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Re: 64 4001S sold by Andy Baxter

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:38 am
by jps
The pickguard has a 45º bevel to the edges, and looking at the TRC again I think it may be a RI TRC.

Re: 64 4001S sold by Andy Baxter

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:02 am
by teeder
I'd really like to see the body routings. Would bet they are "non-factory".

Re: 64 4001S sold by Andy Baxter

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:29 pm
by FabGearHead
I checked this bass out a few years back and there were many odd aspects to it. No, I'm not a vintage Rick historian, but when you have had them apart for repair or restoration, one can become familiar with various factory changes in regard to the manufacturing process. The biggest issue for me at the time I held it was the volute and the stripe. There was an unusual look and feel to the volute which immediately brought to my mind, "why would they add this complexity to a straight forward design"?

The stripe is something I had always associated with a glued in neck on early Ricks. The finish work was well done, though the shading was not in keeping with other Ricks I had seen from this period. The truss rod cover is not from the early 60's as they had more of an arch and were a bit shorter. The pickguard is obvious...


Jim

Re: 64 4001S sold by Andy Baxter

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 12:06 am
by chefothefuture
Oh God! Has this bad plate of Ropa Vieja grepped up again?!?!?

This might have had a pretty ugly volute on the neck as well.
Somebody(a seller) said years ago "Oh yes, a very rare Rickenbacker feature"…. NOT!

Frets are pretty large, TRC is too large (they did have Made in USA on them in '64).

Maybe this was some creative luthier's save of an unplayable instrument…..

RUN AWAAAYYYY!!!!!!!

Re: 64 4001S sold by Andy Baxter

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 3:43 pm
by wints
I'm still waiting back for a reply to my mail, so it may be a little longer before I can join the dots.

These are much better pix than the originals I had some 10 years ago. I have a theory that the volute is a repair by the same guy in the UK who did my green RM1999, as well as Lemmy's bass shown in a video with John Hall. As The Chef states, these repairs managed to keep the neck stable enough to be used.

The stripe is more confusing. This is the only bass from this period that I have ever seen that has this feature and one tends to think that it was considerably rebuilt at some point, again to strengthen the neck. How much is original? Well, as Teed mentioned, a good look at the routs would help. So, rebuild, refin, refret,...but it's still here! Anyone know the selling price? :lol:

And yes, what appears to be tail lift on a pre '73 casting? I haven't seen that before! :shock: