1957 Rickenbacker 4000 Bass #7
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
I played my first early 4000 last weekend at a local guitar show. It was a treat. The bass was a 1960FG 4000 that was not for sale but belonged to a dealer who liked to use it to dress up his show table. My first impression was that it was heavy and strangely balanced. The neck had a forward cant. So like my '63, the action is a lot higher up top than down low. The neck was thin and straight and had very small fret wire. The frets appeared to be original. They were very brown and bumpy apparently from years of neglect. I noticed that the pickup bobbin was a 4 string version of the bobbin used in steel guitars at the time. So there are at least 3 generations of the original horseshoe bass pickup. Prior to that, I was only aware of the soft plastic bobbin and the screw-top type being used in horseshoes. I enjoyed my brief encounter with the ancient 4000 but I did not leave it feeling that I must have one - especially at the prices they are fetching these days.
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bassduke49
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- Joined: Wed May 14, 2003 5:00 am
Just my opinion Ted, but I think the "forward cant" on these basses is most likely from years of never having the truss rods adjusted and if someone is brave it could gradually be brought back and made playable again as I would be willing to bet they weren't made like this. I have noticed that even on the new basses when the truss rods are loosened the first thing that happens many times is instead of a bow appearing the whole neck moves forward at an angle while staying pretty flat which raises the action exactly as you have described although the neck still looks nice and straight. Have you ever tried this Ted? What do you mean Mrs. Appletree by run on sentences?
Bob: After carefully studying mine, I believe they were made that way. Now, the forward pitch to the headstock is another matter entirely. If the neck of my '63 had deflected, there would tend to be a noticeable point of deflection - possibly right around or just above the 16th fret where the neck slab thickens to form the heel. It is very unlikely that the full thickness of the neck slab would bend under string loads alone. If I lay a precise straightedge along the neck, it sits perfectly flat. So then the question would be whether it defected where the fingerboard ends at the body. If that were the case, there would likely be some separation of the body wings and neck slab evidenced by some finish damage in the area. While that has happened to many 4001s, there is no evidence that it has in this case. I could be wrong.
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vincent_gallo
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The thing is with the 1957 4000 #7. it is light, balanced and very very easy to play. It is also without any design flaw. All my 4000’s are sweet in some way or another but the #7 is up there with the greatest basses ever made and much better than my other 4000’s. They really got it right on this one.
