Do I want a Rickenbacker bass?

[51PRI]

A local musician and friend has a 1973 4001 that he wants to sell. He's 79 and thinks he needs to sell some things. He says that this bass has things about it that lead him to believe that it is a transition model. I know nothing about Ricks except I like the sound of them. He may bring it to our gig this weekend. I don't know if I want to spend $3K on a Rick, and I really want a Stingray too, but if I did what should I look for as being the correct features of a '73 and what might be transition features?

Thanks!

 

[Gervais Cote]

Give it a serious try before buying it, it’s not for everyone.

 

[onda'bass]

for me, its a hard pass.

 

[5StringBlues]

Pics in the Rick club would go a long way, lotsa cats in there know their stuff.

 

[Webtroll]

I've had a few 70s Rics including a 74 4000. Nice basses if you are into the Ric thing, not so much if you're not. I replaced the aftermarket SD pickup with a Ric HB1 and it was a beast. That said I doubt I'll buy another. I rarely play 4 strings.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

The crew over in the Rickenbacker Owner's Club knows the answer to this and every Rickenbacker bass question ever asked.

My unsolicited input is get a newer one for around 2k if you're just looking to try a Rick.

 

[JC BASS 91]

I had always wanted a Ric because I love the look and the the unique tone. However, every one that I tried was a 4003 and I just could NOT get past the thick neck profile.

I stumbled on my August 1974 40001 in January of 2023 in a local pawn shop. I walked out paying $3200 cash out the door for it, down from the $3500 they were asking. It has the "rare" red side dots on the neck and other than the tuners, is all original and had the original hard case as well. For a while, I felt kind of guilty about spending that, but I gotta say, I have ZERO regrets at this point. The only thing I did was add a Treble Bezel to it and put on some new strings.

If the one he is selling looks as good as mine does, and everything works, if it was me, I wouldn't hesitate to drop that coin again to have another one!

Here is my NBD thread for mine.

Here is a pic of those really neat red side dots. I love these!

Best of luck!

 

[Sufenta]

Rics are one of those basses that every player at least should try in their journey. Pretty sure that was the bass I unloaded to get my Spector which has been my #1 since 2015.

 

[51PRI]

Thanks guys. It is actually a '73. I've changed the original post.

 

[Lo-E]

Give it a serious try before buying it, it’s not for everyone.

Absolutely! I have a 4001 and a 4003 but I tried many, many Rics before finding two that I liked and I still play my other basses more often.

They look and sound amazing but they’re a little peculiar to play, especially if you’re used to Fendery shapes. The ergonomics are definitely not universally loved.

 

[DrBnz]

Unless you just have cash to blow I'd pass. Ric's are fun and everybody should try one, once. But I dunno about everybody wanting to own one. In my mind I just don't see / feel $3k worth of enjoyment.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

A local musician and friend has a 1973 4001 that he wants to sell. He's 79 and thinks he needs to sell some things. He says that this bass has things about it that lead him to believe that it is a transition model. I know nothing about Ricks except I like the sound of them. He may bring it to our gig this weekend. I don't know if I want to spend $3K on a Rick, and I really want a Stingray too, but if I did what should I look for as being the correct features of a '73 and what might be transition features?

Thanks!

I had a 74 4001 and a year or two before they changed from the herringbone binding for the body to solid white. And the toaster pickups changed to the one’s with 4 humps. The Name plate was still the plexiglass over the printing as opposed to the newer ones with raised lettering.

One thing for sure a Rick the is nothing like a Stingray. For me, I thought the Rich with a good ROS setup was incredible. Played in mono was nothing real special. Personally, my Rick pretty much stayed in its case for 34 years after I sold off my ROS set up in favor of Fender basses. I ended up selling it to funds a business venture.

Given a choice between the two, I’d definitely opt the Stingray. It would have to be an incredible instrument to get me to to pay $3,000 for a 50+ year old electric bass.

 

[Dabndug]

An early '73 4001 will have full width inlays, checker board binding, a toaster neck pickup, an aluminium "gap-tooth" tailpiece, and wavy Grover tuners. Over the course of the year, the tailpiece changed to the cast Zinc (with no gap), the inlays shrank, and the binding became plain. I have seen some late '73s with Kluson "reverse" tuners - Grovers and Klusons were both used in '74, and Grovers may have lasted into '75.

The neck pickup will be 1/2 inch from the end of the fretboard. It was moved to the current 1 inch spacing in '75. The truss rod cover will be flat plexi. The moulded plastic TRC was introduced in '75.

With Rickenbackers, there is often some overlap as features transition.

Basses with all the early '73 features are considered more desirable from a collector's point of view, and usually attract a price premium as a result.

The usual caveats for 4001s concerning potential truss rod abuse apply.

 

[Iridescentone]

A local musician and friend has a 1973 4001 that he wants to sell. He's 79 and thinks he needs to sell some things. He says that this bass has things about it that lead him to believe that it is a transition model. I know nothing about Ricks except I like the sound of them. He may bring it to our gig this weekend. I don't know if I want to spend $3K on a Rick, and I really want a Stingray too, but if I did what should I look for as being the correct features of a '73 and what might be transition features?

Thanks!

Maybe "things" like no checkered binding or crushed glass slash inlays? For that much $$ I'd want all the fancy accoutrements that came on the original 4001. That will never happen though, people are paying ridiculous prices for vintage Rics.

 

[ajkula66]

If I ever came across a '73 4001 that had a neck profile I could live with and was not riddled with major issues for $3K, I'd pull out the money and run. But that's me. And I don't care for StingRays one bit...

Happy shopping.

 

[urkel3000]

I thought I wanted one until I played one

 

[bigdaddybass12]

No!

 

[DaveParker39]

Ya gotta play one. That's the only way to know.

 

[Five or Six]

My choice, and only mine is the Stingray. I've had both and prefer what the Stingray offers. Altogether sound n feel. Like what others have said, the Ric is a love / hate bass.

 

[BassicJazzy]

I owned a Rick 4001 from '72 till '84. I believe it was either a '71 or a '72, I bought it new. Full width sharks tooth inlays, Rick-O-Sound plus normal output, etc. It was a beautiful instrument, but it was heavy and a bit of a neck diver. I never had any trouble with it, the neck never needed adjustment even though I had all kinds of strings on it. It sounded and played best with nickel rounds, and with the Rick-O-sound output going to two separate preamps.

My '72 had none of the QC problems you hear about in the current production lines.

IMO it's worth owning one just for the looks of them. Beautiful instruments. On the other hand, they don't play as well as some of the more modern basses (like Ibanez), and lack preamps like the Stingrays or Sadowsky. If you can afford it, consider it money spent on a piece of art.