Need help dating my New Rickenbacker 4001

[rickenbrother]

I also think it's a really nice score, espcecially for the price. I'd leave it white and restore it to original as best I could.

[johnallg]

John, those routs are factory - sometimes they are longer on the body side of the pickup rout. Hand made.

[opticnerve]

Hi Mike,

Great deal you got there!

Can we get a better shot of the headstock/tuners, front and back?

The tuners look to me like they may be '60s vintage.

[aceonbass]

Once the body wing or wings are removed to re-glue them, the bass will need a refin anyway. Those are definitely the old style blue .047 tone caps under the guard. That late model C64S horseshoe pickup with the "bent" shoes that just sold on Ebay would have looked real good on this bass. Especially for the relatively low price of $600.00. Other than the body wing removal, this bass looks like an easy restoration.

[brycycle]

UNREAL deal - i always miss the good local steals...enjoy it - and i hope you can bring it back to it's former glory.

i've got a pretty decent parts box, and am local, so drop me a line if you need any help.

[7CardStud]

The finish looks pretty poorly done the more I look at it so on she goes on the weekend for a re-fin to Fireglo or natural. Here's the headstock shots front and back. Looking at the wing separation, I bet it was caused by the previous owner hammering a block of wood into the bridge cavity to accommodate a cheap fender bridge...why, who knows?!?!

[86kubicki]

I only saw it this morning but my desperate e-mail was obviously to no avail! Very nice score Mike! I'd say its worth investing a bit to have this properly restored - you don't see many late 60's 4001s around. Like Bryce, I'm in the GTA area, and would be willing to offer whatever assistance you might need to get this bass back into shape.

[7CardStud]

UNREAL deal - i always miss the good local steals...enjoy it - and i hope you can bring it back to it's former glory.

i've got a pretty decent parts box, and am local, so drop me a line if you need any help.

Hey Brycycle, I just PM'd you. I jumped on this craigslist add minutes after it was posted and said sold, here's my number, call me I'm on my way. Raced 50km through rush hour both ways. I've bought and sold over a hundred guitars/basses in my 37 years of guitar/bass playing and this one is a top 3 deal for sure, one that I'm shocked was still available to me by the time I got there! Normally when you see a deal this good a bidding war has erupted by the time you get there.

[86kubicki]

Its such a good deal, you feel guilty (almost!). Is there a story behind the sale Mike? (no worries if you want to keep it private).

[7CardStud]

I only saw it this morning but my desperate e-mail was obviously to no avail! Very nice score Mike! I'd say its worth investing a bit to have this properly restored - you don't see many late 60's 4001s around. Like Bryce, I'm in the GTA area, and would be willing to offer whatever assistance you might need to get this bass back into shape.

Appreciate the offer. All I think I need parts wise is an original vintage bridge & pickguard. I'm not 100% sure the bridge pickup isn't original based on some of the photos I've seen of similar vintage models. I gave a great repairman/refinisher who is also a top builder in the area that has agreed to do the repairs & refin...he's a close friend of one of my best friends so who you know certainly helps here I'm actually capable of doing these repairs and a decent re-fin myself as I've done the same on several low end guitars...but this one deserves a top pro restoration IMO.

[7CardStud]

Its such a good deal, you feel guilty (almost!). Is there a story behind the sale Mike? (no worries if you want to keep it private).

I knew it was a good deal as soon as I saw the ad, but I had no idea of the value of the bass as I had to act quick. It was a girl in her 20's selling it and she listed it at 300 bucks. I was sure that it was worth that no matter the condition...hell I figured a setneck copy would be worth that! I jumped first and researched later. I'll end up with an absolutely gorgeous refinished appreciating bass for around 900 bucks I figure. It probably will be worth over 1700 bucks the day I get it back from restoration by my guestimate.

The girl selling it was a punk rock bass player who got the bass from her father who was likely the original owner. She was happy with the cash and even happier that the bass was going to someone who would restore it to it's former glory and cherish it...both of which I will do!

Like the bass wasn't a good enough deal, she included a Fender hardshell case. I'm thinking it's a recent case...wrong again, it looks to be a near mint late 60's case! If so, it's worth close to my purchase price for the bass! Bottom line is I wasn't looking to rip her off, I bought it on the assumption that it was a good deal for both of us, little did I know how good it was for me after doing a little research. The good thing is I will treat the bass right and restore it as close to original as possible and likely keep it for the rest of my life...much better than if she had sold it to some punk who wanted to modify it with a chainsaw and a bag of nails

[jamespaul71]

is the fretboard separating? The shot of the truss rods looks like there may be issues.

[7CardStud]

is the fretboard separating? The shot of the truss rods looks like there may be issues.

Ya, I've considered that. It goes out for repair tomorrow so I'll find out in a few days...

[johnallg]

I'm not 100% sure the bridge pickup isn't original based on some of the photos I've seen of similar vintage models.

We all thought somewhere in 1968 was when the magnetic horseshoe bridge pups changed to the high gain pickup like on your bass, but as we all know nothing is firm when talking about Ricks. It is also known that basses with production issues were put aside and finished at a later date so it is possible this one got it's jackplate/serial number in November '67 but the pickup was later deemed bad and it was changed out when the high gains were introduced in '68 and then shipped from the factory.

[cheyenne]

Maybe you could remove one of the keywinds and scrape a little paint off the inside of the hole and see if it had walnut wings?