Considering a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001...

[LostJohnny]

I'm negotiating the purchase of a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001. I don't have a lot of experience with Ricks, so I was hoping the forum could advise me on what to look out for. Anybody notice any red flags in the photos? There is obviously the one replaced pickup, but beyond that it looks in good shape for a 40+ year-old instrument.

 

[sloppy_phil]

That picture of the DiMarzio pickup and instrument behind it is certainly not the same bass as that 4001. In fact, it may well be a guitar and not a bass at all. Not sure how the seller managed to sneak that in there! Nothing is jumping out at me from those pictures as "red flag" besides the obviously wrong photo.

Did they advertise the bass as having a replacement pickup, or is that just because of the pic?

 

[LostJohnny]

That picture of the DiMarzio pickup and instrument behind it is certainly not the same bass as that 4001. In fact, it may well be a guitar and not a bass at all. Not sure how the seller managed to sneak that in there! Nothing is jumping out at me from those pictures as "red flag" besides the obviously wrong photo.

Did they advertise the bass as having a replacement pickup, or is that just because of the pic?

Man, I was so focused on the pickup I completely missed that it was a completely different instrument! The owner did say it had a replacement pickup, but now I am going to have to ask specifically about that...

 

[rickdog]

Ask for pictures of the fingerboard/neck joint near the headstock. In that era, the truss rods were... different. Adjusting them the wrong way as if it were a Fender) could cause the fingerboard to separate from the neck (or even crack the neck or fingerboard).

 

[msb]

If you’re doing that ask for a pic of the trussrods as well , if they’ve been tightened without putting the neck in place they can get bent down .
Those early rods need a little more care when you tighten them , but they’re very stable once set , unless you’re changing string tension .

 

[WillyW]

better pics of the bridge pickup and the control cavity under the pickguard and side view of the neck at the headstock, both sides.

I'm getting the impression those pics have been skipped intentionally.

have you seen it in person?

if all that stuff is decent, it looks like a decent geetar, depending on the price.

you can never pay too much you can only buy too soon

 

[Rezdog]

Greetings from the North,

Me thinks... unless you are getting a sweet deal I would take a pass on this one. Yes it has some age to it but the neck looks a bit too banged up and the facial hardware has too much sweat/salt wear to it. There are ones in better shape out there. Just my opinion. Best of luck.

And yes I had a 78 and loved it.

Rezdog

 

[Avocett]

Looks in decent, but acceptably worn shape. Mind sharing what kind of price your getting for this? That would make a pretty big difference in whether or not it seems worth it. I would ask, and want pictures of the following

• Bridge pickup cover looks crooked, yeah most people remove these anyways, but why is it crooked?
• What pickup is under the bridge pickup cover? (Since they said one was replaced, maybe it's that one)
• Why is there a picture of a DiMarzio pickup on a totally different instrument? Is this the donor pickup that was installed, if so where. I've seen listings where someone says "swapped neck pickup for X, pics are old before the swap" Only to find out they are a moron and did a horrid job swapping the pickup
• Picture of the truss rod ends under the TRC, all kinds of stupid things can be hiding under there.
• Some pictures of the sides of the top of the fingerboard, since it can crack there from improper truss rod adjustment

 

[LostJohnny]

Looks in decent, but acceptably worn shape. Mind sharing what kind of price your getting for this? That would make a pretty big difference in whether or not it seems worth it. I would ask, and want pictures of the following

• Bridge pickup cover looks crooked, yeah most people remove these anyways, but why is it crooked?
• What pickup is under the bridge pickup cover? (Since they said one was replaced, maybe it's that one)
• Why is there a picture of a DiMarzio pickup on a totally different instrument? Is this the donor pickup that was installed, if so where. I've seen listings where someone says "swapped neck pickup for X, pics are old before the swap" Only to find out they are a moron and did a horrid job swapping the pickup
• Picture of the truss rod ends under the TRC, all kinds of stupid things can be hiding under there.
• Some pictures of the sides of the top of the fingerboard, since it can crack there from improper truss rod adjustment

The seller's agreed to $1900. Good point about the truss rod/fingerboard!

 

[WillyW]

The seller's agreed to $1900. Good point about the truss rod/fingerboard!

assuming there are no scary stuffs that sounds like a decent price

 

[msb]

It still has the .0047 capacitor . You might want to bypass that and get the full output of the bridge pickup . That made a world of difference to the sound of my old 4001 .
I love those later 4001 basses with the one inch spacing !

 

[Avocett]

The seller's agreed to $1900. Good point about the truss rod/fingerboard!

If none of the potential weirdness anyone has said to look out for is present, then $1900 seems pretty good for where the market price for 4001's is at the moment. Best 4001 price I've ever seen personally in the past few years was $1700 for the same color, with decently more wear. Hope it all checks out and you nab an awesome bass!

 

[GIBrat51]

It still has the .0047 capacitor . You might want to bypass that and get the full output of the bridge pickup . That made a world of difference to the sound of my old 4001 .
I love those later 4001 basses with the one inch spacing !

Well, if you don't want the original 4001 tone? Then do this, by all means. Personally? I had the push/pull treble tone pot installed in my '73 4001 - and get the best of both worlds. In fact, I did the same thing to my '01 4003, which came from the factory without the treble circuit capacitor - like they all did at the time. Like I said; best of both worlds...

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

In the third picture, the one of the back of the neck, there is a serious ding. That would be a deal killer for me. I had a bass that had a similar issue I got rid of because I would feel it with my thumb while playing and I found it very disconcerting.
I would pass because of that.

 

[moon-bass]

looks like a good deal to me. Hell, if you don't buy it, would you mind passing the info to me? For that price I'd pick it up! Or, if you do buy it and decide it's not for you, hit me up. Either way, it looks like a sweet 4001 and I love mine! I'd love to have another in Fireglo!

 

[rojo412]

A buddy of mine was looking for a 4001 and the prices he found were all WAAAAAAY higher than that. So if it's legit (and the guitar pickup snafu was just an accidental pic thrown in, which has happened to me), you're on a decent deal. Again, assuming the truss rods and fingerboard are not fubar.

 

[Goatrope]

Looks more beat up than I’d expect. Is there a touched-up headstock crack beneath the rear of the G tuner? Get an unobstructed pic of the frets.

 

[Ric5]

That picture of the DiMarzio pickup and instrument behind it is certainly not the same bass as that 4001. In fact, it may well be a guitar and not a bass at all. Not sure how the seller managed to sneak that in there! Nothing is jumping out at me from those pictures as "red flag" besides the obviously wrong photo.

Did they advertise the bass as having a replacement pickup, or is that just because of the pic?

it looks like it was well cared for ...

the foil lining of the cavities is well done but not really necessary

 

[micguy]

The color of that one looks odd to me - my first bass was a fireglo 78 Ric, and my memory is that it had much more of a “burst” look - much lighter in the center than at the edges. Maybe it’s my memory fading?

 

[Single Coil]

I have some concern about the area around the bridge. It’s hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the binding behind the bridge is wrong, and the position of the bridge seems too close to the edge of the body. I hope I’m wrong. I have included a picture of my 4003.