Pictures of your Rickenbacker bass

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:15 am

Not to put such a great looking Rick bass down, but that treble pickup IS crooked, not to mention that the polepieces on it are way off center. Yeah, I know this is fundamentally unimportant, but...

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:32 am

All RIC basses are beautiful but the S series and the 4000 are my faves. Congratulations. I hope to join you some day.

milo · Post by **milo** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:50 am

Thanks guys,
I wasn't looking for a bass but I went into my favorite store one day and it was hanging on the wall for $675 without a case. I couldn't pass that up.

I don't know if the pickup was like that from the factory or if it came loose and was reglued; the volumes seem to balance well so it only bothers me when I look at it. I'm a tooling designer so you can probably imagine how much that crooked pickup in the middle of that straight pickup ring and mount messes with my head.

It photographed much better than it looked but now that I've got a few years of bar gook off of it the bass is actually in better condition than I thought. Originally it looked like it was starting to get some finish crazing in the black and the finish on the fretboard was looking a little worn between the strings, but that all seems to have cleaned up with a lot of rubbing and some Meguiers so it must have been the gunk and the lights in the store.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:51 am

Some treble pickups are not symetrical. I know this sounds weird but it is true. I have noticed after reassembling some of my instruments over the years that the pole pieces are shifted off-center and the pickup itself is a bit crooked. The fix is usually to take it out and turn it around. This one appears to be and example of that. I love S's too!

Nice bass!

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:08 am

Jeff,

The p'up is glued/2-way taped to the mount-then screwed on. If it REALLY bothers you, carefully separate the p'up from the mount (after unscrewing it of course) and reposition.

Voila!

milo · Post by **milo** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:28 am

Thanks Jared,
I may give that a try. Any suggestions for the glue or double backed tape? I'm waiting for a bunch of socket head screws to arrive that I ordered to replace the philips ones that adjust intonation so I may have the time to straighten that pup out.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:54 am

I have used framer rope, it feels/looks similar to the stuff the audio guys used to seal the front loaded drivers to the cab.

Just a small piece, 8-10mm long near each end. This thing doesn't dry our and is neutral to plastics.

The brand is not critical but the material must be able to compress to 0.5-1mm

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:27 pm

When Jared gets his psuedo-shoes made, that could hide the crooked pickup and everyone will think you have a horseshoe pickup!

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:48 pm

yessongs!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:38 pm

A lot of treble pickups are crooked. there is also a post about that. If there is a complaint, there is a post about it here somewhere

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:15 pm

You know, I think more often than not, the bridge PU is istalled crooked. Whats up with this? I was checking out my 4003 fireglow and sure enough,, its the same way, although not as severe. QC problem?

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:20 am

Ted
I found the auction for your '63 bass, it dates back to May 2002, The seller was "cyber12".

martyr · Post by **martyr** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:32 am

hey guys, i'm new to this forum. i just started playing bass in January, when my father passed away in November i inherited his Rickenbacker 4001. i'm not sure what year it is though, could any of you help me with that? here's a url with pictures of my Ric.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=202532

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:55 am

That looks to be a mid 70's 4001. I say that because I used to have one just like it. The serial number is on the input jack. I can't remember the system RIC used to date guitars back then. I'm sure someone here knows this info and will be glad to pass it along.BTW, welcome to the forum. I'm sorry about your dad, I lost mine 11 years ago and it still hurts,but that's another story.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 2:00 pm

Late 70's/early 80's.