Pictures of your Rickenbacker bass
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- atomic_punk
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Ted, glad you came out and showed us all of those beauties! The 4080 is stunning, and the 4002....well, you don't see those around these parts too often! Beautiful collection, and you will soon see that we don't ever mind seeing pictures of ANY Rick! Thanks for sharing!
"They make great f***'n basses". - Lemmy, NAMM 2009
Ted, very, very impressive. If you ever want to part with your Blackstar...
Seriously, that 1963 4001 has to be one of the cleanest ones that I have ever seen. Fantastic collection!
"Keep smiling, keep your mouth shut, and nobody gets hurt!" 
Don't bust Mike's chops...
'05 4003 BBR; '99 4001V63 FG; '96 4003S Trans Blue (custom refin from Paul W.)
Don't bust Mike's chops...
'05 4003 BBR; '99 4001V63 FG; '96 4003S Trans Blue (custom refin from Paul W.)
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ghs_boomer
- Junior Member
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- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 6:00 am
I have had the 63' since last August. All I know about it is that the previous owner lived in Las Vegas. It has a few odd features that I can't explain. The pickguard is not original and there are 2 fewer screwholes in the body than there are holes in the pickguard. The missing holes are at the bottom (bass standing on end) of the control cavity. Also, the screws on the bottom of the TRC are fake. There are no screw holes in the headstock to accomodate them. The TRC is held in place by one at the tip and another in the middle. I thought the missing ones might be under the nut (not original) but they are not. In 63' much of the production was not as batch oriented as it is today. They were not cutting out pickguards by the dozens. The Smith production numbers (probably inaccurate) show only 43 4001's made in 63' and only 29 of them were FG. The hardware was probably made as needed. I imagine that there are no two exactly alike.
I don't have pics of my other Ricks yet. My only guitar is a 1980 460 in FG and I have two other 4001's including the one on eBay. The other is the one I bought from Gary Clauson back in December. It was apparently improperly trussed at some point and the neck split open like a flower. I am going to make it a new pair of truss rods soon. It is still pretty from the front and it sounds good. It has become more or less a laboratory for me.
Ted, that sounds about right for an early 60,s bass. No two are probably the same. The screw holding the truss rod cover in the middle is correct. The pickguard is interesting. The F/G bass on page 67 of the Smith book shows a pickguard without a finger rest, while the M/G on page 202 has one. Are you sure it,s not original Ted??...You never know with the old basses. It wouldn,t surprise me if they never got round to drilling the holes in the body...Ditto the TRC. Does the bass have the two holes underneath the guard where the finger rest would normally be? Was this one of the e-bay,s 63,s last year Ted? Love to see some close ups of the body including the areas mentioned...
The missing screw holes in the body suggest that it is not original. Also, the neck pickup does not align properly with the strings. Notice that the E string sits a bit off of the sweet spot. I have to have a pickguard made for it that accomodates the body as it is. I just can't bring my self to drill any holes in it.
There are no holes in the body where the finger rest would have been. Also notice the differences between this one and the one on page 202 in the Smith book. Notice where the lower body half meet the neck? They are not the same. Also, the chrome surround for the horse shoe is similar but clearly not the same. There is what appears to be a 63' on page 108 that does not have a finger rest but the surround is more like mine. That same bass appears on page 67.
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rickaddict
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