Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi Manuel. I started the thread after finding a picture of him playing his 4001S that I'd never seen anywhere else. It is the very first B&W image in this thread.
There are many pictures of him playing it during the Beatles, Wings, and after, but the image I have seemed fairly rare.
The guys posting about painting may want to start another thread to minimize confusion.

I know it's an old thread but...
I was looking through some old Beatles Monthlies and came across this bit of information in issue No. 69 dated April 1969.

From the Beatle News pages:

"Paint Removed

Here's a sure sign that the psychedelic "Sergeant Pepper" era is well and truly ended.
Paul recently took his Rickenbacker bass to an elderly craftsman in a Soho back-street
to have a two-year-old coat of psychedelic painting removed.

Paul chatted to the old man throughout the hour it took to strip the bright colours and smoothe
the guitar's woodwork to a plain, unpainted surface."

4001s

That was fun ! Thanks lads .

speaking of Paul:

What if...

ricky4001 wrote:

Hang on, that's not THE 4001S. You can tell because it still has the cresting wave shape of the horns intact. And the tell tale crack on the pickguard isn't there either.

I saw pictures of Macca during the Wings Era with Two Rickenbackers on stage, could the bass in this picture be that second one?

I think the confusion is when the pic was taken. Judging by the beard I would say late 1969 to maybe 1971. He had the paint removed first. Then he "trimmed" the horns.
If you look closely, you can tell this is THE one by the broken pick guard under the Tone knob.
Then he sent it back to Rick prior to the "college" tours in GB.

Check this photo around the same time (same day) with the broken pick guard...

craig55 wrote:Check this photo around the same time (same day) with the broken pick guard...

Okay I stand corrected.

That picture of Paul w/ the second 4001 is actually a 4001FL. You can hear fretless bass on some of the songs on Back to the Egg. After the Ball and Winter Rose, specifically.

leftybass wrote:That last pic taken during the LIB/Get Back sessions above shows that Paul only had the front of the bass sanded off at first, for the neck and peghead are still Fireglow. Cool.

I think the bass was sanded during the LIB sessions. He had it completely sanded in Soho. I would think that the previous picture was before the work was done. Just a guess.

In case you missed it:
From the Beatle News pages in Beatles Monthly issue No. 69 dated April 1969.

"Paint Removed

Here's a sure sign that the psychedelic "Sergeant Pepper" era is well and truly ended.
Paul recently took his Rickenbacker bass to an elderly craftsman in a Soho back-street
to have a two-year-old coat of psychedelic painting removed.

Paul chatted to the old man throughout the hour it took to strip the bright colours and smoothe
the guitar's woodwork to a plain, unpainted surface."

Also, here are some pics from the Ram sessions.

One last Ram pic.