Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What years did 4004's have chunky necks? Was it the same timeline as the 4003's? I'm starting to get interested in them and don't know much about them and have never seen one up close. (Can't find them in stores around here). Any info would be helpful.
Thanks

"Problys" 2004-2008.
And of course that will vary...i have a Laredo and a Cii from different seasons of 2004,and the necks on them feel very different...personally i think the new neck profile,even while slimmer,feels chunkier because of the very rounded C shape profile the company has gone to in recent years. My '98 Ci feels about the slimmest of my 3 4004 basses.....

The 2008 4004L I got from Dan Basica has a wide neck but not particularly thick front to back. While ergonomically this might be challenging to some, I would also place it as one of the most even-responding and punchiest sounding basses I've ever owned. No weak E here... No weak anything. It's only a hunch but I've observed that strings like plenty of real estate on the fingerboard.

My 2010 4004 still had the wider tapered neck. Sometime around 2012 they started sharing their neck blank with the 4003, which gave them a narrower taper. I wouldn't consider a 4004 any earlier than that for this reason, unless I was doing a five string conversion.

Thanks guys.

The difference between my "baseball bat" 2004 Laredo and the "trim & slim" 1975 4001 is top of the fingerboard to the back of the neck - drum roll please -

1 millimeter.

22 mm versus 23 mm.

There is also a difference in the profile - the 75 is a "D" all the way to the first fret, then merges with the headstock. The Laredo is a D profile until about the 3rd to 4th fret, becomes a more "C" profile then merges with headstock.

The Laredo/Cheyene of my vintage also has a wider neck above the 12th fret.