Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

RE: the clear marks, is that like when the back of the truss rod cover is scraped away? I have one like this on my '71, some of the material on the back apparently was scraped off during maintenence or whenever the TRC was removed. I had a problem with that happening on my v63 reissue TRC, and I just used some model airplane paint in flat white to repair it.

Thanks, Jon. I look forward to seeing the shots of the bass.

Hey Jon - The bridge pickup cover is a bit weird eh? I've never seen anything like it on another RIC bass. It doesn't look like any Late 70's cover I've ever seen - perhaps it was a transition piece between the horeshoe era and the later lower profile pickup covers.
I forgot to mention the two marks in the truss rod cover in my original post, but figured it was due to the truss rods scrapping against the cover. Just another reason why I think the neck is suspect.

Gene, yes that is exactly what I mean. You will see the marks in the picture(s) of the bass (I took four). I need to res them down to fit onto Peter's server. I believe the max image size is 500 x 500 pixels per photo. I'm on it!

The owners of this store are good friends of mine, after I left the store I called them and asked them to remove the pickguard and truss rod cover for me and take pictures. I want to see if any additional routing has been done to the body and to see if the truss rod ends are still straight and in good condition. They told me they will take the pictures tomorrow and email them to me.

They also confirmed that the bass is in on consignment and not store inventory.

Are you sure that pickguard is original? It looks too white and opaque for that year. My '74 is somewhat translucent.

With the number of mods this has, and the suspect neck, I think the price is a little on the high side. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics though.

I've sent the photos of the bass to Peter to have him re-size them and post them here for me. I was losing to much detail. I must warn all, that the photos are not very good in my opinion.

Steve, I have seen other bridge p/u covers that seem extra large like the one on this bass. But they were on early 4003.
The arch over the strings is huge. I did capture it in one of the photos.
I never seen one like this on a early 70's 4001 before.

There is also one other thing that I noticed about the bass. Once Peter has posted the photos and everyone has had a opportunity to check them over, let's see if anyone else mentions another component that might not be original to this bass.
My money is on Sergio to catch it.

Jeff I questioned the pickguard myself. I was told that the "owner of the bass claims that the bass is 100% original".
We know that statement is incorrect, don't we.
The pickguard on my 73 4001 is really clean, but this one makes mine look like it's 2nd hand.
I suspect the pickguard is non-original.

Now I'm really curious, Jon.

Here is a photo from Jon. I will try to add some more tomorrow.

And one of the headstock.

Is that a raised-letter TRC??
I'm beginning to suspect we are looking at a 1970/1971 4001 with a post-mid-1973 bridge, a post-mid-1975 nameplate, an early 1972 jackplate, a post-1972 pickguard... Wow, must be pretty rare and valuable!

Correction: from what Jon said, it's an old-style TRC. But the handrest is mid to late 70s! I'm curious to see the rest of Jon's pics.

So how much is it in US dollars?

A couple more of the 1972 Model 4001.

Confirmedly, bridge and handrest are not original to the bass. Strap buttons are not original parts. Treble pickup, the smaller magnet (not shown) and its aluminum baseplate appear to be original to the bass. As for the pickguard, I don't know what to make of it.
Jon, I wonder which part on this 4001 you are referring to as maybe not original to it.