Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi Everyone
I've got a '76 4001 that I've had since the late 90's, bought it off a friend who had it since sometime in the 80s.
Its a great bass but its always been a bit strange as it has dot inlays (rather than triangles), with a bound body and neck, it doesnt seem to match up to any specific model I can find.
As far as I can tell its either a 4001fl fretless that has been fretted at some point or it was a custom order, just wondering if anyone had any thoughts, suggestions about which one you think it might be? Happy to take some more photos of any specific areas if that helps at all in identifying it.
I haven't added it to the register just yet as I wanted to correctly identify it when I did, but the Serial number is PH6013 which comes back as August 1976
Cheers
Tim

Does it have side dot markers? It’s a bit difficult to tell from the pictures.
If it hasn’t that may support the theory of it having once been fretless?

Its got black side dot markers, they are in the middle of the frets where they would be for a fretted version. There is a double dot on the 12th fret

You could ve right about having a 4001FL that was fretted, though exceptions with appointments did occasionally happen.
Dots on my 75 4001FL:

Does the fretboard have string wear marks?

It doesn't seem to have fretboard wear that I'd associate with a fretless but its had frets since at least sometime in the 80s when my friend bought it so it might not have had time to get that wear before someone put in the frets.
Rickenbrother, your fretless looks great, it looks like its got side dots at every fret (where the frets would be) rather than mine which only has them at the same spots as the inlays (inbetween the frets), I'm assuming that fretless models had the side dots on every fret like yours but maybe some didnt? Does anyone know?

Just thought I'd add a couple of shots of the interior of the bass. It has some writing in the cavity which looks to be "4001 - a w" under the controls and then "W" or "3" under the neck pickup. No idea what that means other than its a 4001

BlackRick wrote: Wed May 13, 2026 7:13 pm Rickenbrother, your fretless looks great, it looks like its got side dots at every fret (where the frets would be) rather than mine which only has them at the same spots as the inlays (inbetween the frets), I'm assuming that fretless models had the side dots on every fret like yours but maybe some didnt? Does anyone know?

You're right, my 4001FL has a dot where every fret would have been. It's a great player that sounds sweet.

That's a very interesting bass!
Not trying to rule anything out but something comes to mind. The ends of the frets on 4001 basses with bound necks are usually covered by the binding. Here's an example on a 79 4001..
It's a little hard to tell but it looks like the ends of the frets on your bass are exposed and on top of the binding. This would seem to indicate frets were installed later.

bassdroid wrote: Sat May 16, 2026 8:59 am That's a very interesting bass!
Not trying to rule anything out but something comes to mind. The ends of the frets on 4001 basses with bound necks are usually covered by the binding. Here's an example on a 79 4001..

Screenshot_20260516-084004_Reverb.jpg

It's a little hard to tell but it looks like the ends of the frets on your bass are exposed and on top of the binding. This would seem to indicate frets were installed later.

Good Spot! I'd never thought of that! Yeah the frets on mine are exposed and over the top of the binding, so looks like they have definitely been added later which adds to the theory it was a fretless originally. The only weird thing now is that the side dots are lined up with the inlay dots on frets 3, 5, 7, 9,12, 15, 17 and 19 (like a fretted bass) rather than lined up where the frets would be, on every fret, like a fretless would/should be??

BlackRick wrote: Sat May 16, 2026 8:48 pm

bassdroid wrote: Sat May 16, 2026 8:59 am That's a very interesting bass!
Not trying to rule anything out but something comes to mind. The ends of the frets on 4001 basses with bound necks are usually covered by the binding. Here's an example on a 79 4001..

Screenshot_20260516-084004_Reverb.jpg

It's a little hard to tell but it looks like the ends of the frets on your bass are exposed and on top of the binding. This would seem to indicate frets were installed later.

Good Spot! I'd never thought of that! Yeah the frets on mine are exposed and over the top of the binding, so looks like they have definitely been added later which adds to the theory it was a fretless originally. The only weird thing now is that the side dots are lined up with the inlay dots on frets 3, 5, 7, 9,12, 15, 17 and 19 (like a fretted bass) rather than lined up where the frets would be, on every fret, like a fretless would/should be??

It is possible that strip of binding was replaced, since having the fret markers on the frets would have been a bit unusual. Also possible would have been to drill out and fill in the original side dots with white material and redrill the side dots in the correct positions. Though I suspect you would be able to see some evidence of that. More likely they simply replaced that strip of binding.

On the '04 4003FL I had the fingerboard and side dots are positioned just like a fretted bass.

jps wrote: Sun May 17, 2026 11:54 am On the '04 4003FL I had the fingerboard and side dots are positioned just like a fretted bass.

My 4003FL has the side dots placed like the 4003.

Ah, makes sense. Especially since the position markers on the fingerboard also appear to be aligned as they would be on a fretted bass. More economical to manufacture too.

bassdroid wrote: Sun May 17, 2026 3:00 pm Ah, makes sense. Especially since the position markers on the fingerboard also appear to be aligned as they would be on a fretted bass. More economical to manufacture too.

Yes, given enough tries we are usually able to make sense of all things Rickenbacker. But then again, that is at least half the fun of turning our insides out.