Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Bummer; my FL fingerboard dots are as ordinary white as can be and reflect nothing. Strangely, though; the truss rod buzzing I asked about back in the spring has gone away on its own. That's a good thing.

The dot inlays on my 4003L are very white, not as pearly as the ones in my 4001FL, slightly smaller as well. The camera flash washes out the some of the pearly look of these. I like the way the white dots look with the white binding, pickguard and TRC.

bassduke49 wrote:Here's that shot of the "delux" 4000. No telling how many were made this way, but it's likely an experiment along the way to make the modern "delux" 4001. Note that it has the old style pickguard, but the "new" larger upper body horn. This would place it about 1961-62.

Could it have been earlier? Say, prior to Summer 1960? Those two 360 pictured below are both lacking the 5th knob.

Don't know when they went to the larger horn, but the earliest I've seen (in photo) was a '62. I think they started the 4001 in '61, although I've never seen one from that year. I've concluded that the 4001 was introduced with the larger horn. It could be that the bass in this photo is relatively new, and the guitars are not quite as new, yes?

Paul, could be, but that pic is most likely from a Trade Show. I wonder if they'd have two year old guitars pictured with a newer bass. OTOH, those Capris may have owned by two guys playing them. You're probably right!