As a teen I ran into a used 4005 at the long shuttered Benson's Music in Rochester NY. Hanging high on the wall it was one of the most beautiful basses I had ever seen. Expressing intrest Mike the proprietor said " naw you don't want that " he went on to explain how poor they sounded and to prove his point he plugged it in and played it. Transparent is the word I used to describe it's sound then and I still do, I remembered thinking even my Hofner sounds better.
The 4005 is a beautiful bass, I still want one even though I know it won't produce a sound I'll find usable.
Kudos to Rickenbacker for bringing it back!