Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was wondering if anyone could help me here. I have a few 70s 4001 basses and the neck profiles are really nice. I have two 89 S basses and those necks are wonderful. I have an 83 4003 with the split guard and the neck on it is like a baseball bat. I was curious what the necks on an 80, 81 & 82 4003 is like. Does anyone have any of these to compare to? Also did the 4001 and the 4003 production years overlap at some point?

I have an 81 4003 and the neck (and whole bass) is exactly like the thinner necked late 70's 4001's. I had two 84 4003's and both had thicker necks than the earlier ones did. They stopped making 4001's in 1979-80 when they started the 4003, but shipped 4001's for another 6 years which is why you will occasionally see a 1986 4001, so no they were not made concurrently.

85-87 have slim necks, or so I have been told. I had an 87 with a slim neck.

Thanks for the info Bob...Who else has a slim neck 81 4003?