Is There Such A Thing As 'The One'?

[T.A.R.]

Yep - my '74 4001 is 'the one' for me....

+1

[ram]

No Iain, it's not. When I picked mine out, the sales guy and I went down to the basement of the store. I played like 6 or 8 of them by the light of a single light bulb suspended from the ceiling. Just sitting there on a crate playing them with no amplifier. When I said "I'll take this one", he said "don't you want to take a couple of them up to the showroom and play thru an amp?" I said "no, I know what they sound like, this one feels the best!" And it DID! Everything felt just right - the vibration from the body to mine, the neck in my hand... it was as if a resonance had been achieved. Thus the reason I still have it!

[heinpete]

Yep - my '74 4001 is 'the one' for me....

Is it the one with the blackened headstock wings?
...completely agree!
I had about 5 different 4001 (1978, 80, 75, 77, 74) and 4003(1983, 1988, 1997) and two 4004 (Laredo and Cheyenne),
but non of them could meet the neck and resonance of my 1974 4001(also red dots, serial no. NE). Now after Pauls '68-conversion and refin also from the looks.

[henry5]

Yeah. It's true. Guitars made out of wood all have the characteristics of the actual wood that goes into making them. No matter how carefully the factory tries to make them all the same, the differences in the actual pieces of wood will cause differences in the instrument. Some will just "speak" to you. Others can come close, but there are those that just have that extra something that makes them special...

+1, and I too believe that it will probably be a different bass for everybody. For me, it's this, my Feb '72. It just has a warmth, growl and complexity, whilst retaining that vintage Ric tone, that I haven't come close to anywhere else. I have friends who are also Ric fans/owners who've played it and who prefer their 4001s/4003s but for me, this is The One.

When I first played it in the shop I bought it from, I knew straight away. Unfortunately I didn't have the money for it, so went away thinking "well that was the best bass I've ever played and am ever likely to play, shame I'll never own it but knowing I've played it is a blessing in itself".

A year later I went back to the shop with my '76 Azure in hand to buy a new amp and amazingly it was still there, and what's more was on sale. I tried it against the '76, just to make sure, and it was like night and day. It was the sound I'd always heard in my head and had never been able to get. I've been searching for a near-identical (feel and soundwise) backup forever, and have never found one.

[Ric N. Backer]

Wasn't that an early song by INXS?

[Ric N. Backer]

Spectacular!

[ram]

Is it the one with the blackened headstock wings?
...completely agree!

Yep - that's the one... now has a toaster in the neck position and a horseshoe in the bridge position - super sweet sound. Mine also with red dots, serial no. NF

[antipodean]

My search for "the One" continues - the search is at least half the fun!

[glking14]

Are there any real good books on the history of the Rickenbacker bass that would include changes big and small

[cjj]

Well, Paul "bassduke49" is in the process of writing one...

Until then, you can reference this thread and its links:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=388628&hilit=#p537340

[glking14]

thanks for the link and tell Paul to put me on his wait list

[1boominrick]

I find my 4001 C64 to be "the one." It is an absolutely satisfying instrument. My son's 2009 4003 has fine sustain and is much more powerful, but my C64 has the exact sound I was looking for. It is quite different than any Rick I've played (probably 5 or6).

Can someone tell me how to add a photo on this website?

Thanks.

[jimk]

Can someone tell me how to add a photo on this website?
Thanks.

Yup. Scroll down below the box where you typed in your post. There's a box on the left that says "Filename" with a blank beside it. To the right there's another box that says "Browse." Click on it to view a list of photos on your computer. Finally click on "Add the file." If you want to add a caption, there's a box for that, too, labeled "File Comment." Hope this helps.
JimK

[jps]

Can someone tell me how to add a photo on this website?

Thanks.

faq.php#f3r3

[Lefty4001]

Yep - my '74 4001 is 'the one' for me....

Is it the one with the blackened headstock wings?
...completely agree!
I had about 5 different 4001 (1978, 80, 75, 77, 74) and 4003(1983, 1988, 1997) and two 4004 (Laredo and Cheyenne),
but non of them could meet the neck and resonance of my 1974 4001(also red dots, serial no. NE). Now after Pauls '68-conversion and refin also from the looks.

My One is my one. It's an "NE" as well, left-handed, red dots, MG, "Bryan" was on the router. I haven't found a neck that I like better. I know it was a transition year, but I'm kinda happy that it isn't an earlier model. The checkered binding seems to add to the market value, but I figure that the people building these were mostly the same (+1 year experience).

I was so tired of finding nothing to even try out in the shops (let alone pick one out of the crowd), I went to Ebay and used up a little luck. It had been treated well before I received it (30 years on from '74). I still haven't found anything hanging on the walls that I'd trade for this 4001.