A couple of years ago, I played a new 4003. I liked the bass, except for two things. It had a strange, repaired finish glitch- something a $2500.00 bass really should have not passed quality control with. I also noticed the 33.25 scale, and I could feel it... I'm just old, and used to Fender 34" scale length.
After some thought, I decided I'd build my own, the way Rickenbacker should make one. I much prefer the simpler, less' flashy' 4001 S models, with the unbound, contoured bodies. I also like the dot position markers instead of the triangles. I actually prefer no dots or markers on the fingerboard. So, this instrument doesn't have any.
I measured a client's Rick basses, one 1974 4001, and two recent 4003 S models. I measured every possible thing, body depths, neck shapes and thicknesses, headstock dimensions, center neck billet lamination dimensions, and made some MDF templates. Rather than go into the pretty amazing differences in the shapes and features of 4000 series basses.. I'll just say, I refined all of them to get a final, pleasing to me shape to aim for. I laid out the templates, and saw that it was easily possible to build a 34" 4001-S clone/ copy.
This bass is all flamed maple, with a walnut center strip and walnut fingerboard. I made a gold anodized aluminum pickguard for it- it looks much better on this bass than a white plexi Rick factory one does. It has Hipshot ultralite clover head tuners, and a Hipshot bridge. Flat pickup surround with plexi finger ramp. It has a very thick fingerboard with a single dual acting truss rod. The neck is much stronger than a stock Rickenbacker bass.
I'm still waiting on the electronics, an Audere 4 band, four knob, which is the only active preamp that has pots small enough to fit inside this instrument. It should be done next week.
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Rick back crop 2 TB size.jpg [ 185.63 KiB | Viewed 22951 times ] |
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