1982 4001S B series bass anyone?

[opticnerve]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321015445476?ss ... 1438.l2649

This bass appears to be identical to the one in the add, except that it has wavy Grovers.

It's a set neck & probably a prototype or test bass.

Pretty neat.

[libratune]

Good catch, Tony!

Funny that they are both lefties.

For the files, set neck photo:

[opticnerve]

Hiya Ron,

Yup, the skunk stripe through the neck only is the givaway from the front view. I think that in the beginning of the B series, all Ric did was to take a set neck 4000, slap a toaster in...& ta-da, you have a Vintage B Series dot neck bass.

I did a little research & all the other B Series basses I found were neck throughs. Notice in the ad, they call it a 4003SB. It should be a neck through right?

I'm thinking that this one and the one in the ad must have been from the same early batch.

[bassduke49]

The text of the chapter on the mysterious "B series" bass in my book is a summation of a lot of guesswork. Recently, a page from a Japanese catalog listed on eBay shows this same bass (or one just like it) and is labeled "4001SB." It dates from 1981. It is my guess that the first "B series" basses were leftover inventory of set-neck 4001S (or 4000 - same chassis) with a Toaster slapped on. When they ran out of 4001S, they used (then new in 1982) 4003S basses. When John Hall bought the company in 1984, he killed off the "B series" instruments and started up the more historically accurate "V series." The trouble with identifying a "real" B series bass is that you can't reliably distinguish one from a 4001S or 4003S that has had a Toaster added by the owner. There's no telling how many were made of each type, and there is also evidence that some were equipped with dual outputs (Standard and Rick-O-Sound). Confusing? Oh, yes.

[opticnerve]

I asked the seller & this one has a mono jack, as would be expected.

The couple of 4003SB's that I've seen have dual jackplates...also as would be expected.

Someone here should grab this. Is John Simmons in the house?