Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Guys,

I hope I never have to sell my 4005WB. And I hope it never gets stolen. Some years ago I tried to get a price tag for this bass for my home insurance, but nobody wants to or can tell what it's worth... I'm among experts here, so I thought: I'll ask it here.

BTW: I hope it's okay to discuss prices here. I'm not trying to sell anything... If not, I'll delete my question!

It's a:

'74 4005WB
optical in a good shape
neck pick up placed 1/2" backwards to cover an non original hole.
body behind the soundslash is made black
bridgeplate is non original I guess
Electronics need a re do, but it works.

It's not seventies, not completely original, but it is a WB...

See other threads for pics.

Thanks guys!

Chris

It sounds like it needs some work, but it is a 4005, rare and desirable.

In this case, a picture would be worth a thousand words. Try to post some pics, an Im sure the 4005 experts will chime in.

Chris, the state of the US economy has knocked the edge of some prices, however your bass is a very desirable model and few 4005WB models have come onto the market in recent times. I'd suggest a price range of $5000 to $7000.

Chris, if you could get it as much back to stock as possible, it would certainly affect the price in a good way.

Seeing as how the economy is and all, I would say Darren's number is spot-on - as low as $5k on a bad day, as high as $7k on a good day. I would be SHOCKED to see it go any lower or any higher than that range.

BTW - there seems to be an almost strange amount of '74 4005WB's out there - I've counted about six or seven so far, yet none from any other year in the 70's!

sloop_john_b wrote:BTW - there seems to be an almost strange amount of '74 4005WB's out there - I've counted about six or seven so far, yet none from any other year in the 70's!

I wonder if the factory had a few 60's bodies left over, and when the order's finally came in, this is what they used. It would appear the 4001 took up practically all bass production from mid 71 until very early 74, given the fact you never see 4005 basses from this period.

wints wrote: I wonder if the factory had a few 60's bodies left over, and when the order's finally came in, this is what they used. It would appear the 4001 took up practically all bass production from mid 71 until very early 74, given the fact you never see 4005 basses from this period.

The odd thing is, practically nobody ordered a 4005 from '69 to '73, then suddenly everyone wants a double bound one? I simply don't understand the discrepancy.

I tend to think the factory possibly said this is what we have, and people took what they could get. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was rather difficult to get a new 4005 between 71 and 74!

The 4001 was king...

wints wrote:I tend to think the factory possibly said this is what we have, and people took what they could get. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was rather difficult to get a new 4005 between 71 and 74!

The 4001 was king...

Ah, so they were likely backed up on orders thanks to Messrs Squire and Lee, and when orders came in for basses, it might have been a case of "Well, you can wait a while for a 4001, or we have these, which you can have sooner..."

Yeah....Something like that....

The demand for the 4001 was certainly the priority.

It would appear the 4001 took up practically all bass production from mid 71 until very early 74, given the fact you never see 4005 basses from this period.

I was wondering why I hadn't seen any 4005's with grovers. I guess thats a pretty good reason why.

Just for kicks, we've got:

Chris' Mapleglo '74
Robert's Burgundy '74
Graham's Burgundy '74 ("the ex")
Another Burgundy '74
A Fireglo '74 from Bjorn's site.

'66 and '74 seem to be the big years for these - I know of about five or six WB's alone from '66 (which leads me to doubt Smith's figures on them).

Interesting, guys!

Are there any known prduction figures?

Berth has my 4005WB for the moment, cos he wanted to make some A/B recordings with his 4001. His girflriend kindly provided me with this pictures. A nice way to show the bass and her errors:

The bass:









And her errors:

The bridge:



The neck pick up, placed to the back to cover up a hole:



Loose binding at the back:



Black painted back, behind the soundslash:



Again with thanks to Berth's Karin!

Great photos, Chris

rick_ovic wrote:Great photos, Chris

The photographer thinks otherwise as the sunlight was way too bright when we took these pictures.