Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The blue one is mine, The black one belongs to a friend of mine.

Need to make good shots of following couple sometime. Both MID/BT. Both mine.The almost purple one is an FL.

Great basses Bert! I'm a big fan of MID at all times, but with BT it just seems to look a bit more "dangerous".

The massive difference in hue between your two MID basses is an eye-opener. I've heard there was variation over the years, but the FL is so dark as to be almost JG.

And your friend's JG BT is just plain cool....

antipodean wrote: The massive difference in hue between your two MID basses is an eye-opener. I've heard there was variation over the years, but the FL is so dark as to be almost JG.

The darker, almost "purplish" blue, could be Indigoblue, a color available in the Register. I have a guitar in that color and it photographs almost black indoors. I took it outside and got the "blue" to show:

My 4003S with BT but different pickups.

libratune wrote: The darker, almost "purplish" blue, could be Indigoblue, a color available in the Register.

More important, was it available by Rickenbacker? I only see 2 items in the register having this color. I suspect a mixup by those who added these items to the register.

wow theres some lovely basses here, more to come i hope. I must admit i have a love hate relationship with BT. My 4003 MB BT is my first and only rick, and was bought because of availability rather than trim option. Sometimes i just wish i had a more retro looking rick, like JG or FG with white binding. However it defiantly is one mean *** bass. At the moment it is strung up with TI flats, so my theory is to keep it like that, and eventually get another rick to string with round wounds.
I love the look of BT with standard chrome finished pups. BUt it's got me thinking, what about BT basses with black toasters and HS's. Do they even exist?

Here is my 1982 4001 MGBT Black trim was added by previous owner Love the look of the BT on MapleGlo.

ricky22 wrote:wow theres some lovely basses here, more to come i hope. I must admit i have a love hate relationship with BT. My 4003 MB BT is my first and only rick, and was bought because of availability rather than trim option. Sometimes i just wish i had a more retro looking rick, like JG or FG with white binding. However it defiantly is one mean *** bass. At the moment it is strung up with TI flats, so my theory is to keep it like that, and eventually get another rick to string with round wounds.
I love the look of BT with standard chrome finished pups. BUt it's got me thinking, what about BT basses with black toasters and HS's. Do they even exist?

The one I posted below had black neck higain and a black cover higain in the bridge also.

I have seen one black horseshoe pickup on ebay.

ricky22 wrote:it's got me thinking, what about BT basses with black toasters and HS's. Do they even exist?

Toasters were pretty much gone as standard issue by 1973, just before the BT option became available in 1974 or so. For basses, toasters have only been used since then for neck position p/ups on reissue basses, like the 4001V63, etc. Even the Blackstar and the Shadow models have hi-gains in the neck position, not toasters. IMO, if there is a black toaster cover out there, it was not a RIC factory issue.

Not very common but very black!

This was a a badly modded '76 4001 when I got it a few years ago. It had a mudbucker neck pup, no finish, screwed rods, and a purple (yes, purple pickguard). I re-done it into a "psuedo" model 4000.
It turned out pretty cool. I eventually sold it to our own Paul W.

[quote="libratune"]Red, White and Blue:
It just occurred to me that this little collection of "BT" Rick basses was assembled entirely from post-consumer recycled 4003 material obtained from Forumites. Blue Boy, Tractor Guy and Comanche each contributed. The flag was my idea.

cheyenne wrote:This was a a badly modded '76 4001 when I got it a few years ago. It had a mudbucker neck pup, no finish, screwed rods, and a purple (yes, purple pickguard). I re-done it into a "psuedo" model 4000.

4001-4000.jpg

It turned out pretty cool. I eventually sold it to our own Paul W.

It is a cool bass. Plays very well and a looker that I have not taken a spray gun to--yet...

Tuxedo:
Redneck:
Blackstar:
Five-string 'quasi-Blackstar':
Granted, these don't have binding, but I love the BT on them!

Put them together and you have the Triumvirate: