Neck Through?

[eb2]

https://www.12fret.com/instruments/rickenbacker-4001s-bass-fireglo-1973/

[Granny Gremlin]

I would guess no - can't see the neck between the pickups and between bridge pup and bridge.

Compare to this one:

[Jeff Scott]

https://www.12fret.com/instruments/rickenbacker-4001s-bass-fireglo-1973/

It's real obvious from the photo of the backside of the bass that it is a set neck.

[Paul Boyer]

The description in the ad is correct. Rickenbacker started making the single-pickup 4000 and the 4001S with a common set-neck chassis in 1972 and into the early 1980s.

[Granny Gremlin]

It's real obvious from the photo of the backside of the bass that it is a set neck.

Nope - instead of wings glued to the neck (as in the case of a Thunderbird or Alembic, and copies thereof) Ric routed a channel for the neck to sit in in the body with full solid back.  The neck also doesn't go all the way through the body to the butt end, but only most of the way.

 That's why I said above that you have to look at the top between the pickups (see the pic I posted vs the 12th fret pics).  See also the Ric factory tour vid on youtube.

[Dave W]

Looks set neck to me. As Paul said, the description in the listing is correct. They're not claiming it's neck through.

[doombass]

OTOH they don't say this very bass is set neck, which probably raised the question. If they want to educate people they could as well have told the whole story.

[Jeff Scott]

Nope - instead of wings glued to the neck (as in the case of a Thunderbird or Alembic, and copies thereof) Ric routed a channel for the neck to sit in in the body with full solid back.  The neck also doesn't go all the way through the body to the butt end, but only most of the way.

[Dave W]

OTOH they don't say this very bass is set neck, which probably raised the question. If they want to educate people they could as well have told the whole story.

You're right. I don't think they intended to mislead anyone but they should have made it clear.

[gearHed289]

Nope - instead of wings glued to the neck (as in the case of a Thunderbird or Alembic, and copies thereof) Ric routed a channel for the neck to sit in in the body with full solid back.  The neck also doesn't go all the way through the body to the butt end, but only most of the way.

 That's why I said above that you have to look at the top between the pickups (see the pic I posted vs the 12th fret pics).  See also the Ric factory tour vid on youtube.

To be clear, this is only true of most 4000 and 4001S models. The vast majority of Rickenbacker basses are full neck through, and have been since the 1950s. I wouldn't really say the set neck goes "most of the way" through the body. It doesn't extend beyond the pickguard.

[Dave W]

I thought the tenon on all set neck Rics is pretty short.

[Alanko]

Nope - instead of wings glued to the neck (as in the case of a Thunderbird or Alembic, and copies thereof) Ric routed a channel for the neck to sit in in the body with full solid back.  The neck also doesn't go all the way through the body to the butt end, but only most of the way.

Never heard that before or seen any Ricky basses that support this hypothesis. Not sure you're right.

Are you thinking of SD Curlee maybe?

[Dave W]

Never heard that before or seen any Ricky basses that support this hypothesis. Not sure you're right.

Are you thinking of SD Curlee maybe?

Set neck Ric guitars use the construction he's describing. Don't know about the set neck basses but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

[uwe]

OTOH they don't say this very bass is set neck, which probably raised the question. If they want to educate people they could as well have told the whole story.

Huh?  I think they are impeccably clear about it:

"The S in the model name usually indicates that this is a set neck model, rather than a neck through, however some 4001S models were built as neck-through."

This is set neck, as the name S indicates, some others, however, are neck-thru even though they are also branded as S models.

[the mojo hobo]

I thought the S stood for standard as opposed the the deluxe features of the bound 4001, but according to Paul Boyer on another forum:

By all official accounts, S stood for "special" in that they were originally made "special" for a large export order to Rose-Morris in England for sales in Europe. RM chose a lower trim package, presumably to result in a lower sale price and to satisfy European taste. Rose-Morris gave them their own model number: RM1999. Eventually, the S model was offered for sale in North America, first as the 4001S. In the last years (to be determined), the 4001S and the single-pickup 4000 shared the same "chassis" - a set neck glued to a one- or two-piece body; no neck through. The 4001S and 4000 went away in the mid 1980s, and for a while, the 4003S was made with many interesting permutations, such as the 4003S5 five-string, the 4003S8 eight-string, and the sought after 4003SPC models called the Tuxedo (White), Redneck (Red), and Blackstar (Jetglo), each with painted maple fretboards with tiny microdot position markers.