Rickenbacker Guitars

I’m listing this guitar for my neighbor that just became widowed. She said that she and her husband owned a music store in the 1960’s and they also played in a small band. Her husband bought this Rickenbacker new and used it up until 1980 when he finally quit playing in the band. It has been carefully stored since then. She wasn’t positive of the year it is but guessed somewhere between 1961 and 1965. I’m sure the Rickenbacker fans out there in our eBay community will be able to pin point the exact year. Anyway he left her with very little but this guitar and he told her it was worth around $2000 or so. I hope we can help her out. Email any questins and I'll get you answer right away. Jim

  Rickenbacker Bass four string, electric 

        Solid body Model Number 4000

        Serial # GF 2738

        One owner, beautiful, pride in ownership, stored last 30 years, includes the original hard-shell deluxe case.

Handmade in the USA, a Rickenbacker model 4000 stereo bass is a great sounding bass that plays fantastic, the cool fire glo finish that looks great, other than some normal player wear this is a great vintage Ric bass that sounds amazing.

The Rickenbacker 4000 was one of the earliest electric bass guitars being launched in 1957, just six years after the first modern bass the Fender Precision. The instrument was designed by Roger Rossmeisl and was unique in many ways. The 'cresting wave' shape became an instantly recognizable Rickenbacker signature, still in use today, but more importantly this was the first bass to feature a through neck design; the neck is not separate from the body, rather it goes 'through' the body, with the upper and lower wings glued to the central piece. This construction method allows greater sustain than the bolt-on (Fender) or glued joint (Gibson)

• 33½in scale, 20 frets, rosewood fingerboard with dot markers


• Maple solid body with through-neck. Neck woods varied over the year, mahogany, maple and walnut, sometimes laminated, sometimes not


• Maplego, Fireglo, or color finishes


• No binding


• One pickup, one volume and one tone control


• Nickel, chrome or black plated hardware


• A fretless version 4000FL was also available

• 1957 Launched at a price of $279.50. Gold scratch plate. Mahogany one-piece neck. Horseshoe single coil pickup


• 1958 Gold or white scratch plate


• 1963 White scratch plate only


• 1964 Pickup design changed


• 19XX Black scratch plate optional


• 1984 Discontinued

Production

The Rickenbacker 4000, manufactured from 1957-1985, were unique vintage bass guitars. They had a “cresting wave” shape that was easily recognizable and is still used to this day in other models. More importantly it was the first bass featuring the neck-through-body design whereas the neck is not a separate piece but goes through the body of the guitar which allows for greater sustain.

 Notice the cresting wave design on this 1961 Ric 4000 bass

Their most popular model, the 4001 series, was manufactured from 1961–1986. This was basically a 4000 deluxe version with two pickups instead of one, a bound body and triangle inlays. The 4001S model would follow from 1964-1985 and was basically similar to the original 4000 design but had two pickups.

The 4001S (a.k.a. export model 1999) would become famous as it was used by Paul McCartney, who would alternate it with his Hofner 500/1. McCartney made changes to his 4001S by reshaping the body and making a zero fret board. In 2001, Rickenbacker decided to recreate McCartney’s redesigned version and produced the 4001 C64S model.

The 4001S would gain even more fame as the signature bass for Chris Squire. In fact, Rickenbacker manufactured the 4001 CS (Chris Squire) bass from 1991–1997.

The 4002 model was produced from 1977–1985 and was a deluxe version of the 4001. They also created another deluxe version of the 4001 starting in 1979 called the 4003. This model is still in production today.

There was also a 4005 hollow-body bass produced from 1965–1984 which did not look like their other basses but instead resembled their 360-370 guitars. They also manufactured the 4005-6 six string bass from 1965-1977 and the 4005-8 eight string bass during the late 60s, which was replaced by the 4008 in the 70s.

1957 Rickenbacker 4000 Specs

These were the specifications for the original 1957 model:

• Cresting wave solid body and headstock design
• Neck-through construction, 33.5” scale length, 20 frets
• Double truss rods, adjustable bridge
• Single horseshoe pickup with 1 volume and 1 tone control
• Mahogany neck, maple body, natural wood grain finish

Collectability

The original 1957 Rickenbacker 4000 bass is very rare indeed. So rare in fact that I can’t find one that’s been sold within the past several years. The last one I heard of sold for around $20k in 2006, so I don’t think you’ll be running into one anytime soon.

As of this writing there is currently a 1959 Ric 4000 for sale (similar to the one shown above) for $21k which tells you that the 1957 model will run you even more than that.

By comparison a brand new 2010 Ric 4003 bass will run you about $2k.

To put it into perspective, the original cost of the 1957 Rickenbacker 4000 vintage bass guitars was $279.50.