Fretless 4002 on the 'bay!

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:28 pm

David: Sure!

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 8:31 pm

Here is a head to head comparison between my 4002 and the Swiss bass. There are some factory differences between them. The Swiss bass is more like a 70's 4001 in the way the neck and body meet. My bass is a '79. Perhaps the 4002 evolved or maybe they are all different. Here are the pics.

Here you can see the way the fingerboard was extended and it is apparent that the old fingerboard is still there.

Here is mine from a similar angle for comparison. Notice how close the bottom side of my fingerboard is to the level of the body compared with the Swiss bass. That is a factory difference.

Ahem, Yes, the new fingerboard is just a bit thicker than the original. This is probably why the tailpiece was changed. The Rick tailpiece could not be adjusted high enough to clear this. With an ebony fingerboard this thick, who needs truss rods?!

Compare the nut heights. Note the slight delamination of the fingerboards on the Swiss bass. Is this from improper trussing? Another factory difference is the way the headstock binding tapers toward the nut. Mine has a short taper and the Swiss bass has a much longer taper.

The 4002 fingerboard is bound. There is no binding present on the Swiss bass so I suspect that it was removed with the frets and the binding channel was filled in with a rail of ebony. One way to restore this would be to take the fingerboard down to a more normal thickness and recut the binding channel. Install pearl dots, refret and rebind the fingerboard. Remove the fingerboard extension and the maple block supporting it. Have the area under the extension refin'ed

wints · Post by **wints** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 2:33 am

Ted...Thanks for some great pictures and descriptions. The comparison is valuable as we wouldn,t know the differences in this case. Interesting to see the changes between a 77 and a 79.
That board is so thick it could be the neck of an upright. It looks almost as wide as the whole of Ted,s bass neck!
Lots of information to ponder over...

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:07 am

If Ted would just throw his 4002 up with a low BIN,it would solve alot of problems.

Seriously, I have concerns over the one on Ebay. Sound and playabilty are a mystery to me on this. What else is left? Looks? I much prefer the tobacco look of Ted's.

I'm out on this one for sure.My need now is a specialty bass like an 8 or a 12 string.

Might be parting with my 4001v63FG soon as well..

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:06 am

I love the wood on this one, but restoring it is going to be a real challenge, and no matter what someone does with it, it will never be original, and thus less collectable. That neck looks like a club now, and restoring the fretboard won't be easy. You'd have to refin the whole bass to get back to the original look of the coated fretboard. Pickups are another issue, as is the pickguard.

Is it any wonder I cringe any time I hear people talking about irreversable mods to their guitars, not that I am one to speak having (regrettably) done so myself.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:17 am

It may not be original but I think an uncoated ebony board would sound better and you won't have to worry about the finish getting damaged on the fingerboard. When I got my 4003FL it had roundwounds on it and even though it was virtually new there was some damage to the finish on the fingerboard already. I have flats on it now so that should minimize any further scarring. As nice as the glossy finish looks on it unfinished fingerboards are going to last much longer.

wints · Post by **wints** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:47 am

That,s the reason I would like it Jeff...Throw a set of rounds on it, and just rip it up. Get that growl with no need to worry about the original fretboard finish or anything else. It,s never going to be truly original, but still a real cool players bass.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 12:51 pm

Fixing the fingerboard would not be terribly difficult. The result would look very much like factory work. Rickenbacker only finished the sides of the 4002 fingerboard so there is no need to do any finish work on the fingerboard. The fret area of the 4002 is natural ebony with,perhaps, a bit of oil. Ebony looks better naked.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 4:03 pm

Well, my thinking is that by the time I spent the cash getting it as close to original as possible I would be into it for not that much less than an original one.

Of course, it could just be sour grapes, but I'd never admit that.