Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was wondering about the construction of Chris Squire's classic Ric. I've met Squire on a couple of occasions, but I never thought to ask him about this. IIRC, Squire's bass is a '64 Rose Morris 4001S, which would mean that his bass has a set neck (but I could be wrong about it being a 4001S). Yet the 4001CS bass has neck-thru body construction (which I prefer anyway). My 4001CS is the best 4-string bass I've ever owned. Does anyone know if Squire's bass has a set neck or neck-thru body construction?

I was also wondering if Squire may have retired his classic bass. After all, that thing has a lot of miles on it. The last time I saw him in concert (2002), he was still using it. However, if you look at the home page of his website (chrissquire.com), you'll see that the bass he's holding is not his classic Ric. The two screw holes for the finger rest are absent on the pickguard, there's a sticker below the toaster pup, and the fingerboard and headwings have the reddish glow of African vermilion. A 4001CS without the signature pickguard perhaps?

His RM 1999 is neck-thru.

Hey Pete! (from one new guy to another)
The 60's 4001's like Squire's were neck-through.( I've never heard of a factory 4001 with a set-neck but who knows? The neck pickup route would be too close to the set neck joint.) The 4000's had neck-through until the early 70's when they went to set-neck. Sometimes you see one on the bay with 2 pickups and set neck but those are probably customized by owners.
And I whole-heartedly agree with your assessment of the CS. I have four 4001's ('72, '73, '91 V63 and '97 CS) and the CS beats 'em all! The G string even sounds thicker on the CS. But Squire still uses the old one live. You sometimes see him with his CS (would that be #1?) in promo shots but the old one is still his main one. I try to catch Yes every time they hit Atlanta and I haven't seen him use the CS yet, although I have noticed it in his guitar rack.
And speaking of Squire's having a lot of miles on it, did you read the story where the head was broken off? Apparently Mark Arnquist and others at the Rick factory fixed it back to new. Amazing! (I think I read that somewhere in the Rick Registration site).

the only set neck basses Ric made in the 60's were 4005's ...

If you ever get a chance to play a 60's 4001 do it ... I had one for 31 years ... the neck is sooo slim ... the whole bass is lighter and more resonate than a modern bass ... I hated the weak pickups ... for a while I took the vintage pickups out and put in 4003 pickups ... man did that baby sing ... a lot of the treble bite those 60's basses had was due to the lighter total weight and neck construction ... the modern (1986 and later) basses have an extra piece of wood in the neck that strengthens it ... it also changes the resonance ...

The 4001cs, 4001c64, and the 4001v63 replicate the look of a 60's bass but they are essentially a 4003s with cosmetic differences ...

I believe around 1980 some 4001s (multiple 4001s, not multiple 4001) were sold with set necks. Speak of the devil:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=7315193655&rd=1

that one on ebay probably started out as a 4000 bass that somebody converted to a 4001 ... quite often this weakens the set neck and causes problems ...

Pete, welcome to the forum. Squire's RM1999 is as everyone says neck through. I think he still uses it in concert but the 40 plus years are catching up with it. Here is a picture of my 64 RM1999/4001S where you can see the neck through.


There were some set neck 4001 basses made through the 70's. I believe there may be a couple of examples owned by members here.

I was also wondering if Squire may have retired his classic bass. After all, that thing has a lot of miles on it.

It has dead pickups and the frets are ailing, but never in a million years would Chris retire it.

It's his gal, he is in love with the instrument.

He takes three 4001s on tour - Two 4001CS and his RM1999.

the 60's basses have a certain vibe to them ... the construction method makes them resonate a certain way ... but that also made them weak ... Entwistle's 4001s had a neck that bowed ... my old '68 4001 had a flipped out neck when I bought it for $150 in 1973 ... the action was more than 1/2" at the 20th fret with flatwound strings ... I had the truss rods adjusted once and it stayed in place ... but it never had the straight neck low action that a 1973 or later Ric would have ... but the sound and feel were unique ... Chris Squire is hooked on that feel and vibe ...

So, I take it that all of the 60's 4001's had dot inlays. When were the sharkfin inlays introduced?

BTW Dave, I also try never to miss a Yes show when they appear in Denver. I'm a veteran of 17 Yes concerts. During their 2004 tour, Yesworld was offering a special package that would guarantee you a seat in the first two rows at the show plus the opportunity to meet with the band before the show for autographs and pictures of you with the band. IIRC, tickets were $350 each, which would make for a pretty expensive evening. Nevertheless, I was considering bringing in my CS so Squire could autograph it, but then I realized that I would never be able to play it again, so I changed my mind, lol.

When Chris Squire claims that his 65 4001s is 2/3 the weight from being shaved he did not realize that a 60's 4001 weighed less than a 70's 4001 ... they shortened the headstock and fattened the body wings to stop neck dive after they fattened the neck to make it stronger ...

all 4001s and 4003s models have dot inlays ... the regular 4001 and 4003 basses have triangle inlays ... originally the "S" model was a stripped down version that would cost less ... they exported these to England in the 60's ... now days the "S" models seem to cost more ... also "S" models have no binding on the neck or body ...

Pete,

There is a very good article on this site for the different bass models.
Back out and click on the "Rickenbacker Registration Page"
click on "Articles" then scroll down to "Bass Models".

Jeff and Ted have or have had in Jeff's case two awesome examples of a 60s deluxe model which is a 4001 checkered binding triangle full inlays ... the s model had non of these features .

Ted's is a '63 deluxe...I wonder when they started doing that?