1975 4001
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
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Keith_Widom
1975 4001
I have an all original, WITH pick-up cover, white 4001 with black pickguard. I am the original owner , but amazingly, in my 25 years of ownership, I do not remember seeing another one like it. It has the black body binding, triangle inlays in the fingerboard and the schaller machine heads. Still one of my favorite basses. Does anyone know if this bass is rare or did bassist just not use white ricks back then? Any info on this bass would certainly be appreciated. What might the value be?
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Mark
I don't know what rare would be any more...I laugh when I here someone say it's # 97 of 100.
I guess it's all in your perception of rare.
The white basses with bleck binding were standard fare when I was working there in the early 1970's.As I recall it was about 1974 late in the year when this was first run in production.It was at that time more or less a test.By 1975 it was standard fare.The white was a problem in that it was chaulky material and it yellowed really bad.both the clear and the color would change and it didn't take long .We played around with the tints and tried to get one that wouldn't yellow .I don't think we were successful.It is a striking look.I really liked it ,and the next version that was done after I left in October of 1976 was even better .I liked the black hardware ,binding on the white body/neck.That stood out from the Fenders of the day.
I guess it's all in your perception of rare.
The white basses with bleck binding were standard fare when I was working there in the early 1970's.As I recall it was about 1974 late in the year when this was first run in production.It was at that time more or less a test.By 1975 it was standard fare.The white was a problem in that it was chaulky material and it yellowed really bad.both the clear and the color would change and it didn't take long .We played around with the tints and tried to get one that wouldn't yellow .I don't think we were successful.It is a striking look.I really liked it ,and the next version that was done after I left in October of 1976 was even better .I liked the black hardware ,binding on the white body/neck.That stood out from the Fenders of the day.
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guy_thomas
I've just acquired a 1978 4001 Ricky bass. Like Keith's it is white (or rather badly yellowed with age!) with black edge binding etc.
Even though it plays superbly, the bridge pick-up is very weak compared with the neck pick-up. Does anybody have ant wiring diagrams for 4001 basses? Maybe the pick-up needs re-winding? Maybe there is a 22 year-old dry solder joint somewhere!
The neck pick up is just fantastic.
The bridge was set very low, as the instrument was fitted with medium guage roundwound strings. I have changed these to GHS light-guage strings, and the neck is responding great. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been able to raise the bridge off the bottom position, and now the bridge posts don't stick out too much at all.
I'd love to sort out the bridge p/u. Any ideas anybody?
Even though it plays superbly, the bridge pick-up is very weak compared with the neck pick-up. Does anybody have ant wiring diagrams for 4001 basses? Maybe the pick-up needs re-winding? Maybe there is a 22 year-old dry solder joint somewhere!
The neck pick up is just fantastic.
The bridge was set very low, as the instrument was fitted with medium guage roundwound strings. I have changed these to GHS light-guage strings, and the neck is responding great. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been able to raise the bridge off the bottom position, and now the bridge posts don't stick out too much at all.
I'd love to sort out the bridge p/u. Any ideas anybody?
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Guy_Thomas
Dear Dr. Riccy!
Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a go!
What was the .0047 cap for? I notice that each tone pot has its own capacitor, and I've always wondered what the 3rd capacitor was for! On some of my hame-made 6 strings, I use an additional .001 capacitor as a trebler booster, but can't think why anybody would want to treble-boost a bass!
Best wishes,
Guy
Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a go!
What was the .0047 cap for? I notice that each tone pot has its own capacitor, and I've always wondered what the 3rd capacitor was for! On some of my hame-made 6 strings, I use an additional .001 capacitor as a trebler booster, but can't think why anybody would want to treble-boost a bass!
