4000 for the 21st Century...

henny · Post by **henny** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 8:17 am

A variation of the 4000-series body, accomodating for the whims of 21st century design. Rounded, more aesthetically dynamic horns, curved face body and the most notible difference - the button point at the bottom end of the body.

Modern HBs with a Toaster, passive of course. When it came to the headstock, I tried many different styles. Nothing worked. The current 4000 headstock has to be the snazziest-looking design feature of any bass, ever. Thus, I kept it on my fictional Ric bass thunder axe.

Dot board for simplicity, and standard Schaller Deluxe tuners.

Lovely.

Myself and some of the guys at the university wood shop are thinking of making it, probably next year.(!)They have it as a project to go towards their grade, I get to play it!

Naturally, it shall not have a genuine RIC TRC. I don't wish to impune Rickenbacker.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 8:24 am

henny · Post by **henny** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 8:29 am

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 9:27 am

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 9:31 am

how about...

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 10:03 am

Something is different here! Who designed this? The Rickenbacker 4000 Iceman C64!

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 10:07 am

That is exactly what I was thinking. It is sort of an upside-down Iceman.

henny · Post by **henny** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 11:43 am

Ah well, thought it'd be interesting to show you guys, anyway - however critical the feedback.

I worked rather hard on it, see.

Nevermind.

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:04 pm

It's a tough crowd to please Henny - you may not see much support when tinkering with the classics! My feeling is that the 4004 series are already a nice update to the traditional 4003. I do like the idea of a curved top though. A 4004 with a curved top and corresponding hollowed out back (similar to a Spector) would be interesting.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:18 pm

Actually, I was not being critical or unkind. I rather liked the Iceman and have considered using elements of it's shape for one of my own projects. Your design is original and decidedly more Rick-like than the Iceman. The Iceman shape is merely the first thing that came to mind when I saw your images. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to the shape not an assessment or criticism. Is it drawn to scale?

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:38 pm

Nice work Henny! What type of wood are you planning to use? Do me one and give it walnut wings!

cheers!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:55 pm

I too, was not being critical, cynical maybe, but not critical! The Iceman was a very original design that was creative and not a copycat. The only criticism I will give, however, is that the headstock looks too large in relation to the body mass.

I like the plywood look to the headstock, reminiscent of the Parker Fly Bass!

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:59 pm

"The /strike 'current'/ 4000 headstock has to be snazziest-looking design feature of any bass, ever."
I couldn't agree more, but the same goes for the (4000) body too, so why try and change it?

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:00 pm

My mother always told me that if I couldn't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:50 pm

Yes, the headstock is scaled up a bit for the rest of the drawing. After measuring the distance from the nut to the center of the bridge saddles (which should be about 33 1/4 inches) the headstock would figure to be about 9 /12 inches long. The large 4000 series headstocks measure about 8 1/2 " in length.