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Didn't those basses originally come with the horseshoe bridge PUP?

This is not a C64S, and as far as I can tell, it isn't even a C64. It looks like a re-branded 4001S.

A C64 should have vintage-style tone-knobs:


And a C64 should have a pickguard that goes all the way to the bridge surround, and the bridge surround should be trapezoidal, not square:



Yes, and this is not a reissue horseshoe pickup. The reissue horseshoe has very large silver pole pieces.

Just to be clear, the reissue horseshoe pickup works like a normal pickup (meaning the horseshoe isn't part of the pickup), but voiced to sound like the original horseshoe pickup as much as possible. It also has a gap in the pickup cover to look more like the original:


RIC did away with the "real" horseshoe pickup because they are notorious for losing their magnetism, which requires them to be re-gaussed.

I'm no Ric expert, but all of these attributes on one Ric bass seems odd:

- toaster pickup, 1" from neck
- two-piece neck
- open back tuners
- no binding, dot inlay
- serial 1982
- one-piece pick guard
- bridge with extra two screws near tail
- no center stripe

???

Geoff,
Good detective work! See my comments in red.

Yeah, nothing about this is right.

And no center stripe.

A 4003S with a toaster replacement?

An SB?

Great info, thanks. I knew it didn't look "right", but I'm not that knowledgeable on the various differences with Ricks.

Looks like a 4003SB to me.

I could be wrong but... I think the 4003SB would have stereo outputs. This mystery bass does not.

The listing has been changed to an SB. But I don't know that it is an SB, either. The SB would have the stereo output, a two-piece pickguard, and closed tuners.

On the other hand, I have heard that specs of the SB varied quite a bit, so maybe an SB is just whatever Rick decided to call an SB at the time.

Yeah, Rickenbacker replaced the Horseshoe bridge pick up, and the toaster at the neck, with Hi-Gains in late summer of 1973. They did away with the checkerboard binding a few months before that. I know; my '73 4001 was "born" in October, so I just missed out... Still has the "Wavy Grover" tuners, though... So, that one wouldn't have them, and IIRC, any Rick made after '73 with a Horse shoe, would have a Repro one. And yes, the original horse shoes did have problems with losing magnetism. John Hall has stated more than once that they were a nightmare to make, too. I know someone was making copies of the originals (can't remember who), until they got sued (there's a big surprise); I do remember reading that they said that yes, they were a royal PITA to make - and they were priced accordingly. I do know they settled out of court; whether the pickups are available or not, I couldn't say..