Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Gene, I think Peter Levett is right on the money about the TRC; the 'made in USA' on your bass's TRC was a detail that was moved between the two screws near the nut about 1968 or so, and also the model designation of '4001' would be on it for basses of that vintage (1971)..

Here's one to look at...


The one on your bass has the contours of a V-Series 12-string IMO, but it looks great on your 21 fretter.

John Simmons,
to answer your question, yes a lot of the back of the bass has this overspray, and you can even see it forming sort of a "border" between the front edge of the headstock and the back. About the TRC, it could not be a reissue, this bass was all so old when I bought it, it is really hard for me to believe that it isn't original. I don't think it'd been touched in years when I got my paws on it... I'm not sure that the TRC were maybe as uniform during that time period as they are now, and I compared it with my '73 and they look quite similar, it has that Lexan glassy look to it that doesn't seem to show very well in pics, and my v63s don't have that look to them. I bought the bass in Montana, it was a bass that had sat at a grandmas house, only driven hard when grammas metal band grooved hard....

Here is my March 1971, only a month apart from the one in question..

Hmm... Is the TRC on the March 1971 4001 period-accurate?... It sure doesn't look like it is to me...

This may not be "period correct" TRC, but I've been a fan of these things for a loooooong time, and handled a bunch of them, and it is a vintage TRC, absolutely no question about it, it looks very much like the ones on my 1973 bass. There is absolutely NO WAY that this is a reissue TRC, and if you could look at it and handle it you would recognize it. Someone (he once worked for Rickenbacker) on this site once told me there was NO WAY that Rickenbacker made metal covers with the very first understring bridge units, but I SAW the transition when it happened back in the early 70s, and OWNED one of the metal units, but until John Hall himself came on this site and backed me up, nobody even took it seriously. Now I don't know if this TRC got on my bass as a replacement, because I happen to know that those old TRCs were quite brittle, maybe the TRC on my bass is OLDER than what should be on there, but I've seen plenty of REAL vintage TRCs and they look somewhat different than the reissues.

Gene: Not to add fuel to your 'fire', but I will add that (IMO) the TRC could be pre 1968 as well. I'll agree in that it could be 60's vintage rather than a re-issue. I just don't think it's original to the bass. Just a friendly observation, nothing to get ****** about...I hope not anyway.

'67 330/12


And yours..

doctorwho wrote:

teeder wrote:I'll give you $1.98, Gene!

I'm sure Gene would sell it to you for that ... but shipping will be $6998.12!

On topic, instruments such as this with minor fixes and changes are problematic as to pricing ... how much do those 'flaws' knock down the price? Of course, supply and demand can overcome any 'shortcomings' when it comes to establishing a price.

Some guy in England actually painted one of these things yellow once. I wonder how far that drove the price down!

Just kidding, Gary! How's that nicely aged white 4003 doing these days?

(I thought people were supposed to be nicer this time of year )

Gene: Nice bass BTW. It would seem that it will sell in the 5K - 7K ball park. Not bad when you think what it cost new and it's seen a bit of 'life'.

Gene: The TRC is most definitely from a 12 string Rick, the shape of the top part above the Rickenbacker name is not one smooth curve but has a dip in it which I have only seen on 12 stringers. I am sure it is vintage as you clearly state it was on the bass long before reissues started being produced, that is not being questioned here.

Gene,

You have heard from some of the most knowledgeable folks here on the forum. They are only trying to give you an informed, true to life picture of your bass. The TRC (period correct or not) is an easy thing to fix and the only impact on price is a few hundred dollars.

The bottom line is that it is a rare, sweet bass. Most any bass from this period that has been played will show some kind of ware.

Have a Merry Christmas and best of luck on whatever you decide to do.

Just to throw this out there......unless someone is the original purchaser of a bass and it has never left their possession, only then can they be sure that all the parts are original to that bass. For an extreme example, I have five basses from the first six months of production in 1973. I could take parts off of any of them and swap them around, even the jack plates with the s/n's. If they were subsequently sold off, the buyers would think they had period correct parts on their "new to them" bass. The types of parts that appeared on the first six months of 73 differed due to the transition period and while some parts would be period correct, they would still not be correct for that particular bass if swapped around.

Gene, if you're reading, no hard feelings man. Just wanted to help. Good luck to you.

Now I know why John got my bass for $1000.00! It was the "period correct" TRC and pickguard that wasn't original.

Gene,

There are a lot of us here and all we want to do is help man. Myself, John Simmons and a few others go back many years, and have known you here for a long time. We're just trying to answer some questions about a very interesting bass, and that's it.

On the TRC issue, I think it's a vintage 60's 12 string, which could well be original to this bass, even though the other 71's I have seen look like Tony's. YMMV here as we all know.

Again, good luck with sale. I hope you can continue posting as a long standing member.