking the 78?
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Thanks guys!
Nicely done! There's always a isk on what neck dimensions you'll get when you buy a Rick online so glad it worked out.
Will you be parking the 78?
That's what I was worried about, but thankfully they are actually a lot alike in terms of feel, sound (78 has cap bypassed, though), and weight (all IMHO). I'm happy with that - mainly just wanted a black Ric instead! Wasn't sure I'd be able to get all the early cosmetics in the process, so that was a tremendous surprise. This was my dream Ric.
I've been using the 78 a lot, but now it'll be redundant.. and I probably will end up selling it. Much as I like looking at them, I can't have wall hangers. I was never a fan of MG, but chose that because it was the best of the bunch. The store I got it from was having a blow-out sale on 4001s (this was ~1987-88). I was having a field day playing all of them! ;D It came down to this MG and a BG, but the MG was simply the best player.
Spent the next 23 years fighting the jetglo urge. Better late than never! :vader:
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/DSCF0005.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/DSCF0008.jpg)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/DSCF0010.jpg)
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Beautiful grain on that MG!!
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The treble pickup surround on the '78 is backwards, you know.
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If there are no more holes beneath, it could be on the right way, according to the assembler on that day.
The difference in size of these certain years really shows in the pic, I would say this is probably as different as the 4001's got, wafer to chunky.
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Pretty sure this particular pickup surround can go on either way... I remember being confused which way to put it on when I took the cover off last year. I looked back at this pic of it from 2007 as point of reference. Guess I should have compared against another 4001 ;D
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/basses-0607/DSCF0265.jpg)
Maybe I'll flip it around next time I have the strings off.
Beautiful grain on that MG!!
Thanks - I had considered once getting this one refin'd black, but hated the thought of covering up that pretty grain!
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nice bass, indeed. i had a couple of maple glo of that era but always wanted a black one.
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Pretty sure this particular pickup surround can go on either way... I remember being confused which way to put it on when I took the cover off last year. I looked back at this pic of it from 2007 as point of reference. Guess I should have compared against another 4001 ;D
They will only go on one way, as the screw holes are at different spacings, both vertically and width wise.
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(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/rickenbacker/DSCF0005.jpg)
That's a beauty!
Reminds me of my two Rics. Or at least it will. Mine are both '73s, and they were both Mapleglo. My first Rick was made in August according to its serial number. It's a transitional bass, has a toaster, but no checker binder and the newer tailpiece. It did have the pickup closer to the neck, and wavy tuners. The other bass I picked up used in '76. It was made in March. It has the checkered binding and split bridge. I've modded them to death over the years, and they sit in disassembled states. So I'm taking the one with the checkerboard binding and I'm going to refinish it Jetglo, because I always wanted one.
Funny thing is the newer bass' body is wider then the older bass, and wont fit into its case. It also has a orange fingerboard that looks like tulip wood. The older bass has the usual bubinga. Another odd thing is the top two tuners on the head. On the newer bass they go straight across, and on the older one they are on an angle.
(http://www.sgd-lutherie.com/images/4001s_side_by_side.jpg)
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Cool basses SGD! Are you going to keep the mudbucker in that one bass? 8) The size of that route looks like it might have been for one of the big-uns from the mid-60s.
I've been using the 73 a lot lately.. that and the Triumph. Somewhere there are some gig pics floating around which I'll post here if I can get ahold of them. Put my usual EXL170s on it and bypassed the cap, and it sounds fantastic. I still get excited every time I look at it - the Ric I always wanted! (http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/smilies/hc_love.gif)
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/guitarsandlongscales.jpg)
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Nice shot - I never got to respond in the "multiple bass" thread - glad you got your dream Ric!!!
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Cool basses SGD! Are you going to keep the mudbucker in that one bass? 8) The size of that route looks like it might have been for one of the big-uns from the mid-60s.
I'm thinking I'm going to put the toaster back in. It was a NOS mudbucker that I picked up somewhere. It had the full frame and was adjustable for height, unlike the mudbucker in my EB-2 that was just the pickup sitting in the rout. It removed so much wood that the neck shifted a little and raised the action slightly. The bass also had a larger pickguard on it at one point.
(http://www.sgd-lutherie.com/images/ric_mudbucker.jpg)
It sounded really cool with the mudbucker, but now I want to restore the bass to stock. I miss having a working Rick, and want that vintage 4001 tone. Since the Rick's not my main bass anymore, I don't need it to do more than what it does. Unfortunately I lost some parts when we moved last time. So I have the split tailpiece for it, but don't have the bridge itself. The bridge for the newer basses does not fit into the older tailpiece. I'll either have to stick the newer bridge/tailpiece on, a Hipshot, or make a new bridge unit.
The Mapleglo bass had more extensive mods done; I filed in the routs to make it into something like a 4004, before there were any 4004s. But I thought it would look cool without a pickguard. So I filled in the routs and started to glue maple veneer on the top. I had also converted it to a lined fretless. It has an interesting fingerboard that looks like tulipwood. I'm not sure how I'm going to fix it. I might remove the body wings from the neck shaft and make new ones from figured maple to match the neck.
The dumb things you do when you are young... :sad:
(http://www.sgd-lutherie.com/images/FB.jpg)