Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Perhaps John Hall would be gracious enough to give the Latin Genus name ?
Could it be Indonesian Rosewood ?, Kamarere? Merbau? Narra?
The old stuff was definately NOT Bubinga .

The fingerboard on that '67 335 I had was VERY close to a chocolate color, very dark....

Ted, Here is a pic of myself taken in 69' or early 70' with a 4000 I purchased new in 69'. This should give you a decent look at what the fret board color looked like in it's day. Hope this helps. If you want a higher quality shot I can E-mail it to you.

Whoa! Great photo and sweet bass, Ken. Do you still have that one?

I wish, it's long gone.

Great pic Ken! The essence of 1969.....a fresh-faced kid with his new RIC!!!

Pretty bass! I would call it rosewood, from that picture.

That is a cool old pic Ken. I,m sure you wish you could run into it again...
Ted, I thought Padauk which is loosely referred to sometimes as asian rosewood would be what your fretboard is, as are most of the 60,s basses. The heartwood is described as bright yellowish red to dark brick red with darker streaks in it.
That covers a lot of timbre....
My two 64,s boards are different with one being quite a bit darker, and both have plenty of darker streaks in them. The Dec 68 4001, is a noticeably lighter shade with few dark lines, and again quite different to Jeff,s old Sept 68. There are obviously many varied shades of this wood and Ric seems to have used them all through the years.
John Hall has posted here and there about this subject before to often clarify details if I remember correctly, and he,d be the man to set the record straight.

I looked at padauk. You are right, it does have a similar appearance.

I would like to get some measurements from the 4005 owners out there. In particular, I need to know the thickness of the fingerboard. The best place to measure it is at the body end. The neck pickup may have to be lifted out of the way to do this. I am interested in the thickness of the fingerboard at the peak of the radius. Any an all input on this is greatly appreciated!

Ted...

My '67 is 11/16ths at the peak of the radius. I took off the neck p/u and measured it at the height of the center.

I got 5/16" for the fingerboard thickness at the top of the radius on mine.

Chris,
I think your measurement must be the distance from the top of the body to the peak, am I right?

Yes, that's right Jeff....

I've got 5/16ths for the fingerboard thickness too..

Sorry....I misread Ted's request....

Cool. Thanks guys! You both have '67s and they are both 5/16ths at the center. That is very useful infomation.

I tested my new inlay materials tonight and the results are very promising! I will post pics as soon as everything sets up.

Not only are they both '67s, they are only a few serial numbers apart, both made in February.