Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mine is defnitely a genuine 4003SB guaranteed!

Mine too, but I also added the vintage knobs and a Pickguardian one-piece, vintage cut pickguard.

::

One for sale on E-bay Uk
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rickenbacker- ... 27e39eaea8

Hi Mark, that's a standard 4003s, not a "B" model.

Hmm, it has twin outputs, There is confusion over what exactly the SB was and if they all had toasters, some had toasters, some had groovers, some did not.
It was not a good time for Rick basses Market wise and it was only when the latest 4003 with right way round rods and hi-gain pick ups they got back to the market.
Ricks sell best as a bespoke hi quality hi finish item, any effort to cheapen them never works.
Do wish we would see the 4003's return to the line up,

That was the "problem" with the "B" model bass. The only thing that differentiated it from a standard "S" model was (apparently) the Toaster-top pickup. The rest were moving targets as far as identifying features go. With very little "research" to go on, and very few definite examples in the field to examine, I determined (educated guess, really) that the "B" model started out with leftover set-neck 4001S models off the shelf with a substitution of the Toaster pickup. Indeed, an early ad for the Japanese trade showed a Toaster-equipped, shedua (skunk) strip, set-neck lefty and labeled it as a "4001SB." The American magazine ad also showed a (probably the same one) lefty 4001S and labeled it a 4003SB (which it clearly was not). Likely, later "B" models were made with the then-new 4003S chassis. At this time (early '80s) RIC had Grover tuners and the older "reverse" Klusons and seemed to use them at random (but always in sets, of course) on basses of the era. The occasional inclusion of the dual normal/Rick-O-Sound outputs is puzzling, though.

Enter John Hall. The new CEO didn't like the "vintage" attempt and started a much more "vintage" version, the 4001V63 (1984-2002). This bass featured the then-new "reissue Horseshoe" pickup, and settled on the then-new Rickenbacker labeled Schaller tuners. Other improvements were the vintage style bridge-pickup surround, deeper pickguard, returning the (reissue) Toaster pickup to the 1/2" position, and a vintage-style back-painted acrylic truss-rod cover. Now consistency was achieved and a much more "accurate" vintage model was born. True, it is not totally vintage as it has the new-style truss rods and electrical components (and no .0047 microfarad cap), but at least it LOOKED like the legendary 4001S and RM 1999 that was the whole point of the "vintage" project.

Enter John Hall

Thank you, John Hall!

And mine doesn't have a toaster, but it has a 3-piece neck with a maple center.

::

baltimucho wrote:And mine doesn't have a toaster, but it has a 3-piece neck with a maple center.

::

Well, then it might not be a B, "just" a 4001S. Really no difference at that point.

For clarity, the 4003SB ONLY came in MG, NO walnut wings, NO horseshoe, yes toaster, stereo (2 inputs), much wider and thicker horns, plexi nameplate, truss rod adjustment at opposite end of neck, one piece pickguard.

The bass pictured above, is clearly a V63. It is nothing like the 4003SB (two posts back)

eddied wrote:The bass pictured above, is clearly a V63. It is nothing like the 4003SB (two posts back)

That wasn't what Kevin was saying; he was referring to the comments on the V63.

Yep, celebrating JH making the V63.

bassduke49 wrote:

baltimucho wrote:And mine doesn't have a toaster, but it has a 3-piece neck with a maple center.

::

Well, then it might not be a B, "just" a 4001S. Really no difference at that point.

Except for the neck-through and Rick-O-Sound.

::