Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, after quite a few months of downtime, my '72 4001LH is almost complete, an I'll tell the story now...

I bought it in early 2001, off of ebay, and it played and sounded awesome, so much that I thought I'd never change anything on it. Being the person that never leaves anything alone, I decided to 'mildly' restore it...this meant only issues with hardware and accessories, the original finish being quite nice(Mapleglo). The pickguard w/fingergrip, tailpiece, bridge pickup, knobs, wiring, NOS Grovers and correct lefty nameplate are all new to the bass, and I think it's turned out okay so far.

There are a few visible screw holes here and there, but my thought was not to fill anything in and keep the integrity of the original Mapleglo 100%.

So, I have sent Peter a pic of the bass(less strings)in the hopes that he will post it when he can....I would appreciate comments(good and bad) from all who like vintage Rickenbackers on how the bass has turned out, and what if anything could stand improvement.

Many thanks to the following individuals who helped me along the way in getting the bass to this point:

Don Adamek, David Axt, Chris Clayton, Kenny Howes, Mike Parks, Paul Yan and the various sellers from ebay(can't remember the names LOL). Thanks to all!!!!

Always a pleasure, John!

Congratulations.
Glad to see her coming back to life.

Nice work John.

Thanks guys. It was easy to know how it looked when it left the factory; the holes for the fingergrip were there as were the other holes.

The tailpiece is now the original cast-aluminum variety as well. The one item I am not too sure about is the bezel for the bridge pickup, which has rounded-edges...I may need to find one that has square-edges.

Paul Yan, what does the bezel look like on your 1972 4001FL?? Square edged or round??

John,
The treble pickup surround/bezel of my Dec. '72 Fretless indeed has less rounded corners than those on my '86 and '98. It has no recess under the strings' path. The cover is not original, I believe.

Hmmm... Mine looks pretty much the same as the one on your fretless; I have seen basses not much earlier than mine (LK1447) that have bezels with sharp edges, square with no rounding at all.

Thanks for posting the pics, Paul.

You're welcome, John.

The bezel of this June '73 4001 WHT (MF 2241) has sharp corners and recessed under the strings. She's a beauty!

Beautifully aged white!

did white exist in 73?


On a rick bass that is ...white as a color clearly existedha

So, was the recessed area under the "string path" a feature back in the day? Or is that bezel a customized or new part?

Paul,
Just wanted to compliment you on your pictures, WOW! Those are book-worthy! Not to mention a fine looking instrument as well, you must be very proud of it!
Steve

Thanks for the very kind words, Steve.
She's a special baby indeed!

Alvaro,
I don't know if the bezel of that Creme White 4001 is original or not. Wish I had her, original bezel or not.

My 72 FL has the same treble surround as Pauls also.
Wasn't that 73 the bass that the owner swore was an original cream color, that the color was the same under the pickguard?

By the way John, that is one beautiful bass, when I see lefty Rics I look at them in a whole new way like I am seeing a Ric for the first time again, I also have the same reaction if I look in the mirror when I am playing. Makes me wish that I were left handed so I could get one.

Thanks Bob...I can't wait to get it going again, and I'm thinking of trying something new(to me that is)----black nylon Rotosound flatwounds. With Rickenbacker 4001's, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Squire/Lee-sound roundwound guy, but I may go for a Macca-esque sound to start off with on this '72...any body use these Rotos on their Ricks?

In the 1968 Rickenbacker Catalog, the 4001 and the 4000 pictured are BOTH strung with these black tape-wound strings.