Best wishes,
Guy
The .0047 cap essentially just adds brightness
to a bass that was for many years[up till early
80s?] factory strung with flatwound strings.I have also experimented with several different .0047 caps , sustituting them for each other, and I've found that there must be somewhat of a tolerancing problem with some of them, as
many Stock .0047s from 60s or 70s severely cut the apparent volume on the bridge PU. When I put in more recently mfd. .0047s, you still get some volume drop, but in many cases, not as detrimental.So[and it's only a guess] I think many older Ricks likely had .0047s that the tolerances were off on the Negative side by quite a bit.MD, care to add to that?
to a bass that was for many years[up till early
80s?] factory strung with flatwound strings.I have also experimented with several different .0047 caps , sustituting them for each other, and I've found that there must be somewhat of a tolerancing problem with some of them, as
many Stock .0047s from 60s or 70s severely cut the apparent volume on the bridge PU. When I put in more recently mfd. .0047s, you still get some volume drop, but in many cases, not as detrimental.So[and it's only a guess] I think many older Ricks likely had .0047s that the tolerances were off on the Negative side by quite a bit.MD, care to add to that?
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guy_thomas
Just thought I'd let you know the result!
I replaced the .0047 cap with a direct contact from the pot to the switch and YES there is a great improvement in the output from the PU. It is still not as powerful as the neck-PU though, but both PUs can now be blended successfully.
Is the neck PU on 4001 normally a bit quieter than the neck PU?
Thanks
Guy
I replaced the .0047 cap with a direct contact from the pot to the switch and YES there is a great improvement in the output from the PU. It is still not as powerful as the neck-PU though, but both PUs can now be blended successfully.
Is the neck PU on 4001 normally a bit quieter than the neck PU?
Thanks
Guy
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rick_j.
just to let you know--i removed that third capacitor and put in a straight wire,and now my 1977 rick 4001 is a monster!!! what a huge difference--i highly recommend it. now i can use it for any style of music,and it will always cut thru. i do have a question,though,on another matter. my 4001 seems to have a dead spot around the A note on the E-string as well as the D-string. is there any tricks that can remove or lessen this dead spot? it really bothers me. i hve already tried screwing down the end of the bridge,but that didnt work.any suggestions??
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marcus
Try different types of strings! Sometimes this can help. Maybe DR nickel or slowwound by dadario or my favorite Blue steel nickel by Dean Markley.
Also polishing the frets and check if the neck isn't overbowed. Otherwise take it to a luthier and see what your options are.
I once had a dead sounding E string on my old 4001. Went crazy tring to figure out what caused it. Tried changing string etc. Ended up changing that little metal stringrest on the bridge and that fixed it! If it is the wood causing the problem it could be a little harder to fix but even for this there are some exotic methods for helping it I believe. (I think they put some sort of fibration on the deadspot on the bass for a extended period of time) But all that is taking it a bit far I suppose. Good luck anyway.
Marcus.
Also polishing the frets and check if the neck isn't overbowed. Otherwise take it to a luthier and see what your options are.
I once had a dead sounding E string on my old 4001. Went crazy tring to figure out what caused it. Tried changing string etc. Ended up changing that little metal stringrest on the bridge and that fixed it! If it is the wood causing the problem it could be a little harder to fix but even for this there are some exotic methods for helping it I believe. (I think they put some sort of fibration on the deadspot on the bass for a extended period of time) But all that is taking it a bit far I suppose. Good luck anyway.
Marcus.
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James_Barton
In the year of 1987 i purchased a second hand 4001 bass and have had a rough guess of it's build date to around 1975. I bought this guitar in Melbourne Australia from a store by the name of "fretted Instruments". I don't know where they had purchased it from but, underneath the case neck pad were an assortment of pics, one with the logo of "Freedom Music " San Diego.
This has made me want to find out more about my basses history, mainly the year of manufacture and if possible if it was sold directly out of the Ric factory or to which retail outlet it might of gone to. Is it safe to enclose the serial No. on this sight, or is there another Ric page that could help me out with some of this Information?
I'd appreciate any help that I could get. Thanx
This has made me want to find out more about my basses history, mainly the year of manufacture and if possible if it was sold directly out of the Ric factory or to which retail outlet it might of gone to. Is it safe to enclose the serial No. on this sight, or is there another Ric page that could help me out with some of this Information?
I'd appreciate any help that I could get. Thanx
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Matt_William