1975 Rickenbacker 4000 on ebay?

mc900ftj · July 05, 2015, 03:38:47 PM

Does this look right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beautiful-vintage-1975-Rickenbacker-4000-bass-Plays-and-sounds-fantastic-/111706625591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1a023bd637

Looks like it has been played.

Dave W · July 05, 2015, 10:34:28 PM

I'll leave it to the experts to decide if anything's wrong, but I wouldn't pay one-tenth of his starting bid for anything so badly abused.

ilan · July 06, 2015, 05:56:23 AM

Looks legit to me. As Dave already said, the starting bid is way to high.

If you are looking for a 4000, there is a nice '79 on eBay with a $1,740 BIN price and a "Make offer" option. You will need to replace the bridge saddles though.

mc900ftj · July 06, 2015, 08:24:40 PM

Thanks!

godofthunder · July 07, 2015, 04:07:09 AM

I had one just like in the one pictured above. Best Ric I have ever owned.

patman · July 07, 2015, 07:17:51 AM

Agreed...Best RIC ever. Very punchy.

ilan · July 07, 2015, 10:22:43 AM

The off-center body of the set-neck 4000's has always irritated me. The bridge is definitely not on the center line of the body. The lower body half is significantly bigger, and the upper horn is too high. It's a big turnoff for me. It just looks wrong. Like a mistake that nobody at the factory noticed for way too long. If I ever find a nice neck-thru 4000, I'm all over it.

leftybass · July 07, 2015, 03:10:16 PM

This isn't based solely on a couple pics from a 70s catalog, right?

ilan · July 07, 2015, 03:18:29 PM

No, all of them are like that.

ilan · July 07, 2015, 03:19:44 PM

And some are worse. Probably the neck route jig was off axis. The pickup on this one is twice the distance from the lower body edge than to the upper body edge. See?

The white "shadow" is the real skewed 4000.

ilan · July 07, 2015, 03:46:14 PM

And this one... see where the pickguard is?

hieronymous · July 07, 2015, 04:37:56 PM

I have two responses:

The negative one: thanks for ruining the 4000 for me!

The positive one: isn't that just part of the homespun Rickenbacker charm?

ilan · July 07, 2015, 04:59:15 PM

Quote from: hieronymous on July 07, 2015, 04:37:56 PM
isn't that just part of the homespun Rickenbacker charm?

Once you see it you can't un-see it, right?

I guess it's part of the 4000's charm, and some may even like it like that, but personally I prefer the neck-through era 4000's with their 4001-like silhouette. They didn't lack charm even if their necks were not off-axis. Just personal taste.

Dave W · July 07, 2015, 10:31:27 PM

The off-center body could possibly just be a result of production technique. The off-axis examples are plain old poor quality control. Nothing charming about that!

hieronymous · July 20, 2015, 07:57:03 PM

How does this one look? (belongs to a friend)