Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i'm currently giving the Walnut 4001 discussed in the "your aesthetic opnions needed" thread.

the previous owner mentioned that he thought thejackplate could have been swapped by the first owner in the 80's. i assumed this meant it would have an '80s serial - but no, it has the "Ric-o-Sound" text, etc., but no number!

i'm quite positive the bass is a '76 due to the pot dates and plexi TRC.

could this blank jackplate be stock? according the first owner, he recieved the bass through a friend that used to work at Ric.

this one is truly a unique specimen...

I don't think RIC issues blank jack plates. When they issue replacments they provide a special SN. I don't recall exactly but it seems to me they start with XX or something like that. It is possible that before JH took over, the compay would sell blanks. Of course back then the word "vintage" had far less meaning. These days a lot of shennangans could be done with a box of blank jack plates.

RIC didn't issue jackplates without serial numbers, but it seems that several years ago there were numerous parts that disappeared from the RIC factory and wound up at a particular So Cal guitar repair shop. Those parts included jackplates without serial numbers, pickups, etc.
John Allgaier has a jackplate without a serial number on his 4001. That's why he can't pinpoint it's exact manufacturing date, however the plexi TRC and the feel of the neck makes me think it's a late '75 or early '76.

rickenbrother wrote: John Allgaier has a jackplate without a serial number on his 4001. That's why he can't pinpoint it's exact manufacturing date, however the plexi TRC and the feel of the neck makes me think it's a late '75 or early '76.

strange coincedence that both basses would be of the same age w/o serial numbers...

brycycle wrote:strange coincidence that both basses would be of the same age w/o serial numbers...

That is a strange coincidence!

Here's John's jackplate:

...it seems to me they start with XX or something like that.

That is exactly what they had on them. I don't think they even sell the XX plates anymore.

You're right Ken, they don't sell the XX plates anymore.

rickenbrother wrote:

brycycle wrote:strange coincidence that both basses would be of the same age w/o serial numbers...

That is a strange coincidence!

Here's John's jackplate:

IMG_0074.jpg

A 1976 4001 with a plexi TRC? Where on Earth?
As for replacement jackplates, if this helps in late 1982 I ordered one from RIC for my then recently-acquired 1979 4080. It certainly was not blank: it read "XX 0382".

That's a real jackplate--it's too much trouble to counterfeit the "Ric-O-Sound" and not stamp the numbers. So it seems like there were a number of jackplates "liberated" from RIC in the late '70s. Some were already stamped with numbers, some did not. Ones I've seen were '77 and '78 serial numbers. I suspect the reason that the repair shop in question ran multiple Ebay ads for jackplates, showing only one serial number, is because they did not want to arouse suspicion concerning the theft. Silly, because the cat had been out of the bag for some time.

It has always struck me as strange that a serial number would be put on something so easily removed and forged. Does anyone know if Rickenbacker has ever considered other methods for serializing their products?

This topic has been thoroughly discussed in other threads, sometimes quite heatedly.

These are not easily forged, if you think about it. You need to stamp the piece with the proper recesses and holes (older ones were stamped flat; newer have the curve stamped into them). This requires hardened dies and a punch press.

Then the piece needs to be chromed. The lettering is silkscreened onto the piece, and the serial number is stamped. The older ones were hand-stamped; newer are stamped with a roller-die.

The issue of counterfeiting identity is an important one to RIC, and there have been many different ideas floated over the years. Someday (perhaps soon?) new technology will present a way to tie together many of the parts of any particular instrument, not just a jackplate by itself.

Fender has numbers on a neck screw plate or on the headstock decal. The MIJ ones have it on the neck heel: decal again, buried under clearcoat. Lousy ways of doing it IMO. Rick, Gibson and Gretsch used to imprint (deboss) the number with a metal stamp, somewhere on body or neck. That's quite easy to fake, too (all you need are a set of numbers, easily acquired).

My 2020 bass has a blank mono jack plate ... Ric put the serial numbers for the 2000 series basses on the neck plates ...

I have a '73 4001 with a "ZZ" replacement plate.