Vintage Bass Guitars – Rickenbacker 4000 Series
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Rickenbacker is known as the company that produced the first modern electric guitar. With the 4000 model they introduced their first electric bass in 1957 which was one of the earliest vintage bass guitars ever produced.
History 101
One of the more interesting things I found is that the Rickenbacker name has become synonymous for excellent modern electric and bass guitars even though Rickenbacker himself was not involved.
Adolph Rickenbacher (original spelling) emigrated from Switzerland. In the 1920s his tool and die shop began manufacturing metal bodies for instruments which were made by the National String Instrument Corp.
It was through his association with this company that he became partners with Paul Barth and George Beauchamp and the trio formed the Ro-Pat-In Company, which produced the first ever cast aluminum lap steel guitar in 1932.
One year later the company became known as Electro String Instrument Corp which was known simply as Electro String and in 1934 it became Rickenbacker Electro String, in honor of its principal partner.
In 1940 Beauchamp would leave the company and in 1953 Rickenbacker would sell his interests to F.C. Hall. It was the sale to Hall that marked the beginning of the modern Rickenbacker era.
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 1959 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 similar to the 4001 design but with dot inlays and no bindings.
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 fretboard. 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 1967–1985 and was a limited-edition bass but had humbucker pickups instead of horseshoe pickups. They also created another version of the 4001 starting in 1979 called the 4003. This model used a different truss-rod system in order to accommodate round-wound strings and 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
Collectibility
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.
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