Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've owned a white 4001 bass for years, that has me a bit intrigued in terms of features. I thought some of you Ric "afficionados" might be interested. This bass has the old style "patent pending" Grover tuners (original). It also has CHECKERBOARD binding and a TOASTER neck pickup. Looking inside, all wiring appears original to me. The bass has an "LD" xxx (3 digit) serial, dating it to April of 1972... however, the pot codes (Mexican) are dated March 1973. You'll also notice that the inlays (unfortunately) are the newer ones that do not extend across full fingerboard. You also can see that the bridge does not have the "slot" that it should for a 1972. Thus, this bass has features of both 1972 and 1973. Theories abound. I can usually tell if solder is newer or wiring has been tampered with, and this does not appear to be. Anyway, I'd welcome any thoughts or opinions. Regardless, I think it is a pretty cool bass, and no one ever talks about white ones (it really is not "white" anymore). I am viewing this bass as a 1973 bass tha happens to have a 1972 jackplate. Someone may argue the jackplate was replaced.... but this seems illogical to me. I have not seen a definitive timeline for when features actually changed. But if Rickenbacker is anything like the Gibsons I usually deal in, there are many "variations" of what actually happened on the assembly line. (I tried to post a picture, but it would not let me, so if anyone wants a picture let me know)

Well, this one sounds like an anomaly if ever there was one! Kirk, send me the pics, i'll post 'em for you. Address is in my profile.

Welcome Kirk! I can't wait to see pictures!

Here is a photo Kirk sent along.

Did we see this one on Ebay recently? Pretty!
There are no definitive transitions. They are always somewhat fuzzy as the old inventory was used up to make room for the new. Also, custom instruments and other one-offs were not unusual back then.

THAT is a beautiful Bass!

very nice!

Kirk: Unless it is a flash artifact, this bass is quite a bit whiter than an number of early 70's basses that I have seen. Regardless, it is great looking. Thanks for sending along the photo.

looks like a refin to me ... but still nice ...

*dies of envy*

Since the features on this beautiful bass create a hardship in dating it, you can send it to me and I will work on ignoring these undesirable facts.

Welcome, and you have one great looking 4001! For me, the hardest to explain is the newer inlays vs the '72 jackplate, but then very strange anamolies have come out of the factory before. It always depends on how the instrument moves through the build process. Possibly the jackplate was at the bottom of a bin and someone reached further down when grabbing the next plate???

Welcome Kirk...

I have a 73 with a Feb jackplate, but the smaller inlays and the toaster spacing is 1"...you can't fit the 1/2" guard because of the cavity.

Your bass looks like it has a newer bridge and could possibly have a repro guard. It does look kind of transparent. If you can, get some pics of the cavities and post them and we could possibly tell if it is refinished.

"No one ever talks about white ones"

Some of us do Kirk, some of us do...

What ever the reasons it has the features it does, it's still very nice, even if it turns out that it's a refin.

Welcome to the forum, Kirk.

Thanks for all the posts so quickly! Ric dudes must still be on XMAS Holiday! I've owned this bass for at least 4 years. I pulled the bass out again. The finish has definitely discolored / darkened some, as compared to areas that are covered (underneath the pickguard and TR cover, for example). The picture might make it look brighter and whiter than in reality, but it does seem brighter than other older white finishes I've seen. I did recently give it a good cleaning. Maybe this is a REFIN. All of the cavities are also white, including the truss rod area (would this be normal?). The back of neck (white) is totally crazed. There are several chips in paint down to the wood, and I see no evidence of any other color or coat underneath them.

Also took some pictures of the pickups from underneath, and the wiring. Maybe someone can help verify the originality of the pickups, but they look correct to my eye. There is at least one suspect area of the wiring. There is a cloth-covered ground wire coming from the underneath the bridge, which hooks to a thin black wire that goes to treble VOL pot. Does not look right... but I do not know Ric wiring norms... I thought it odd that wiring from both pickups is grey plastic (not cloth), then there is this cloth ground wire (also some cloth wire in the input jack). If anyone is interested, I can forward pictures, just need your ID.

April '72 should have wide inlays. Narrow inlays and checked binding (regardless of refin) put it at early '73. However, the color combination regardless of year make it very unique. I agree with Andrew, the guard is repo, as is the bridge if a '72. Always questions with these transitions. If it's legit, I'm guessing '73 manufacture with an older jack plate. John Hall has stated the serial is assigned when the work order starts, not when it ships. Could the wierd color combo mean it floated around the factory for a while as a work order not yet built?