Azureglo 4001S on the bay

[bassduke49]

http://cgi.ebay.com/1982-Vintage-Ricken ... dZViewItem

Described as a 4003 in "Pelham Blue." I sent him a message with the correct info. Hope he changes the listing.

[johnallg]

4001S AZ - that's got to be pretty rare.

[ben_brown]

With a set neck to boot!

[ilan]

IMHO Azureglo needs a white binding.

[vito]

Wow. That is nice. Can't be too many of them floating around.

[just_bassics]

I have that exact bass, same year, color and model - bought mine a year ago from ebay for almost the same price. For those of you worried about the set neck issue, know that of my three Rics, including my 1998 V63 and 2006 4003 BBR, my set neck 4001S is the best of the three hands down. The necks on these babies are slim and the action perfect, at least on mine. A few months ago, I handed it to my luthier for his opinion of the setup. He played it for about two minutes and declared the neck to be "perfect". So, if the set neck is what's stopping you from bidding, get over it and get yourself a great bass! Heck, I'm considering bidding myself (except my wife would cancel Christmas if I bought another bass!).

Oh yea, the sound. Vintage Rickenbacker. I did replace the high gains in mine with a toaster & HS, but the stock pups were still great, lots of clank and exactly what you'd expect from a 4001.

Go for it, Tony! I'd love to see a forum member snag this one.

[woodyng]

my ignorance is going to show here,but i thought that the 4001s model was a neck-through,and the set-neck was a 4000 model w/one pickup. it seems odd that a pickup routing would be put in the neck position by the factory. i have a 74 4000,and the comments about the neck are spot on-it's a great feeling and playing bass! and that azure color is really nice. if i wasn't concerned about routing the neck on mine,i wouldn't mind having a toaster put in there!

[just_bassics]

Woody, these era 4001s basses (mine at least, anyway) started off in life as set neck model 4000's. My understanding is that if an order came in for a 4001S, they would route the 4000 and install a neck pickup. They are different from the 4001S RM1999's like the British 60's players got, but they are wonderful, and you can bet the work was done at the factory and not by third parties. Others here can provide much better general information; I can only comment on my model and the research that I did at the time I purchased it. I can tell you that when I switched the pickups, I purchased a new pickguard from Pickguardian, with the intention of moving the neck toaster to the 1/2" position, but my Luthier of 25 years experience told me it was out of the question - too much wood would have to be routed from the neck joint and he could not guarantee the work if he did, so I left it at 1" spacing. Also, I don't remember if this seller mentioned it, but these basses are mono output, no Rickosound, much like a V63.

IMO, the buyer of this bass is going to feel very lucky when it arrives. BTW, if the pics are accurate, this one appears to have retained its rich azureglo luster and has not gone "murky" as mine did. I suppose I should admit that mine isn't even an AZ anymore, it is now completely sanded and awaiting a refin. To all of you AZ fans out there that are now getting ready to thow things at me, please note that this bass was purchased specifically to have this project done and I chose this one initially because the finish was, IMO, ruined anyway by heavily yellowed clearcoat, possibly from years of improper waxing.

[woodyng]

PAINT IT PINK!!!!! just kidding,thanks for the info,i agree with your luthier-there is no way i would try to do that routing now. i would replace the higain with a horse-shoe,if i could find one that didn't cost more than the bass!

[just_bassics]

That's exactly what I did, Woody! Of course, it's not pink, but I did find a brand new HS a few months ago, uninstalled and still packaged... I installed it with a toaster from Mike Parks and got the sound I was looking for. I'll be posting pics of the completed bass when finished, hopefully by Thanksgiving...

[phlemmy]

pink with black trim/binding would look awesome IMHO.

[johnallg]

pink with black trim/binding would look awesome IMHO.

[rictified]

Azureglos' were originally lighter than they are now because of yellowing of the clear finish, at least that's what it seems to me. I have a 78 AZG 4001 and thought it was Midnight blue when I first bought it (and so did GC). It is still a pretty color and mine is about the color of the 4001S in this ad. They were almost pastel when new or at least that's how I remember them.

[jlessick]

Is that case original to this bass? When did the moulded cases become standard?

[gareth]

I'm currently in the process of upgrading my 1984 AZ 4000 to a 4001S. This bass gave me a real good idea of what it's going to look like when it's done.

All I need for the project is a toaster neck pipckup. Anyone got one ?