Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Inheriting the throne from the "legacy" 4001, the 4003 started appearing in 1980ish as an improved neck design of its ancestor. Early 4003s had a reversed truss system with the adjusters at the body end of the fretboard. A split pickguard was used to make it easier to access the trusses. Later on ('85-'86?) the truss system was again revised to twin "unfolded" rods with the adjusters back up on the headstock.

For this week, let's post pictures and discuss the flagship 4003. Just 4003 for now; we'll look at the 4003S, SPCs, Shadows, 5- and 8-stringers another time. To get started, here's my present collection of 4003s:

And . . .

And . . .

I think you have too many....that sea green needs to make a visit to tennessee

Here is my '08 4003JPS.

This is my 4003. She has checkered binding and purdy inlays. I loooooves her.

'99 Mapleglo with added push/pull pot and .0047 cap vintage tone control.


'01 Turquoise.


'06 Montezuma Brown Fretless.


'07 75th Anniv. DCM.

You do have a lovely collection Paul. What nice colors too.

There are several major groupings in the 4003 family. The first ones had the old style rods but were adjusted at the body, as Paul said. The necks were made on rectangular blanks that some times have 3 part laminations like the 70's 4001s but instead of shedua center lams they have maple ones. They also share the D shaped neck, the smaller headstock of the 70's 4001 and the 70's 7.25" fingerboard radius. After a while the neck blanks were reduced just two pieces. The electronics were pretty much the same as the 4001.

The next group started about August of '84 when the new style truss rod system was introduced. These also have split guards and body end adjusters but the neck blanks are one piece and tapered . That is, they are wider at the end button than they are at the headstock. The headstock increased in size around this time and gained wider wings (ears?) similar to the 60's basses. The tailpiece gained two extra screws to prevent "lift" and the pickups got a little hotter and the fingerboard was flattened out to a 10" radius.

The next group started in about '86 when the truss adjusters were moved back to the headstock (where they belong ). The 4003 platform took on some alternate forms with the introduction of the 4003S/5, the 4003S/8, and the V63. Several interesting limited edition 4003s appeared that include the Shadow, the SPC Black Star, the Tuxedo, and the Redneck. The .00047 cap was removed from the circuit around this time giving the 4003 a much deeper voice.

The next major group starts sometime in the early 90's when the bodies were first cut by CNC. At that time the upper horn took on a more slender and elegant appearance. The pickups got another boost in power and the molded plastic bobbin replaced the resin board / drive screw assemblies of the previous 2 decades.

The 21st century 4003s gained a little more pickup punch but lost the 4003S/5 and 4003S/8 options. Two different neck profiles and headstock shapes appeared. Walnut head wings (ears?) were added at around 2006. The pull pot was added to allow the .00047 cap to be cut into the tone circuit and the pickups gained adjustable pole pieces. My favorite change is the addition of the full width inlays. There was also the limited edition 4003 DCM made for the 75th Anniversary.

Did I leave anything out?

Encyclopedic, Prof. Staberow!

My lone(ly) 4003.

Mmm.. nice selections

Silly question: when the fingerboard radius changed, did the bridge change to match?

My 2004 4003 half vintage'd: Body closeup now: Ted, very nice post. Let me add this about when the CNC machines came into play. This comes from JH himself, with his ok to share:

Sent at: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:47 pm
From: johnhall
To: johnallg
It would have been the first Monday after the 4th of July in 1996 that we started making guitars with the CNC machines. The Model 330 was the first and it took about a year to do them all. Since then we've gone through two generations of CNC designs and are just finalizing the last of the latest generation- including lefties for all.