Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This is from the Rickenbacker Forum mailbox. Bob Hardin writes

The only details that I have are that the bridge rout was filled with resin, there has been some additional routing for the pickups and it appears to me that the cream color is original (no signs of any other colors in the routing, etc.)

I'd love to know as much as possible but mainly I would like to know if it's a real Rick (my investment wasn't too much, but if it's a copy I don't want to put too much into it)

Hmmmm.....late 70's 4001 with a very faded white finish, black trim??? I see the binding on the neck looks white though.

Additional body routing and it had a different bridge on it, maybe a Badass...?

It looks legit to me....anyone else?

No doubt it is a genuine Rick bass.
Late seventies? Yeah, maybe. Or very early eighties.
Is that a new-style block behing the truss rod nuts? I can't make it out.

Lefty: These are my observations as well. A genuine article, what's left of it. I continue to be amazed at the yellowing of the white finish.

I think this one 4001 is worth restoring to its former glory. Anyone feeling adventurous? Not to mention willing to spend some bucks on the project.
Yeah, the degree of yellowing on this Rick is amazing. I had my 1976 4001 professionally refinished white in the mid-nineties and it has remained pure white to this day.

you have to ask ... why was this bass sold this way? is there a neck problem? if the neck is ok then it could be restored ... it would look nice as a mapleglo 4001 .... just to replace all of the missing hardware will cost $500 +/- then there is refinishing ....

Maybe the seller used the parts for another Rick bass that had a better finish and scrapped this one. The thing I find puzzling is the white binding on the neck and black binding on the body.

If memory serves me this was the bass that was recently sold on ebay. Also if looks like the truss rod nut has been tweeked and is bent upward.

this would cost a lot to restore, youd have to buy ALL the hardware and electrics, and even then, it would look pretty hidious. Not only is it yellowed beyond anything ive seen, its patchy/

Could get,,,expensive,,,more than buying a decent used rick

Yeah,
there is an awful lot of threaded rod sticking out beyond the nuts. Whoever owned that bass must have played it in his sleep, I have never seen such a worn Ric in my life, or is that an indication of a different paint job?

It looks bad in photos, what about in reality!!!, how can a guitar get that badly worn, some people have old guitars the use on the road all the time, they get worn, but that finish is a joke, like its been dropped in acid!

Ojobob2: The back may be flaking secondardy to exposure to a subzero temperature. I have seen the same sort of thing before.

Thanks for everyone's input...I really appreciate it. The main reason I went for this "thing" is that I have all of the parts to complete it accept for the neck pickup and a pickguard. I had a couple of 4001's several years ago and came into extra parts before they got too expensive (I paid $20 for a near-perfect bridge). I doubt that it was stripped for parts recently as the electronics/pickguard that came with it are beyond worn-looking. I am curious what the truss rod/neck problems might be and if they can be taken care of. If this is a no better than a wall decoration than I'll take my lumps and move on.

I would be really tempted to refin that bad boy as mapleglo ... show off the walnut stripe ..

Hey Bob,
we have some good suggestions in "What would you do to a Rickenbacker bass" all in good fun of course.