Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well... what is it? Tele-style body, mute-less tailpiece, Fender/MusicMan headstock with the Ric TRC... weird.

Good find - I wonder from which year it is - late 60s, early 70s?

What is that?

I'm glad it wasn't a production piece. Bleck!

IIRC, that bass was a one-off experimental instrument. I believe the individual involved in its design went on to work on the Musicman Stingray (note the 3+1 tuner design) which would probably put this bass sometime in the mid 70's. Here's a pic I took at the RIC 75th event:

I really like the body/pickguard/finish combo but the headstock w/ trc looks really out of place. Maybe a 4003 headstock would help rickenize it?

That's a fun change of Rickenpace. Not bad looking either. Cool that it could be a Stingray precursor.

cassius987 wrote:Cool that it could be a Stingray precursor.

The 3+1 headstock is attributed to Leo Fender and Forrest White.

cassius987 wrote: Cool that it could be a Stingray precursor.

I'm pretty sure it's the StingRay precursor. When Forrest White presented that prototype bass guitar to the Halls, they didn't feel it was really a Rickenbacker design.

I didn't know that Forrest White worked at Rickenbacker. If he built this prototype then it is a StingRay precursor. Thanks for the info!

BTW the fact that it has a toaster can be a clue - pre-73 maybe? The first StingRays are from '76.

I really like the look of that one. Kinda reminds me of a Danelectro or some such.

As much as it is not really Rick-like, it is a nice looking bass, overall. With two toasters it would be even nicer, plus, a traditional Rick guitar headstock shape would work better than the Fender/Musicman style. I like the "cut-off" tailpiece with no mute assembly. There is an excellent photo of this bass in a book called 2000 Guitars.

jps wrote:As much as it is not really Rick-like, it is a nice looking bass, overall.

+1

Here's a closeup of the tailpiece from a picture I had taken of the prototype. Notice the mute section is gone. Funny, the early StingRays as well as Sabre and Cutlass had mutes. Now so does the StingRay Classic. .

The finish on that tailpiece--polished aluminum--indicates that it's a cut-down sandcast piece from the early-mid '70s. Never got plated...