Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey all, just need some advice as to what exact model bass I own...any help would be appreciated. I think from memory, that its from around 1984. A PMC model maybe? How much would one of these go for if I was to sell? Still all original etc. Thanks. Here's the photograph.

Welcome. Wish you could provide a better photo. It sure looks like a 4001V63PMC, but I'd be surprised if they made them that early in the run of V63s. Might want to check the serial number.

Hey what specifically makes you think it is? sorry about the **** photo...will get a better on!

It has the old-style headstock for a lefty. Back in the day, the neck-through assembly was a standard pre-cut piece and there wasn't a "left-handed" version. They just flipped the body wings around and then did the routing and edging. So the headstock had the cresting wave on the "bottom" (in playing position). This is the way Paul McCartney's bass is. Sometime in the 1980s, RIC decided to have a standard lefty headstock with the cresting wave at the top (it's really just a matter of cutting the shapes of the head wings). When the V63 came out, lefties had the new lefty headstock, but some folks wanted the "upside down" appearance of McCartney's Rick, so RIC offered the "PMC option" to have the old-style lefty shape, just like yours. I thought the PMC option came along later in the V63 production, but if you can verify the serial date stamp, it would clarify things. Know how to do that?

I think so, check the serial on the jack plate?

Thanks so much for that! Finally getting to the bottom of this!

Yes, the jackplate will have a two-digit date stamp on the "top" of the plate, with a three-to-five digit serial on the bottom. The system of date stamping varied over the years, so if you can tell me what it is, I can date it for you. There's a chapter in my book on interpreting Rickenbacker date codes. You can also go to the RIC company website and use a serial finder tool there. You type in the serial number and it will tell you when the bass was made. But it doesn't explain the dating system.

bassduke49 wrote:.......I thought the PMC option came along later in the V63 production.....

The way I have understood it, in 1998 or 1999 the PMC bass got it's own SKU number, so it became not just a peghead option but a whole instrument, only lefty and only made with a reverse peghead.

leftyglo wrote:Hey all, just need some advice as to what exact model bass I own...any help would be appreciated. I think from memory, that its from around 1984. A PMC model maybe? How much would one of these go for if I was to sell? Still all original etc. Thanks. Here's the photograph.

It could be a pretty early V63 judging from the photo- from what I see it has an early 4003 tailpiece with the extra screws.

Hey there, back again!
If it is this early PMC model, could it be quite rare?, If so approximate value? It has a few dings here, and there, I did gig with it for quite a few years!! Ouch.

Actually if it is as early as we might think(1984), it is simply a 4001V63 LH. It was the only way one of these basses would have been made left handed at the time.

The lefty 'mirror image' pegheads did not appear until around 1988.

leftybass wrote:Actually if it is as early as we might think(1984), it is simply a 4001V63 LH. It was the only way one of these basses would have been made left handed at the time.

The lefty 'mirror image' pegheads did not appear until around 1988.

Thanks for that info, John!

Paul or John, correct me if what I say is wrong in ANY way.........I thought that ALL V63 basses--even Lefty versions--had the headstock in the non-reverse positions.
And that the ONLY V63 with the Reverse headstock was the PMC model.

I have owned both basses. My '91 V63 headstock is non-reverse. Up 'til the time I took ownership of said bass...ALL lefties I had ever seen had the reverse headstock.
So....I was surprised to see a Lefty with non-reverse headstock. THIS was the way I could personally identify a 4001V63

So...am I correct in saying that the ONLY Lefty V63 with the reverse headstock is the PMC model??? If so, then the bass the OP has is the PMC version.

Hope this wasn't confusing.

Since the V63 started in '84, and if what John says about RIC starting the "non reverse" headstock for lefties in '88 is correct, then any lefty V63 made in interim would have "reverse" headstocks. Now, that doesn't mean there were a lot of them. I think the PMC option (I know RIC made it a separate SKU, but I call it an option) came in AFTER the "non reverse" lefty headstock came about in '88. No tellin' how many we're talking about, but there can't have been a lot.

Thank You Paul...and John.
I must admit I am still somewhat confused. I guess what you both are saying is....model designation/headstock direction depends on the year of production.

My PMC was THE most beautiful bass I have ever owned.