Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi everyone, I am a guitar player and new to basses. I just acquired this 1961 4001 SN AK684 from the original owner. It was ordered from the factory in '61, played for about a year, then cased. Some very minor nicks and scratches on the headstock, otherwise pristine. Original hard case, strap. I just want to hear from you guys that live and breath this stuff as to what exactly I have here. Is it a cool old instrument or a holy grail?

Hi Ted, welcome!

Your bass was produced in November 1961 according to the serial number, and is what I would consider a "transitional" instrument due to the odd mix of features. It is "holy grail" material. I look forward to the forthcoming discussion on this.

Nice way to make an entry!!

Fab transitional bass,we've seen at least one other that resembles this one,but i imagine there were'nt more than a few made like this.

Welcome to the Forum!

Thanks for the welcome. My apologies, I knew it was a '61 but for some reason had '68 on the brain when I posted this. I'm excited at the first couple of replies and also looking forward to more opinions and information. Thanks!

Welcome Ted.

That's the best entry into this Forum that I've seen in a long time....!

Beauty of a bass you have there.

Edit: In fact, it may be the coolest 4001 I have ever seen IMO. (At least as cool as my lefty. )

Very nice bass for sure...

The only thing that looks unoriginal to my eye is the white pickguard. There are others that know much more about this then I do. I am sure they will chime in.

The Truss Rod Cover is the expected Gold, so it does not match the pickguard.

There are two other November 1961 basses in the RRF Register

AK678
http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D


and

AK685 (which is one number away from this bass)
http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Both have the Gold pickguard.

I admit that one learns to never say never around what left the Rickenbacker factory... Still a very valuable and collectable bass. Congrats on its acquisition...

Thanks for the info Brian. The original owner is someone I know well and the term "impeccable integrity" wouldn't do justice to the man's character. He says the bass is just as he got it from a Nashville music store in early 1962 (It took several weeks to be delivered back then), and I take him at his word. The pick guard is something that I have been wondering about because it does not seem to match others of the era. The only other pictures I have found of a bass with that SHAPE pickguard are from this auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-RICKENBACK ... 41761d99b1

However, the guard on the bass in this auction does look to be gold, not white as you noticed.

Some more back story: the guy in Nashville who worked in the music store where this bass was purchased was Joseph Talbot or "Big Joe Talbot", a name easily found in Nashville music history, but in 1961 he was just a guy who worked in a music store. The original owner of this bass was friends with Joe and after his Gibson bass was stolen, he asked Joe to order him the "latest and greatest bass" and trusted Joe to get the job done. Joe ordered the bass and called the owner when it was in. It is feasible that some customizations were done to the bass in the music store prior to being given to the customer. This is just a theory, and I think it is also possible that it came from the factory like this.

Anyway, I love the shape of the guard and IMO it follows the flow of the body much better than the more typical partial guards or the ones with the pointy wave above the bridge. I also saw the two other basses in the register and I chuckled when I saw it's "brother" one number apart. Still, neither one of these have a similar pick guard as mine.

Please keep the opinions coming!

Congratulations Ted, and welcome to the RRF.

I would say yes to both: a very cool old instrument AND a holy grail.

And an IRA. And a winning lottery ticket.

IMHO, that is a very important and valuable bass. I'll leave it to the experts to chime in ... all I can say is WOW!!

WOW is right!!! I almost fell off my chair...INCREDIBLE!!!

Look how clean it is...it even has it's original strings!

Even with the white pick guard, my gut says all original.

Congrats Ted! That is one historic bass you have there!

Beauty of a bass!

I am not a Rick bass expert by any means, but as far as the white guard/gold TRC combo goes for Rick instruments made in 1961, there are a number of model 460 guitars produced in 1961 that have that combination: http://www.rickresource.com/register/in ... celebrity=

So it is entirely possible that the white guard on your bass is original, simply from the POV of materials-on-hand at the RIC factory when it was made. A white guard in 1959? No. In 1961? Yes.

Welcome to the forum. This is a sweet bass. How does she play and sound?

Thanks for all the great info and welcomes, guys. Libratune, that is great info about the guard. As I mentioned i have no reason to doubt nothing has changed since the first owner got his hands on it. Rikk, as I mentioned in my original post, I am not a bass player, but the bass sounds great and I was amazed at how smooth and easy it was to get a groove going. Makes me question my calling...

Recordings?

TeddyC wrote:Thanks for all the great info and welcomes, guys. Libratune, that is great info about the guard. As I mentioned i have no reason to doubt nothing has changed since the first owner got his hands on it. Rikk, as I mentioned in my original post, I am not a bass player, but the bass sounds great and I was amazed at how smooth and easy it was to get a groove going. Makes me question my calling...

...it's never too late.......

woodyng wrote:Nice way to make an entry!!

And nice way to be "new to basses." Holy smokes!

Congratulations, and welcome to the Forum!

bluewhale