Non-original Pickups in a 1972 4001

[STEVEJAY]

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum, as I am trying to prepare an eBay ad for my 1972 4001.

I want some advice as to the likely impact on the value as it does not have the original pickups, I restored the guitar and reinstalled new Ricky pups in the 90's along with a new stratchplate.

I noticed the restriction on new member posting into the Marketplace discussion, I don't want to disrespect any forum members given this is my first post, but I would welcome any views, opinions or advice.

For info the Bass has checkered binding, large crushed pearl inlays, Grovers, SN - LI956 and has quite abit of playing wear.

Thanking you in advance.

Steve

[jaymi]

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum, as I am trying to prepare an eBay ad for my 1972 4001.

I want some advice as to the likely impact on the value as it does not have the original pickups, I restored the guitar and reinstalled new Ricky pups in the 90's along with a new stratchplate.

I noticed the restriction on new member posting into the Marketplace discussion, I don't want to disrespect any forum members given this is my first post, but I would welcome any views, opinions or advice.

For info the Bass has checkered binding, large crushed pearl inlays, Grovers, SN - LI956 and has quite abit of playing wear.

Thanking you in advance.

Steve

Does the restoration include a new finish or just pups and scratch?

[YZZ]

Give us some more information on the restoration.
Is it just pickups and skratchplate?

[godber]

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum sir.

I'll leave the RRF bass experts to advise on value when there is more info available. I would say that whilst some cosmetic hardware changes are not a big problem for the price, the loss of the original pick-ups is likely to be more significant for the collector and the player (unless they are holding spares of course ).

What's the neck like Steve - slim and fast?

[godber]

This one in the UK has the period PUPs, but has had the fretboard & tuners replaced...at £1495 it's been on sale a long time.
http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/view_i ... temID=2538

This one is original, has nice figured maple, no walnut stripe with an astounding price...at £3250 it's been on sale a very long time.
http://newkingsroadguitars.co.uk/guitar ... REGLO.html

[badeggs]

Post some pictures if you can, that will help determine value.

The original pickguard would have had a 1/2" gap between the pickup and the neck - back when you restored it, did you find this size pickguard, or one with a 1" gap?

The original pickups for this bass would have been a toaster and a screw-top hi-gain (probably with a large magnet, as it was a late 72, but possibly the small-magnet variety). Missing both knocks the value down at least $500, depending on the condition of the rest. Rick still makes toasters but those style hi-gains are not coming back!

[rickenbrother]

Welcome to the forum, Steve.
If the body and or pickguard was not routed to accommodate the aftermarket pickups, there will be less of an impact on the value of your 4001 than if body and or pickguard was routed, which have a larger impact on the value. Any other modifications that are not easily reversible to suit the aftermarket pickups will also impact the value.
Pictures would help.

[dbriggy]

This one is original, has nice figured maple, no walnut stripe with an astounding price...at £3250 it's been on sale a very long time.
http://newkingsroadguitars.co.uk/guitar ... REGLO.html

I phoned the fella a while ago to see if he would do a deal as I have been looking for a pre '73 4001 for a while. It sold a year ago but they dont update the website!

[STEVEJAY]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Below is an extract of some of the description I plan to put on eBay..

It had been been subjected to some pointless tinkering in the past. Basically the pickups had been replaced with lifeless inaccurate copies, and the scratch plate was hand cut from white plastic??…not great.

Fortunately my guitarist friend worked for Rossetti's and they managed the distribution for Rickenbacker, so I was able to buy replacement Rickenbacker pickups and a new scratch plate (taken from the Chris Squire signature model, but we scratched off the signature as Yes were not big at the time ).

Following a re-fret we were ready to go and the Bass sounded great, and has done ever since.

I've uploaded some images into this folder. It does look to me that the top has been routed for the old pickup

http://theembers.co.uk/wordpress/ricky/

Thanks again for your help.
Steve

[bassduke49]

You may also want to know that the hole in the pickguard for the neck pickup is not aligned properly, shifted too far to the E side. The buttons on the pickup do not align with the strings but should. This will affect string response some.

[heinpete]

The extra routing in the neck PU position, clearly shows some "Precision-ising" Also the electronics have been heavily mutilated.

[henry5]

This one is original, has nice figured maple, no walnut stripe with an astounding price...at £3250 it's been on sale a very long time.
http://newkingsroadguitars.co.uk/guitar ... REGLO.html

I phoned the fella a while ago to see if he would do a deal as I have been looking for a pre '73 4001 for a while. It sold a year ago but they dont update the website!

Ah, didn't know that. I was interested in it once upon a time but couldn't get past the issue with the bridge route, and it was a lot of money.

[godber]

Nice pics. Love the Fireglo. It's a shame that the CS pickguard is wider than the original, so a true replacement won't cover the extra screw holes.

Was the neck stripped when it was re-fretted Steve?

The extra routing in the neck PU position, clearly shows some "Precision-ising" Also the electronics have been heavily mutilated.

Peter - if this was fixed, would bits of new and old Rickenbacker electronics actually affect the sound?

[rickaddict]

Cool bass...Too bad about the mods, but it's still cool.

Installing a toaster into the neck position (which is what would have been installed in a '72 4001 in the first place) would probably cure any string/pole interface issues.

[johnallg]

What Jeff said. Beautiful old FG. A player won't mind the mods, but a collector will shie away from it. It will not command top dollar either because of this. Still cool.