Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Once in a while, I dabble with the contents of my long-term Rickenbacker Basses project. In it will be a "family tree and time line" graphic. The beauty of electronic publishing/preparation is that corrections and changes can be made at any time. If everyone could look over the following and see if anything is wrong or left out, then let me know. Enjoy!

4000/4001 Series
4000 – 1957-mid-1980s
4001 – 1961-mid-1980s
4001S/RM1999 – 1964-mid-1980s
4008 – 1975-mid-1980s

4002
4002 – 1975-1984

4003 Series
4003 – 1980-present
4003S – 1982-95
4003S/5 – 1986-2002
4003S/8 – 1986-2002
4003SPC Blackstar – 1987-90
4003SPC Redneck – 1987-88
4003SPC Tuxedo – 1987-88
4003 Shadow – 1986

4004 Series
4004C Cheyenne – 1993-99
4004L Laredo – 1993-present
4004Cii Cheyenne II – 2000-present
4004LK Lemmy Killmister – 2001-06
4004Cii/5 – 2002-04

4005 Series
4005 – 1965-mid-80s
4005WB – 1965-mid-80s
4005/6 – 1967-69
4005/8 – 1967-69
4005LS – 1970
RM3261 – 1967

Doubleneck
4080 – 4080/12 – 1975-early 1990s

3000/2000 Series
3000 (short scale) – 1975-84
3001 – 1975-84

2030 Hamburg – 1984-92
2050 El Dorado – 1984-92
2020 Hamburg – 1992-97
2060 El Dorado – 1992-97
2030GF Glenn Frey Signature – 1992-97

Vintage Series
4003SB (B series, first “vintage” attempt) – 1982-83
4001V63 – 1984-2002
4001CS Chris Squire Signature – 1991-2000
4001PMC (leftie only, Japan?) – 1999-2000
4001C64 – 2000-present
4001C64s – 2000-present

A very good start, Paul. Thanks for posting this.

Understand on the time lines, that the end times are almost always "soft" - there were few "hard" cutoff dates for any model due to lag between order and assembly, leftover inventory, custom orders, etc. But if anyone has documentation of a model outside these timelines, let me know.

Bump.

I'd appreciate any corrections, clarifications, or critiques you folks might have. Fire away!

I haven't looked at this yet in great detail . . . it should be checked against the price lists for date accuracy, for instance . . . but one item does stand out. The 4001PMC was most certainly not limited to Japan. It was always a "SKUed" item on our listings, available to all dealers and distributors. But it is true that the Japanese distributor ordered these in some quantity, although any account could have done the same.

I'm nit picking here, but I think the 4001C64 & C64S began production in 2003.

Coulda been 2002, but I'm pretty sure not in 2000.

Either way, I got bored and went to work with the supplied data... Questionable stop times on everything. Basically, it just shows overlap.

Nice graph! Makes it a lot easier to see the timelines.

Looks like the 4003SB is offset by one line though.

I love stuff like this.

Nice easy time line or chart to follow the models through the years.

Thanks guys!

Great, thanks guys! This is what I'm looking for.

John Hall, I have very few price lists. Is there an archive where I can obtain year-by-year availability/prices from 1957 to present?

Nicholas, the chart is a good start of where I hope to go with mine. I noticed you have the "B" series blank, and the two years of the "B" series in the V63 slot. Also, the blank line beneath the 2030GF has a color bar.

Free labour, you get what you pay for!

When readjusting everything, I forgot to slide the last set of colour bars up. Oh well! Keep that in mind!

Nicholas, now I see what's gone wrong. Take the red bar out of the blank line after the 2030GF, then move the blue line you have for the V63 up for the B model, the green line you have for the CS up to the V63, and the yellow line up to the CS. Then you're just missing the PMC. Thanks!

bassduke49 wrote:John Hall, I have very few price lists. Is there an archive where I can obtain year-by-year availability/prices from 1957 to present?

There is a full original set in the archives. You can always contact Matt Hill, the curator, and see if he'll fix you up. I know you know how to reach him in Scotland; however, after January 5th, you'll find him in Phoenix, Arizona as an assistant curator at the MIM. ( http://themim.org/ )

The customer service positions also have a large desktop reference flip-file that at one time had every pricelist and catalog but through the years thay've been pretty badly savaged. but they were just photocopies from the archives anyway.