Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Nice bass, Dave! i got my '64 4001-s in Toronto as well as my ''68 and '70 4001 deluxes. I know of a '66 4001-s fireglo at Yonge and Eglington. My '64 was originally fireglo but some moron painted it '57 chevy blue... strings, chrome, and all!
When i stripped it i went clear coat for a few years before settling on black. It's in our "stand tall" vid on youtube. Good luck on your restore!

yeah! Killer Dwarfs! R-A-W-K.

Welcome, Ron! Nice 4001 you have.

Welcome Ron or should I say welcome back!

Looks like a time warp with a V63 before they were made.

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:nice bass, dave ! i got my '64 4001-s in toronto as well as my ''68 and '70 4001 deluxes. i know of a '66 4001-s fireglo at yonge and eglington . my'64 was originally fireglo but some moron painted it '57 chevy blue... strings, chrome, and all !
when i stripped it i went clear coat for a few years before settling on black. it's in our "stand tall" vid on youtube. good luck on your restore !

Oh those '80s were brutal. How's the hair (and 64) holding up?

Hey Ron, its cool that you chimed in. I remember seeing the Dwarfs several times. In fact, one of the things that always had me jonesing for a Ric when I was younger was that tiger-striped 4001 on the back of one of the early LPs!

So... Yonge & Eglinton... Think he's interested in selling?

The tiger striped one was the previous bassist on the first lp. That bass lives in London Ontario with Jamie Ricket as he was a fan of the band and had us over for dinner with his family many times. I've put a bug in the ear of the '66 owner many times, still to no avail.

Do not praise my '64 as it was in sad shape when I got it...but when I looked at the jack plate in the store ...my eyes popped out and rolled down the street! Chris Squire here I come I said gleefully! The only thing original on it was the bridge and the keys. Everything else I put on it. I made the guard from scratch, bought a v63 pickup assembly from Mr. Hall in Oct of '85 for $150.00. I used the pickup for a few months with and without shoes, but did not like the tone. I the put in a set of pickups from a '73 #md code natural deluxe which had the toaster. I modified the v63 surround to look more scalloped like Squires, then painted it off white. I didn't like that so I stripped it down except the white at the headstock. I then clear coated it a la McCartney for a year. Then I decided to only paint the body black and left the neck clear with the white on the headstock.

The headstock was completely replaced down to the third fret as the original one fell off literally during a gig in Newfoundland (always carry a second bass!). It was 3/4 cracked when i bought it. Monty Egan from Toronto, who moved to Orangeville Ontario, had done a fantastic job using a scarf joint and picked out some nice padauk for the wings. I modified the original bridge by milling it to accept a post '73 saddle assembly for intonation purposes. Round wounds need a longer scale adjustment as you can see that Squire had pulled his bridge back a bit to get the intonation(slight gap in front of the string damper). My bass rocks and anyone who plugs it in my SVT's and compares their Rick to it...their eyes widen! I love those '73 pickups.

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote: i the put in a set of pickups from a '73 #md code natural deluxe which had the toaster. my bass rocks and anyone who plugs it in my svt's and compares their rick to it...their eyes widen ! love those '73 pickups.

Very interesting history of your bass Ron. Thanks for sharing. It's great that it went to someone who loves it, knows how to keep it up and running, and is willing to play it!

I have a '73 (MG code = July), and it mysteriously sounds really good too! Do you favor the neck pickup or the bridge pickup? I'm more of a bridge pickup guy, but I blend in some neck too usually.

And welcome, btw. It's great to have you here.

Both '73 4001s I have/had sound fantastic! I still have the MC Mapleglo 4001, the MG FG 4001 is with a friend of mine, now.

The rear pickup is my fave but I learned how to use the neck pickup from Squire to be subtle. I learned how to use the rear pickup to its advantage from Geddy and John Wetton. I tend to punch the string down towards the pickup when I'm rockin' to get crunch and clank whether its with the fingers or pick. My rear pickup has the slotted screw poles like the '72 but with the larger magnet of '73 rivet. The toaster has the long magnets. I use dunlop nylon .88 because it's snappy sounding...not too thick which removes top end, and not too thin which has no bottom end. iI do not use two pickups at a time thru one amp as it cancels frequencies unless in stereo with two amps. Everything wide open, especially the filter cap on that rear p/u. Get it out of there! The rear pickup wants to breathe fire!

Hey, Ronbo, can I buy you some capital letters? My treat!

jingle_jangle wrote:Hey, Ronbo, can I buy you some capital letters? My treat!

Pat....I'd like to buy a vowell....

Welcome Ron,

It's great to have another top notch professional musician join the RRF. I am enjoying your posts.

winston wrote:Welcome Ron,

It's great to have another top notch professional musician join the RRF. I am enjoying your posts.

+1