Rickenbacker Basses - A brief history and popular models
Adolph Rickenbacker founded Rickenbacker with two partners in 1932. The company was originally named Ro-Pat-In then in 1934, renamed to the more logical Electro String instrument corporation. The name "Rickenbacker " was also added to the head stock this year. Electro String sold a series of frying pan, lap steels and Electro Spanish guitars. In 1953 Rickenbacker sold the company to Francis Cary Hall. Rickenbacker entered the bass market with the 4000S bass introduced in 1954 however they became popular with the growth of Rock N Roll in the 60's and 70's. The first Rickenbacker basses featured a one piece neck however today most Rick basses guitars use neck-through-body designs. "Rickenbacker (aka RIC or Rick) basses have a distinctive sound, unique styling and enjoy loyal following. Rickenbacker basses have a unique feature called Ric O Sound (shard with RIC Guitars) which allows each pickup to be connected to a different amplifier by means of an extra output jack allowing better bass control. Our customers love Rickenbacker basses and we have a hard time keeping them in stock.
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4000 Photo Not Available
We have yet to find one nice
enough to sell - Send us a photo and we
will put your photo here ! |
The Rickenbacker model 4000
The Rickenbacker 4000 was the first Rickenbacker bass and featured a single horse shoe pickup. The model 4000 was last sold in 1984.
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The Rickenbacker model 4001 bass
The 4001 offered several improvements over the 4000. The 4001 added a second pickup improving tone and increasing bass. The 4001 was introduced in late 1961. Most 4001 bass guitars had a rosewood finger boards. Rick-O-Sound was an option beginning in 1971 and the horse shoe pickup disappeared around 1975. Production ended in 1986. The 4001S model was a "standard" model with no bindings with inlays.
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A 1976 4001 Rickenbacker in maple |
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A 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 bass in fireglow |
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4002 Photo Not Available
We have yet to find one nice
enough to sell - Send us a photo and we
will put your photo here ! |
The Rickenbacker 4002 Bass.
The 4002 Bass was introduced in 1981 and was a limited edition model. This was a Deluxe model featuring Birds eye Maple, fully bound neck, dual double truss rods, twenty one frets, 33 1/2 inch scale, Ebony fingerboard and pearl style inlays and two high gain humbucking pickups. Output jacks included mono and Rick-O-Sound Stereo. |
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The Rickenbacker model 4003
This bass was designed to utilize round wound strings and was introduced in 1979.
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Rick 4003 in fire glow |
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The Rickenbacker 4008 Bass
The 4008 Bass was an 8 string bass, here we have a nice black example! |
Rickenbacker 4008 in Black |
Geddy Lee of Rush, Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder, Paul McCartney and Chris Squire
