Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mike Smith - are you that UK Ricky dealer from like.....Birmingham?

Front view of Andy's green baby:



Wow, first time I see a neck "extension" in the neck pickup cavity...

Owen,
Yes he is.
Click on Mike's name and find out.

That bass could be stripped to Mapleglo - it would really be something. it looks unpainted under the tailpiece route

What intrigues me is that her upper body seems to be 2 pieces of maple laminated together...There's a 3rd straight line going parallel with the 2 lines of the neck-through piece.

Or is it the paint job that gives the illusion?
Again, lets wait for Andy to chime in.

Hey Paul, Different Andy - but I think you're right. You could see the same line in the previous pic. I just love those old ones. Wish I had one!

cheers

Yeah, the old ones possess that charisma!
I'll get me a '60s 4001 some day, hopefully....

To me, this is a prime example of why the 50,s/60,s Ric,s are one of the most interesting production periods.(The late 60,s/early 70,s are cool also..) There are always one off/different basses and guitars, which have posed quite a few questions...And of course, thanks to this forum (and a couple of others) some great answers too.. I was wondering if anyone was going to spot the unusual upper body..(who was I kidding!!)...It,s not the finish, there is a second piece of maple above the neck. This makes it a three piece body plus the neck instead of the usual two. Close up it looks like it may have come from the same piece of wood that they made the neck from, as it,s got some birdseye in it. It,s certainly different. There,s something else different about the upper horn too, apart from being narrow..I,ll see if anyone picks up (not pick ups..:-)on it. The "extension" in the toaster cavity is actually a piece of wood that has been carefully jointed to the bottom of the cavity, to give extra strength to the neck. This bass has suffered some real abuse in the past, (prior to me being it,s custodian) and looking at it sometimes makes me wonder how it made it, and didn,t end up like the large majority of the RM1999,s that warped away never to be seen again. Is it stock?? Well, as the original toaster cavity is intact (that covers both pieces of maple), and the original fireglo is present all over, then I have to presume it,s factory. The routs are identical to the other 64 I have. Moving on...The "mapleglo" finish under the bridge...No, actually Owen, it,s a compound filler that has been used to try and raise the area after someone routed too much from the bridge area...This is an aaagh..especially when you see what else they did to help keep this bass set up and playable..anyone want to see another pic..Paul, are you tired yet!!

Could it be the Ghost of 60's Rickenbakers past?
Or is it Neon Turquoise for 2004?

Andy,
From what I see, that something special about the upper horn is that the "cresting wave" doesn't come down to the body/neck joint at a steep angle like most 400X basses but rather level...It almost forms a staight line going across under the 20th fret to the lower horn.

Also, the pickup cavity seems to be rooted more on the bass side of the body too, but that might be an illusion caused by camera angle...

Just came home from a long mixdown session but I'm not tired yet. My mailbox is waiting for your next picture.

That's a "Glo-ing" V63, Steve. (I believe it's your V63 FG.)
Nice image!

Bingo Paul!

I inadvertently hit invert and was struck by that eye popping image and thought I would toss out an X-ray color for grins.

Well i for 1 would love to see more photos of that old 4001s. The old ones are always great to see

Hey, cool riffs, melodies and songs sometimes come along "inadvertently" too.

Hmm, I gotta go to bed now.
I believe Andy will send the picture along later and I'll post it after I wake up.