Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi folks,
I've owned a 90's 4003FL that I traded on my 66 beatle bass. I've always regretted trading it but at the time I couldn't buy the beatle bass outright and I couldn't sacrifice my s/5 or my trusty 4001. Saddened by breaking up Triumvirate of Ricks, last year I bought a 1980 4001 nowing that I'd have the frets removed. My 4001 "FL" seems to have a bit more "zing" than the darker more "upright" tones I remember from The 4003FL. I'm using "half rounds" and the Pu's are bartolini passives that came with it. The good seller also sent all original PU's and hardware. So I wonder if the forum has experience, input , on the differences between 4003FL and 4001 fretless mods. Didn't they also produce a 4001FL? Shouldn't they really call it a "fretmore" ?

The first 4001FL that we know of is a 1968; it's in the Register as a prototype, IIRC. RIC made perhaps a hundred +/- 4001FLs between that time and the mid-1973 changes. 4001FLs are more common in the late 70s thanks to Jaco, but I wouldn't call them overly common. 4003FLs are more common (I have a more recent one; '08 I believe), but I can't speak to your question about mods as I would rather play a true FL as opposed to a fretted to FL conversion. THe main reason is that the side dots would be out of place, and I dig side dots in the right place, but only at 5, 12, and 17, if I had me 'druthers.

cool info,
What kind of tones are people squeezing out of the 4003FL? From what I can remember of My 4003FL It was more upright sounding. I switched from flatwounds to roundwounds and was able to get more "Mwah" out of it, but only very deliberately. Is this the nature of the beast? I had my 4001 fretless mod re-lacquered after the luthier filled the fret slots to maintain as much "Rickyness" as possible. I find it sounds like a toned down Jazz Bass compared to my memories of My tubby 4003FL?

I can speak of a 4001 mod but can’t compare to a true 4001 fretless. I just found out the ’74 4001 I’ve owned for the last 25 years was a defret… very nicely shaved off the at fretboard. I always liked the sound and thought it was a typical “Ric” sound but had nothing to compare as it was the first Ric bass I had ever played. Being a fretless player I didn’t ever bother trying a fretted Ric as I already had my “Ric”!

One difference on mine was in the defretting process, the lacquer had also been stripped… once again not having seen a factory FL, didn’t know the difference and liked the “wood” feel of the fingerboard. As a Pino Palladino fan, I like my fretlesses to have rosewood fingerboards for that extra bite you get with the softer wood. Having grown up as a Squire fan, I put roundwounds on it since I didn’t plan on ever selling it so wasn’t concerned about any slight damage they might cause (very little BTW…).

The one annoyance I always had was the fact the fret markers were where they would be on a fretted bass… in the middle of the wedge inlays and wondered why Ric did it that way! I didn’t realize a normal FL has dot inlays and “proper” side makers where the frets “should” be. I liked having the wedge inlays as it made it look like my old 360 I had let get away and didn’t feel they affected the sound at all… besides they look cool

ricken5er wrote:cool info,
What kind of tones are people squeezing out of the 4003FL?

Check the Rickenbacker Recordings Section.

FretlessOnly wrote:

ricken5er wrote:cool info,
What kind of tones are people squeezing out of the 4003FL?

Check the Rickenbacker Recordings Section.

FretlessOnly... some nice tones you're squeezing from that Ric...

Why thank you, kind sir.

FretlessOnly wrote:The first 4001FL that we know of is a 1968; it's in the Register as a prototype, IIRC. RIC made perhaps a hundred +/- 4001FLs between that time and the mid-1973 changes. 4001FLs are more common in the late 70s thanks to Jaco, but I wouldn't call them overly common. 4003FLs are more common (I have a more recent one; '08 I believe), but I can't speak to your question about mods as I would rather play a true FL as opposed to a fretted to FL conversion. THe main reason is that the side dots would be out of place, and I dig side dots in the right place, but only at 5, 12, and 17, if I had me 'druthers.

there were no pics of this '68 FL in the register. is it a secret ? i'd love to see it and put it in my fretless thread !!!

there were no pics of this '68 FL in the register. is it a secret ? i'd love to see it and put it in my fretless thread !!!

Ron, Scott Jennings sold this bass to Daryl Jones IIRC. I've been looking for it for some time, but don't have a photo of it either...

no chocolate milk for you !!!