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For sale Rickebacker 4001v63 Fireglo -- $2499!!!

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$2,399.00
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4
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Boy... the Universe can be a nasty one, sometimes... keeps throwing me curve balls.

Just convinced myself I wasn't gonna sell it... so much for that. Bills, bills, bills.

Details to come... no trade offers, please.

PM me if interested... Thanks.


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May 20, 2009
1,343
948
Berkeley, California
BUMP! Still available, after all.

Here is some information about the bass from its previous owner... the lovely and talented, Mr. Jeff Scott!!!


Details on the V63:

-Pickguardian pickguard shaped more like a C64 making it more like it should be on a 1963 instrument (no new screw holes were drilled, I used all the original locations), and a Pickguardian plexi finger rest. You should have the original pickguard, also.

-The original 12K toaster was replaced with a 7.4K scatterwound toaster.

- The bass dates to April 1998, in fact, there is a RIC sticker inside the control cavity showing the date as 4/15/98. Your choice of Tax Day or John Hall's birthday!

There were other mods I had done while I had the bass but those were all reversed when I sold the bass to keep the price reasonable; I had a real '60s magnetic horseshoe pickup in it and a mid '60s TRC (those two items would have raised the price by about $1500).

IIRC, the latest known date for a V63 is sometime in 2002, Paul Boyer might have a more exact timeframe in his book.
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Oh yeah, one other thing. I bent the shoes up, this was before RIC started doing the HS pickups like mine.

Also, I put the Schaller strap buttons on it.

I once had a chat with Jeff about the bass; as there was a fellow who was interested in it, but who also had many questions about how the v63 compared to a Chris Squire model. Jeff had the following things to say:

The CS model was always based on the V63, with only some cosmetic differences (paint color, headstock wings and fingerboard wood). I have compared your V63 with a CS that a friend of mine had for a while, they were pretty much identical as far as closing one's eyes and playing them. I hope he's not planning on refinishing this bass into a CS "look-a-like", as V63s have much love, interest, and most particularly, value, in their own right. Personally, I'd ask him what he plans to do with the bass, it would be a real shame to make a fake CS out of this, or any, V63. If so, his thinking is kind of backwards as Chris' bass originally was what a V63 is supposed to represent, essentially.

There is so much information out there regarding all the Rick pickup types that explains what makes a scatterwound (or vintage toaster) different from a high output 12K toaster. Outside of the output differences (which is not a huge difference, it's more about tone) the only things different is the 4 screws in the corner of the pickup (not visible anyway as it is underneath the pickguard!) are slotted on the sw/v pickup vs. Phillips head screws on the hot pickup, and the black bars on the top of the pickup have round molding marks (dimples) at the ends of them. Scatterwound pickups are more desirable than the HG version (which was relatively shortlived, too) as they are much like vintage toasters in detail and sound (when they were new).

The RI horseshoe pickup is exactly the same as that found on a CS bass. The one on yours has had the shoes bent up as they currently are being made by RIC. This looks more vintage correct and allows for a greater range of height adjustment downward as this pickup is pretty high output. I was the first to do this (on two different RI HS PUs, the one you have is the second, more refined one), in fact, (I have it on very good authority that this is so) RIC started doing the shoes this way due to the pickup in your bass.
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Weight? ...No clue, I never weighted it, sorry. As a best guess (in Spock's voice) around 9 1/4 lbs.
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Some folks unwind the pickup to get the output lower, not an uncommon thing to do; IIRC, Seymour Duncan does this service, among several others.

The horseshoes are solid mild steel, according to John Hall, who I spoke with a few times about these pickups (in fact, it was due to these discussions that the current crop of RI HS PUs are bent up, proof that RIC does indeed listen to their customers!). Yours is the second one I bent the shoes on and yours was a better method that a machinist and I came up with. We used a 3/8" threaded stud with two nuts on it that was placed in the "throat" of the shoes and then the nuts were turned opposite to each other with wrenches to spread the tangs of the shoes outward; thin shims were placed between the nuts and the shoes to prevent any marring of those inner surfaces. Of course to do this the shoes were removed from the pickup, a very simple thing to do by removing four screws under the pickup, two for each shoe.

The standard bridge pickup cover that is on later 4001 and all 4003 models is plastic that has been copper flashed and then chrome plated (so that is what you may see that is plastic underneath with the chrome peeling off if damaged). There is a difference between horseshoes and cover. Even on the RI HS PUs there is some magnetic affect that the shoes provide as they are steel, although they can be removed, if desired, and shims put on the pickups in their place. These shims are necessary to compensate for the thickness of the shoes to prevent damage from the screws that go into the pickup bobbin (the same screws that hold the shoes and bobbin to the base plate).

I am glad you are keeping the bass, these are truly collectible and worth keeping around.


Oh, if only that last part were true.

PM me if you're interested... and, thanks.
 
Last edited:
May 20, 2009
1,343
948
Berkeley, California
Curious, How does it sound with the PuP cover off?
I couldn't tell you; as I've never taken it off!

I'll ask Jeff Scott, previous owner and all around Rickenbacker Wizard... he'll likely have some answers for us both!

Of course, you could always just PM him... he's awesome; and always thrilled to talk Rics!

More to come... and, thanks for your interest!!!
 

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