Please educate me what I need to look for in a 1977 4001?

[armybass]

I am getting a great looking (from the pictures) 1977 Mapleglo 4001 in a week or so. I have had several modern Rics and am hip to the propper care and feeding of a new Ric but not so much with the older ones. I had a 74 4001 when I was 17 30 years ago but that was the only vintage Ric I have ever owned or even played. From the pictures the action looks great and the frets I can see in teh picture look good as well. It is all original save the neck pup that was replaced with a toaster. It has the white one pc pickguard, white binding and OHSC. I will post pics when she arrives. This is my dream bass. I am a Mapleglo freak and have always wanted a 70's 4001 because that is when I fell in love with them.

[jps]

I had a 74 4001 when I was 17 30 years ago but that was the only vintage Ric I have ever owned or even played.

That begs the question, was it a vintage Rick while you owned it?

[jdogric12]

78's are hit or miss... not so sure about 77's. 79's seem to be solid. Good luck! if you're buying long distance, a reputable store may be better than a CL or ebay deal in case you need that recourse.

[dricard]

I would check the height of the strings off of the fretboard to start (action height). If excessive, which I would call perhaps 1/4-3/8 or an inch (someone help me with metric conversion, haha) that neck adjustment would be needed by someone who knows about Rickenbacker 4001's.

If done incorrectly, the fretboard might be damaged. Somewhere I have a picture of what can heppen if the t-rods are not adjusted correctly. The last owner of my '75 damaged the neck very slightly, there are cross hatch cracks in the finish right where the neck binding and fretboard intersect. I would look for cracking in the finish right near the nut in the region I described to get an idea if this has happened.

Thanks