Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, I'm new to the forum so sorry if this isn't in the right place of format.. BUT . I've got this 73 4001 and I'm not sure which parts are original or not. I have extensive and detailed pictures but am completely unfamiliar with Ricks, being a Fender guy for 40 years. Can I post pictures or are details about the inner workings of this beautiful bass not interesting

Welcome to the forum!

Pictures are always appreciated, and with pictures, folks here on the forum will be able to tell you more than you probably even want to know about your bass...

I have a 73 that I've owned for 18 years but never vetted. I'm totally unfamiliar with most Rick things . I have much, much better photos I can send anyone who is interested in figuring it out.

Looks like a pretty legit transition era 4001. Ie: too late for full width inlays but has toaster and checkerboard binding.

I've source coded the pots and they check out. But what is with the bridge pick up? Why isn't it black on top? I've seen a few that have a lot of the black worn off them and the translucent green showing through- do you think somebody just went ahead and took the rest of the paint off or is this one of the ones that didn't get painted? It doesn't look potted either.

There was a period of time when the bridge hi-gains had green topped bobbins, so it's probably original...

Looks good! My March 73 has the same slotted pole piece treble pup. It was painted black but most of the paint has chipped off. How does it sound? Mine sounds awesome!! Same deal with the non full width inlays and zinc tail piece. Mine has Block binding as well.

Sepp

Everything looks cool for a '73 from here.

Welcome.

I keep dumping my posts. Sometimes I'm SUCH a bass player ! Anyway, thanks for all the input and I want to ask about the writing in the electronics cavity. Is there any significance to the writing? Is it like a signature and is there any voodoo attached to it the way that Fender people have about the initials on there P bass pick ups ?

Usually, the cavity "graffiti" consists of a batch (not a model number suffix), so 4001F means it is a 4001 and it was in the "F" batch for that day/week. Names and initials are simply those of the folks who worked on or inspected the instrument. No voodoo for yoo dood!

You guys sure know your stuff. From reading older posts I can see that this is a nice community. Unfortunately it's one I'm not going to belong to long because I'm vetting the bass for the obvious reason..

But I will share a really funny story about how I acquired this bass:

My wife was about six months pregnant with our daughter and it was my birthday. She goes into the next room and comes back carrying an old bass case and as she hands it to me she says" It was either this or a foot pedal". When I opened it I almost feinted- not the kind of gift you expect with a baby on the way. But she tells me that I might as well keep it because after the baby is born I probably won't be buying anymore basses for a long time... She was right. Turns out she called the recording artist I was about to start another record with and asked what kind of bass didn't I have that I NEEDED. She said he thought about if for 3 seconds. Anyway that was almost 18 years ago , the kid is grown and starting at a big music conservatory next year and needs an new instrument so some of the basses are going. Bass for mortgage = bad , very bad. Bass for better viola (downpayment ) ... O.K.! I've always had a fair bass collection and I will tell you guys that the Rick was not the first one to go by any means. I love this thing and I see you guys do too.

What's up with the extra cap?

jps wrote:What's up with the extra cap?

You mean the 3rd orange one in this pic?:

I think it's a reflection off of the shielding foil...

Yeah, that could be as normally there would not be any foil to reflect anything there. Hmm...........foiled!

This of course, is not the original pick guard. The original is broken and there was a replacement put in. I have the original ( see pic ) . The foil sort of stands in for the masking tape on the original ??? It does look like three of everything, doesn't it?