Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

OK, question, what bobbin and pole pieces were used on the early 80's re-issue horsies? I understand they were slotted pole pieces put weren't the dome top pole piece adorning the same vintage high gains?? was thsi a special bobbin and a special pup?? What were they wound to??

Sepp

Hey Sepp-
IIRC mine had a black fiber bobbin with pan-head pole screws. They were wide head similar to a Lollar.
I can't remember if they were slot head or not, but I kinda think they were.
I never knew the DC resistance.
Justin Pulvirenti now owns it. He's on Facebook, so he might be able to answer at least the DC resistance question.

John,

Thanks for the reply. Fotos have been posted on a real pre re-issue horsie here on the RRF. The pup seems to be like nothing that was offered before. While the pole heads are slotted, the heads are much wider than the late 60's - early 70's hi-gains. I imagine these were used for a very short period of time until the magnetic shoes were gone and the faux shoes were introduced. if I land the one for sale, I'll report back that the resistance the neck pup and the treble bobbin are.

It's been said the early v63's were made with a lot of spare vintage parts and maybe even bodies. Not sure I'm buying that. Mono jacks went out in 1968 and anyone that has felt a 68 neck knows those were not duplicated afterward. Left over body wings and headstock wings? Maybe, but how could that be substantiated and what would it matter in the grand scheme. The necks on the v63's are all the "new" truss rod system so it does not make sense the RIC would have re-machined left over mid 60's necks they just had laying around to make v63's out of. Machine heads look chrome not nickel and the ferruls are not the 60's type used with the Kluson's. I'd like to believe a bunch of vintage parts were used but I highly doubt it. Sorry to be such a downer. JH, care to chime in on the topic?

Sepp

For what its worth, I have a December 1984 4001V63 and it has non-magnetic shoes and slug pickup pole pieces. Also two truss rods, as expected.

When the B series first came out in '82, I heard many say (dealers too) that Rickenbacker was using old parts.
The first RI toasters were nothing like the ones made up to '73.
They were the "hot" ones.
And the wishful thinking that the V's were made from spares is just that as well.
Mine was completely different from an original; I played them side by side at Sam Ash in NYC in '85. ( The 4001V63 I bought and a '64 4001FG).
And yes, the first horsies are nothing like the originals (pretty close in some respects) but boy were they a beautiful sight to behold in late '84!

FWIW- The horsie in my '84 was pretty unbalanced as far is string volume went. The G string was pretty weak when I bought it.
I wonder if that was one of the reasons that Rick quickly redesigned the pickup....

this is the HS in my April 85 V63

Interesting debate as ever.

What we have seen over the last couple of years, especially with the NOS 4002 bodies resurfacing, (and those of us with very long memories) is that very little of value ever got thrown away from the old factory. In the quest for a very accurate RI of a 60's bass, does it seem totally unreasonable that the very first few examples may have had some NOS parts? The fact that original horseshoes are being used, should tell us something...

More pics of Andy's magnetic HS PU.

Cool. Thank you Jeff!

Wow then mine is really rare and historically significant -- perhaps the first V63 issued with non-magnetic horseshoes! LOL

Also maybe Andy's was the last V63 to be issued with real magnetic shoes?

Definitely a time of transition.

Or whatever.

Jeff,

Thanks for posting the fotos of the early 80's magnetic horseshoe pup!! They certainly look like the wide spread type on the 1968 4001's! While the earlier horseshoe magnets ends were not bent parallel with one another, the one in your fotos shows quite an arc. So when did the first v63's start rolling out off the assembly line?? I think it was in 1984 but does anyone have an idea when in 1984? It seems by the end of 1984 the shoes were no longer the magnetic type. I wonder how many instrument left RIC with real magnetized horseshoes.

So while the v63 was called a 4001, it actually had the new conventional truss rods found in the 4003?? So there are no hairpin rods in early v63's??

Ron, in the foto you provided, the truss rod shot looks ot have the aluminum black of the early hairpin truss rods, that's why I'm asking. I was under the impression it used the 4003 rods but the block has me questioning that.

Sepp

Kopfjaeger wrote:Ron, in the foto you provided, the truss rod shot looks ot have the aluminum black of the early hairpin truss rods, that's why I'm asking. I was under the impression it used the 4003 rods but the block has me questioning that.

Sepp

I noticed that, also.

The plot thickens...

Kopfjaeger wrote: So there are no hairpin rods in early v63's??
Ron, in the foto you provided, the truss rod shot looks ot have the aluminum black of the early hairpin truss rods, that's why I'm asking. I was under the impression it used the 4003 rods but the block has me questioning that.
Sepp

From what I can gather from a sampling of photos of 4003 models in the Register, the one-piece pickguard on the 4003 starts showing up around July 1986, replacing the two-piece guard. So that's likely when the 4003 rod design was changed and the 4003 rods became headstock-adjustable. I am thinking therefore that the truss rods in my 1984 4001V63 must be the 4001 hairpin variety.

PS I provided the truss rod shot because there was an implication that older one-rod necks may have been used for the early V63 models. Not so.

Ron, I think you've got it! I hadn't thought about the overlap of the "more vintage" looking V63 with the reverse-loaded truss rods of the early 4003. To make the V63 look more vintage, it should not have the split pickguard (which was a feature on some of the less-vintage-looking "B" model basses). So it would still have the hairpin rods in 1984 (and through early '86 most likely) but loaded the old-fashioned way with the adjusting nuts at the headstock. I'm going to have to make note of that if ever I revise the book.