Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i have a 74 4000 set neck.it is white (well,bannana-cream).would this be a one-peice body,or 2 halves glued together? and is the neck one peice,or laminate,as i presume the "skunk stripe" is? i have owned several 4000 variant basses over the years,all striped neck-throughs,and this bass just has a really great different vibe to it.

1) Two halves glued together.
2) Laminate.

thanks sergio! i thought the body MIGHT be one-piece,it is probably easy to tell on a MG or FG,but who knew what lurks under painted surfaces?

No problem, Woody. I imagine making a one-piece body would be unadvisable for a number of reasons.

For what it's worth, my '76 4000 FG definitely has a one piece body. So I'd assume there are others out there: I'm not saying that they're all the same, as I suspect there are numerous variations.
Here's a shot of the neck joint under the gaurd to give an example of construction of a mid 1970's bass:

Of course, there are very often differences in 1974 basses & later ones, so who knows!

It is possible to make a neck-through from a single piece of wood, although no factory would waste that much wood in cutting away the huge slabs of premium wood off the sides of the neck body itself.

Greater rigidity and sustain is actually obtained by intentionally having some glue joints and grain differences (or laminations), than by having a solid single piece of wood. Avoid a true solid single piece of wood if you want the best low-end sound response and sustain. And, the wood itself is more stable and less subject to warping if it is glued-up pieces instead of a single solid piece.

I have never seen a Rick made with a one-piece body, unless it is a set neck that is bolted on to the body of a solid-body bass or guitar. Through-necks, where the neck is one long piece from head to the back strap peg, are the rule in a full 4001 (or 4003 or 4000) for example, and feature two separate body wings glued to either side of the long continuous neck piece.

Could the glue joint be simply invisible on yours, with the grain happening to match well enough? Or is there a laminated solid thin sheet of wood on top of the glued-up body? A back shot would tell the story. And, your E and G strings in the above photo hide the place where we might otherwise look for the joint on top....

Maybe you could post another identical photo with the strings moved aside or even removed, together with a well-lit photo of the back of the 4000, to let us better see the grain of the wood? That is a gorgeous color, by the way, the shade of FG that shows in this area My first 4001, a March 1971 21-fretter 4001, was a darker eggplant burgundy

BTW, isn't that strange, how the stripe that is clearly visible in the routed cavity for the neck pickup, disappears between the routing for that piclup, and the bridge pickup surround? It almost makes one think that RIC laminated a thin piece of top wood to the body itself!!!! Can you see the stripe anywhere else on top, say behind the bridge pickup or the bridge on its way the the heel of the bass? Post photos, please!!

The stripe is only in the neck, she's a set neck, & I'm extremely sure there is no joint in the body. I looked very closely, & the disturbance to grain patterns would be readily obvious if there was a glue joint. I'll post a pic, but it may be hard to see clearly.

It's actually FG with a very subtle burst pattern, & it's one of my favorites also!

The neck itself has the Shedua strip down the middle, which is why it does not continue in the body, this being a set neck instrument.

Here's the back:

There is one point where the grain appears to be a joint line, but it doesn't run straight for it's length, & nobody makes a crooked glue joint on purpose!

The bass is VERY light, and has a low end deficiency compared to the average, but has great sustain, & plays beautifully. The truss rods have never been adjusted since it left the factory: there is still an undisturbed dab of red paint on the nuts, & the first owner (I'm the second) never even cleaned it much!

Here's a closer view:

OK, that explains it! It is a set neck Nuff said!

When I worked at Rickenbacker for 3 years, we didn't make a lot of the 4000 bass bodies, we made more 480 guitars. In that time period all set neck solid and hollow bodies instruments were 2 piece Maple. On some, the grain was such a close match it was nearly impossible to tell.

There you have it!
Dale's post made me look again, even closer, & there is a barely discernable joint line, very close to a grain line in places.
It is virtually impossible to detect, unless you look at a bit of an angle in strong sunlight.

Bravo again to the painstaking craftsmanship of Rickenbacker for taking the care to so carefully select pieces of wood to build a beautiful instrument!