Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

It's real.

Real pain.

It looks real to me. The Fostner bit routing for the neck pickup is another giveaway. Notice how off center the truss rod routes are at the body end. I have seen that before and always thought it was odd.

PedroCarvalho wrote:Hey, first of all hello, since this is my first post ever on this forum.
Here's what, I nees your help. A friend of mine recently got what's supposed to be a carcass of an old 4001 as a gift from an old hippie guy.
He wants to sell it to me for a cheap price, because it's pretty beat with lots of missing parts.

I say $100

It's real; it's in need of a lot of work and a lot of parts. I wouldn't go more then $200 for it - it is ROUGH.

Cool, nice to know it's the real deal. I'm going to offer him 200 dollars, to be paid after I'm able to make it playable, if it ever happens.
Now, I need to work out some way to get all the necessary parts. After all, everything is out of stock at the Rickenbacker website.

In case I'm not able to find Rickenbacker pickups, are those Bartolini and Seymour Duncan "rick" pickups any good?

Thanks again.

Pedro, just be patient, I'm sure the parts will be back in stock at RIC.

I'd wait for the RIC pickups if I were you, but if I had to chose between the SD and Bartolini replacement pickups, I'd must rather have the ones from Bartolini since they don't kill the Rick tone as much as the SD's.

Just make sure that the neck pickup cavity is block filled (Use rock maple) and re-routed only as much as neccessary before that neck takes tension again....
The neck pickup routings on pre 75 basses (what this one seems to be) are too big to start with and someone has removed more wood. There is not much left holding that neck on....

Eden.

weemac wrote:Just make sure that the neck pickup cavity is block filled (Use rock maple) and re-routed only as much as neccessary before that neck takes tension again....
The neck pickup routings on pre 75 basses (what this one seems to be) are too big to start with and someone has removed more wood. There is not much left holding that neck on....

Eden.

A huge +1!! I wouldn't put strings on till that is addressed. It needs to fit totally tight also.

Pickups are always coming up for sale, and the RIC sight puts them up occasionally also. You can use guitar pickups also as they are the same except for the 6 poles vs 4 poles, but the toasters are 6 pole so you could get by with them if bass pickups are scarce. And with aluminum stock, you could make your own treble pup plate.

johnallg wrote: It needs to fit totally tight also.

Yup! Slighty tapered even!

Eden.

This definately sheds some much needed light on the case. Its real, but in real bad shape. Once restored, if you must string it up without repairing the neck route, I'd suggest TI low tension strings.

Here's a good choice:
http://www.juststrings.com/toi-jr344.html

As you can see, they have very low tension, and a really nice feel/sound.

Yay! The mystery is solved. (And Jeffy T gloats! )

Pedro- The first of your most recent batch of photos appears to show red side marker dots on the neck. Are they red? If so, we can date this carcass to 1974, as that was the only year for red side dots.

Just how much deeper is the new neck pickup route than the original part of the route?

I think this would be a perfect candidate for a Paul W restoration, but since it needs ALL new parts, its gonna get pricey.

I'd post here on the forum to look for original Rick parts and keep an eye on eBay.

What are your plans? Refinish this puppy, or keep it a beater bass?

That's right, the dots are red, so I suppose it's a '74. Good to know that.
I haven't measured the route, but I will and I'll let you know.
Unfortunately, I can't do a Paul W restoration, since I'm in Brazil, but I'm gonna try and buy all the parts on ebay and elsewhere and have it done here. Still don't know though if I'm gonna refinish it, because I actually like it when it looks beat. If I decide to sell it, I'll definitely refinish it.

Here's another question: I need a pickguard with the old style 1/2'' gap between the neck pickup and the neck, right?.

rickaddict wrote:Yay! The mystery is solved. (And Jeffy T gloats! )

Pedro- The first of your most recent batch of photos appears to show red side marker dots on the neck. Are they red? If so, we can date this carcass to 1974, as that was the only year for red side dots.

Just how much deeper is the new neck pickup route than the original part of the route?

I think this would be a perfect candidate for a Paul W restoration, but since it needs ALL new parts, its gonna get pricey.

I'd post here on the forum to look for original Rick parts and keep an eye on eBay.

What are your plans? Refinish this puppy, or keep it a beater bass?

Brazil, huh? That could complicate things!

It should have originally come with a 1/2" spaced guard. Andy Winter has a '73 with a 1" spaced guard, but that just didn't happen very often. With that pickup route though, you might be able to use either.

Todo bem, Pedro?

I have a house in Brasil...also, family members in Rio, Natal, Vitoria; friends in the South, too.

Where are you in Brasil? My stepson is coming to the USA for Christmas, from Rio...

Tudo bem, Paul! You?
That's nice you have a house here. Do you come down often?
I live in Sao Paulo, but I have a bunch of friends in Rio, nice place!
So, what's your opinion on the bass, is it worth restoring?

jingle_jangle wrote:Todo bem, Pedro?

I have a house in Brasil...also, family members in Rio, Natal, Vitoria; friends in the South, too.

Where are you in Brasil? My stepson is coming to the USA for Christmas, from Rio...