When It Rains It Pours Vintage 4001s - Price Check

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:03 am

here's another shot

basse · Post by **basse** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:07 am

Thanks Ken!!! Wow, that looks WAY better than when I saw it hanging in Capsule.

The '69 will definitely be going to the Twelfth Fret then. They're VERY good, but they are a little more expensive and you have wait a couple of weeks for the work to be done because they're always busy as hell. But with this bass, the extra time and guaranteed work is worth it!

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:40 am

Dave,Wints put me in touch with Mark Arnquest,He worked at rickenbacker In the 70s when mecca's bass came in mark and crew put the high gain in and replaced the pickguard... he does outstanding work.I can lower the action as low as i want now and put any Gauge string i want on it.Send it to him he's real fast, mine was done in a week or so and that was a lot of work, so if you want it done right Mark knows how to get that action down without messing with its originality and he only works on ric's it might be worth looking into.

wints · Post by **wints** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:58 am

M.A. does do extremely fine work. There are few people who can do what he can to a Rickenbacker bass. In this case, with the rods being fine and the bass having no history of abuse a competent luthier should be able to lower the action through the usual ways.

On the neck issue, it goes to show how individual the 60's basses are again. Just depends what sort of day the guy was having on the sander...
I played a 68 4005 a while back and although the neck was thin, it was nothing like my 4001 where you can vibrato guitar style with a very light touch.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:09 am

Ken, your bass looks really great. Did you leave the original finish intact??

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:19 am

David - I'd recommend Douglas Harrison at the Twelth Fret. He worked on a '73 4001 of mine a few years ago and did a nice job.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:40 am

yes john, the finish is original it really looks better in person now I mean overall appearance all the screws were replaced the hardware was replated,the pickguard was recut with original plexi edges rounded like factory. Its got buckle rash on the back and the paint is worn off but overall the finish is intact,I wanted it to look as it did in 67 so a lot of care was put into little details.

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:44 am

Doug Harrison has been on hiatus from the Twelfth Fret for awhile, building guitars.

You'll end up having Gord or Russ most likely work on it if you take it to the fret. They do great work.

basse · Post by **basse** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:46 am

Thanks for all of the pointers on who to ask for the 12th Fret.

I reinstalled the original bridge last night and the action was lowered by half. The replacement bridge was actually pulled up towards the rear end and pushed the saddles higher than they should have been. The Ric bridge sat exactly where it was supposed to and the entire unit stays flush to the body.

I suppose that's the difference between Ric's cast bridge and the replacement die-cast bridge.

I can't wait to try it out tomorrow night at practice!!!

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:28 am

Oh good. It worked!

wints · Post by **wints** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:24 am

Love them old bridges. They are SOLID!

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:17 pm

They wont bend up in the back thats for sure.

basse · Post by **basse** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:20 am

And the review... I finally played it amplified last night at a rehearsal studio where we were trying out a drummer.

All I've got to say is Holy ****!!!!! I have to tell you that I always loved the sound of my Rics whether it was the '76 AG 4001, the '66 4005 or the '78 4002.

But, this one is a monster. The pickups both sound great and there are no issues at all with the output levels. It has that thin '60s style neck that is faster and more comfortable to play than my other 4001 and the 4002. I still think the 4005's neck might even be slimmer but the neck on the '69 is an absolute joy to play.

The sound was rich and beefy, everything a good Ric should be. And I have to admit that I was a little worried that because of it's age that it might sound thin - but it didn't.

Here's something interesting, I think it might be slightly heavier than my '76 4001 but not enough to keep me from playing it all night.

All in all, I couldn't be happier. I can't believe I found a '69 in this condition and that it shounds so amazing!!!

Time to take the four leaf clover (I was going to say horseshoe but I thought that might be confusing) out of my butt and pass it along to someone else. I'm done buying for now!

If anyone knows of someone looking for a '76 4001 AG, feel free to point them to mine on eBay since I've got to pay for this somehow...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7328973216&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1