Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[Dave W]

Nice but that price is insane.

[ilan]

That's how I like them. Pre-'73 with yellowed binding and played to death.

A perfect 1972 4001 JG. $3,790 BIN

[ilan]

1972 Lefty Burgundyglo 4001. GBP 3,500 ($4,466) BIN

[Dave W]

Pretty! I wonder who the "authorized Rickenbacker luthier" was. Paul W.?

[Jeff Scott]

I wonder who the "authorized Rickenbacker luthier" was. Paul W.?

...refinished in the correct 'eggplant' burgundyglo finish by an authorised Rickenbacker luthier in Los Angeles in 2005/6

Most likely, not. PW is not in L.A.  He lives and works about 400 miles north of there.

I see this bass has a modern, thicker profile pickup cover, so that is not original to the bass, certainly.

[ilan]

Okay here's one of the coolest ever to be posted here.

June 1984 4002FL, WAL, birdeye. $6,500 BIN.

One of only 2 known 4002FL's - the other one is Ginger Lee Seaboyer's '82 4002FL.

This one is probably Bill Stoner's bass.

[Alanko]

They picked some tidy maple for the 4002 basses. 

I had a deep dive on Reverb today, and made a few interesting discoveries:

A 1970 4001 that is has an unusual and undisclosed mod. No prizes for spotting it.

https://reverb.com/item/13665809-rickenbacker-4001-1970-mapleglo

A very gluey beastie from 1972, playing in traffic:

https://reverb.com/item/15713603-rickenbacker-4001-1972-natural

A reasonably clean Chris Squire sig with an unusual orange discolouration:

https://reverb.com/item/16546336-rickenbacker-4001-cs-chris-squire-1991



For UK bassists with deep pockets, there is a clean-looking Chris Squire sig for sale on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2097526766970694/

£3000 seems a reasonable asking price (you can pay most of that for a 4001V64) and the Squire basses are quite rare in the UK. The seller is in Wales, and it looks like the lack of sunlight typical of Wales has helped keep the finish cream, rather than the nuclear yellow these sometimes go.

[ilan]

June 1984 4002FL, WAL, birdeye. $6,500 BIN.

Well that didn't last long. "This listing was ended by the seller."

[gearHed289]

A 1970 4001 that is has an unusual and undisclosed mod. No prizes for spotting it.

The switch tip, right? 

The guy with the CS with discoloured and checked finish and cracked pickguard is dreaming at that price.

[Alanko]

The guy with the CS with discoloured and checked finish and cracked pickguard is dreaming at that price.

I wonder if he was tightening up the switch one day and heard a little 'clink'?



Building a pickguard from thin acrylic plastic seems a wee bit daft. It doesn't have any give to it. I built a couple for different basses and the stuff cracks if you don't perfectly countersink the screw holes.

[ilan]

Building a pickguard from thin acrylic plastic seems a wee bit daft.

It is a bit daft, but not unique to the CS signature. All Ric pickguards except for the 4002 are made of acrylic sheet.

The first 4000 Series guards were back-painted clear acrylic, as were the RCA 4004s and the 75th Anniversary guards. Pre-'75 TRC's were also back-painted Plexiglas. Even some of the white Plexi guards are back-painted - when the white acrylic is slightly transparent.

I also don't like that the white guards don't age when the white binding and inlays are already ambered. Back-painted white guards (and TRC's) at least age nicely.

[Paul Boyer]

The cracks around the switch were probably caused by impact, maybe a faceplant of the instrument. The toggle is the highest point on the face of the Rick, so the first to make contact with an "opposing surface."

[ilan]

1987 S/5 FL! $4,850 BIN (+Make Offer option)

[Dave W]

Beautiful!

[gearHed289]

Wow, nice. I think the tight string spacing might not be so bothersome on a fretless. Rick-O-Sound too, which is very rare for an S.