CNC machining is only part of it. There seemed to be a trend towards a 'larger' body style that started in '74-'75. By 'larger' I mean that the horns on the the bass bodies became thicker. This trend continued throughout the '80s on up to late '95/early '96 on the 4003/4003S models, when the the bodies once again became consistently smaller, more in line with the body shape of the '60s and very early '70s basses. All of the pictures that I've seen of the 4003S5 and S8 models of the late '90s seem to share this feature, too. This body shape change seemed to go along with a headstock shape change that happened about the same time.
Having said this, I have a '77 4002 with the smaller body horns, almost identical to those on my '97 4003. It also has a somewhat small and narrow headstock, which is also bound. But then, the 4002 is sort of an overall oddity.
Difference in size
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Greg I noticed that also, my basses range from 72 to 2000 and usually leave them in the stands, and gaze at them sometimes and that jumped out at me, especially the horns and the headstocks. The horns on my 72 are just like the horns on my 2000 4003 and my late V-63's and late 98 fireglo. I have a 96 4003 with horns and headstock very similar to my late seventies 4001's even the neck is very similar. I also had a 75 with many of the old features including the thin horns and small headstock. I haven't seen the small headstocks on anything newer than that, I'd love to see a picture of your 4002, those are rarities arond here (and everywhere I guess)