Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Oh yeah! That's a keeper!

Rod, she cleaned up beautifully and looks great. Congrats.

As to the NAT and FG, I'm only guessing they marked all nice maple as NAT and when FG was needed, would change it and spray the paint. Not sure what the 4001a would mean.

I've read recently somewhere that letters next to the model number inside the cavity indicate a production batch for work flow in the factory? You know, like "today we apply the clear coat to all the "A" instruments in the shop. Tomorrow the "B," etc. That would make sense, anyway.

Sweet! One of the cleanest I've seen!

That is incredible ! Jaw dropping! All the goodness of that
era...
Great, now I need another.... and I just got number 4 today!

WOW!!!!! That bass is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!! I love it.

Enjoy your new bass and NEVER put it down.


Lefty4003s8








Do not drink from the toilet when taking Lyrica

Very nice bass mate, well done!

If it weren't for the chequered binding I would have swore it was a recent 4003 (ok apart from the vintage knobs and finger rest!) The fingerboard looks very nice, it seems quite dark and reddish for that era, my 78 is very light in colour and the mop inlays are a lot whiter than on mine which are almost ivory in colour.

What do you think of the Toaster neck pickup as opposed to the high gain type?

I've always preferred the toasters both for sound and looks. I installed toasters on the later model 4001 basses I used to own. I think the key difference in sound is the combination of fewer windings and the location of the pickup 1/2" from the neck, rather than 1" on later 4001's.

I tried a toaster on mine but I couldn't make my mind up which I preferred and I ended up putting the old high gain back on!

To my ears the high gain has a lot more depth and punch but the toaster had more clarity?

Baker69 wrote:I tried a toaster on mine but I couldn't make my mind up which I preferred and I ended up putting the old high gain back on!

To my ears the high gain has a lot more depth and punch but the toaster had more clarity?

...your late '70ies 4001 also has the "modern" higain bridge PU, hence the regular toaster might be a bit underpowered.
For that reason I did our Sérgion let wind me some old higain neck PU as a toaster for high output to fit to my early '70ies bridge PU (slotted pole pieces, huge magnet bar). Now this is a perfect match.

No, my '78 has the older type of bridge pick up with the non-adjustable pole pieces so is not the 'high gain' version. I did measure the impedence the once but can't recall what it was, possibly 7.35? Re-issueToaster was a bit higher at 8. something.

Baker69 wrote:No, my '78 has the older type of bridge pick up with the non-adjustable pole pieces so is not the 'high gain' version.

Is the magnet on it skinnier than the bobbin, or around the same width or slightly wider than the bobbin?

jps wrote:

Baker69 wrote:No, my '78 has the older type of bridge pick up with the non-adjustable pole pieces so is not the 'high gain' version.

Is the magnet on it skinnier than the bobbin, or around the same width or slightly wider than the bobbin?

Don't know, I would need to dismantle to check. It's fitted with a pickup fill/bezel so I can't see very much of the pickup.

Baker69 wrote:No, my '78 has the older type of bridge pick up with the non-adjustable pole pieces so is not the 'high gain' version. I did measure the impedence the once but can't recall what it was, possibly 7.35? Re-issueToaster was a bit higher at 8. something.

Sorry about my less accuracy: There have been two higain neck PU versions in the '70ies:
1) the early one (directly after the toaster) with unpainted mushrooms
2) the later one (starting about 1976?) with a thick layer of black paint, that easily cracked or broke of at some areas
First one was rather strong and the second one more moderate.
My 1974 4001 had the early neck higain with 9.6 kOhms and Sérgio had to wind hard to get an equivalent bridge PU for me!
Writing of "modern" I did not mean the adjustable (allen wrench) pole piece one, that is the "recent" one in my eyes.
In the '80ies the late '70ies version of the neck PU was carried on in production, but quite some variation in impedance can be expected (you already give 7.35 for your '78 model).

I think there might be even more than that. My '71 and '73 have different magnets in the bridge pickup, different colored bobbins, lower output on the '71.