Picked up a 1981 Rickenbacker 4001 on Friday. It looks pretty good for its age.
An here it is in action.
An here it is in action.
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NBD: Rick 4001
- Thread starter BadBassDrummer
- Start date
Great looking bass, mine was a 79' much thinner neck than the newer ones. How's the bridge, any tail lift?
Almost the same; the horns are fatter on his. I prefer the thinner ones, myself, but they are all great looking, nonetheless
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It is a black pickguard. I believe this is called a tuxedo. It is also missing the pickup cover.
I don't see any or it is very very minor. I think it is possible that the bridge is also a replacement, but I am not sure.
I don't know. It has been sitting at Bass Northwest in Seattle for months.Congrats!
I recall this one from a recent thread, due to the missing treble volume knob insert.
Maybe the one I'm thinking about had the missing insert on the bass volume knob. It was in the past couple of weeks that that thread was near the top.
I was looking at that thread also. If I remember correctly it had buckle rash on it. Mine has a scratch on the back but it isn't through the finish.
Almost the same; the horns are fatter on his. I prefer the thinner ones, myself, but they are all great looking, nonetheless
+1
I like the slimmer headstock as well, and especially the wavy Grovers.
Both are nice basses.
Very clean for their age.
Congrats to both of you!
The Tuxedos came much later, and had a black painted fretboard and black hardware also. This is a standard 4001 that someone swapped black plastic onto, or it was ordered as such. Sweet bass.
Ok thanks for the info. The guys in the shop were calling it a Tux. All I know is that I like the way it looks, plays and sounds which are the important parts.
Tuxedos were white painted, Blackstars were the Jetglo ones. The 2030GF was, also, all JG, including the fingerboard.
Here is a Blackstar, on the right, along with a Shadow.
Always loved the richenbacker tone, and looks. But the ergonomics are just wrong for me, I just can't get behind the feel of how it feels in my hands, it's really a bummer 
That Blackstar is soooooooooo badass! If I knew where to sell a Kidney I would, probably epensive, ou dont see too many of those.
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
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- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
I think this was just an excuse to post a pic of a bass player wearing shorts.
...get a rope.
...get a rope.
Yeah, "Tuxedo" has been used to describe just about every black or white variation of Ricks. As told in the book, Rickenbacker named ONLY the all-White version of the 4003SPC (1987); Rickenbacker named the all-Red version the "Redneck" and the all-Jetglo version the "Blackstar." All SPCs of this group featured black trim (pickguard and TRC) and blackened hardware (tuners, pickup surrounds, tailpiece). They were made from 4003S chassis, hence no binding and only mono output. Each featured tiny "pin dot" (RIC's term) position markers on the face of the painted fingerboards. The fingerboards, incidentally, are MAPLE, not bubinga. Lots more in the book.
