Rickenbacker 4001
A 1977 Rickenbacker 4001
Manufacturer	Rickenbacker
Period	1961–1981[1]
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bound (or unbound maple 4001S model)
Scale	33.25 in (845 mm) (long scale) 30.5 in (770 mm) (short scale)[2]
Woods
Body	Bound maple (and unbound maple 4001S Model)
Neck	Maple, Walnut
Fretboard	Bubinga, Rosewood, Maple
Hardware
Pickup(s)	2 single coil toaster/horseshoe pickups (early models),[2] 2 single coil Hi-Gain pickups (later models)
Colors available
Fireglo (Cherry Sunburst), Autumnglo (Tobacco Sunburst), Burgundyglo (Red), Jetglo (black), Mapleglo (natural) and Azureglo (blue)[2]

The Rickenbacker 4001 is an electric bass that was manufactured by Rickenbacker as a two-pickup "deluxe" version of their first production bass, the single-pickup model 4000. This design, created by Roger Rossmeisl, was manufactured between 1961 and 1981, when it was replaced by an updated version dubbed the Rickenbacker 4003.^[3] Variant models of the 4001 include the 4001S, 4001LH, 1999 (European model), 4001V63 (reissue), 4001CS (a limited edition series based on Chris Squire's 1965 British model RM1999) and the 4001C64 and 4001C64S: the C Series is a recreation of Paul McCartney's left-handed 4001S with a reversed headstock. There are also Al Cisneros (4003 AC) and Lemmy Kilmister (4004 LK) signature versions of the instrument.

Construction

The 4001 model features a neck-through construction, a full-wood body, fretboard with metal strings (originally flat-wound, though many players replaced them with round-wounds), twin truss rods, triangle inlays, two pickups, two volume and two tone dials, selector switch,^[2] and wiring for Rick-O-Sound (standard after 1971).^[1] Rickenbacker also produced six-string and 12 string guitars and a short-scale bass, the 3000 model.^[2] The bridge system is a relatively unusual design, both in aesthetics and in function, featuring removable saddles, as well as a compartment designed to hold a foam mute.

A 2020 CieloGlo 4003S, showing the lack of body/neck binding and dot fret inlays

The 4001S (and 1999) model varies in its use of dot inlays, and unbound neck construction.^[2] The Rickenbacker 4003, which replaced the 4001, differs in the truss rod design and introduces a fret wire that better withstands the wear from round-wound strings (fast fret wear was a common complaint for many years, and Rickenbacker strived to address the issue). The pickups are also higher in output, and the bridge pickup, a so-called "horseshoe" pickup, was entirely remodelled, featuring a more conventional design, although the "horseshoe", albeit removable is still part of the construction, for aesthetic purposes. More recent 4003 models also feature a push-pull switch on one of the tone knobs, which diminishes the output of the pickups, to more closely resemble the original 4001 tone. Other features remained similar to its forebear.

Rickenbacker has in recent years also produced a five-string model, featuring a more conventional bridge system, smaller Schaller machine heads and distinctive, asymmetrical pickups. It retains the Rickenbacker's signature 33" scale length, an unusual design for a five-string instrument. Between the years 1993 and 2018 Rickenbacker also manufactured a streamlined model, named the 4004, that used the 4001's trademark shape but featured smaller pickups, a simplified control layout, a more conventional bridge system and eschewed the use of aesthetic details such as binding or a pickguard.

Notable players

• Barry Adamson of Magazine (also in Buzzcocks, Visage and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
• Becky Baldwin of Fury, touring bassist for Mercyful Fate
• Lou Barlow^[4] of Dinosaur Jr.
• John Bentley^[5] of Squeeze
• Cliff Burton^[6] of Metallica
• Geezer Butler^[7] of Black Sabbath
• Jon Camp of Renaissance^[8][9]
• Peter Cetera of Chicago^[10]
• Al Cisneros^[11] of Sleep and OM
• Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Creedence Clearwater Revisited, with a 4001 featured prominently on the Bayou Country album cover photograph
• Paul D'Amour of Tool
• John Deacon^[12] of Queen
• Joey DeMaio of Manowar
• Julie Doiron of Eric's Trip^[13]
• John Entwistle^[14] of The Who
• Bruce Foxton^[15] of The Jam
• Simon Gallup of The Cure
• Matt Gatera of The Seagulls
• Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees
• Ashley Kaldenhoven-Jones of Catastrophe and The Stinkes
• Roger Glover^[16] of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Episode Six
• Martin Gordon of Sparks and Radio Stars
• Graham Gouldman of 10cc
• Paul Gray of The Damned, Eddie & The Hot Rods and UFO
• Bob Hardy^[15] of Franz Ferdinand
• Haruko Haruhara, fictional character from the anime series FLCL
• Glenn Hughes^[17] of Deep Purple, Trapeze, and Black Country Communion
• Rick James^[18]
• Tony James of Generation X
• Inge Johansson^[19] of Against Me!
• Simon Johns of Stereolab
• Jesse F. Keeler^[15] of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT
• Lemmy Kilmister^[20][15] of Motörhead
• Dušan Kojić of Šarlo akrobata and Disciplina kičme
• Göran Lagerberg of Tages and Kebnekajse
• Audun Laading of Her's
• Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather
• Geddy Lee^[15][21] of Rush
• Phil Lynott^[22] of Thin Lizzy
• Dan Maines of Clutch
• Glen Matlock of Sex Pistols
• Paul McCartney^[15][23] of The Beatles and Wings
• Randy Meisner of Eagles^[24] and Poco
• Mike Mills of R.E.M.
• Mario Mutis of Los Jaivas
• Prescott Niles of the Knack
• Chuck Panozzo of Styx
• Charles Michael Parks Jr. of All Them Witches
• David Paton of Pilot and The Alan Parsons Project
• Tracy Pew of The Birthday Party
• Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin
• Scott Pilgrim, fictional character from the Scott Pilgrim series
• Prakash John
• Pete Quaife^[25] of The Kinks
• Scott Reeder^[26] of Kyuss
• Heidi Rodewald of Wednesday Week and Passing Strange
• Kira Roessler of Black Flag
• Mike Rutherford of Genesis
• Don Schiff^[15]
• Timothy B. Schmit of Eagles and Poco
• Paul Simonon^[27] of The Clash
• Jim Smith of Cardiacs^[28]
• Chris Squire of Yes^[29]
• Tommy Stinson of The Replacements (and formerly Guns ‘N Roses)
• Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear
• Dougie Thomson of Supertramp
• Pete Trewavas^[15] of Marillion
• Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash
• Ben Wahamki of The Lumineers
• Andy Warren^[15]
• Roger Waters^[30] of Pink Floyd
• Josephine Wiggs of The Breeders
• Paul Wilson of Snow Patrol
• Chris Wolstenholme^[31] of Muse
• Buddy Zabala of the Pinoy band Eraserheads

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rickenbacker 4001.

• Rickenbacker International Corporation