Rickenbacker 4001 (1968) bass guitar : checkerboard & crushed pearl

This bass has the sweetest neck of any bass I've ever had. Really! Before I found this bass I always associated Rickenbacker basses with not-very-nice (i.e., chunky or boxy or sometimes just nasty) necks, and I say that even though Rickenbacker basses have been my "dream bass" ever since I started playing in 1980. So I was very, very surprised to come across this one. It is SO nice. This neck feels shallow and soft. I've never taken measurements but it's small. This isn't the bass for you if you like chunky or angular neck profiles. This one is all gentle curves.

Currently strung with extra light gauge stainless roundwounds (Ernie Ball if I remember correctly). This is a 1968 model (i.e., pre-updated truss rods) so I've been using light strings or TI flats on it since I received it. I don't know that it _can't_ take heavier strings, but those petite truss rods don't inspire a lot of confidence in me - I might be wrong.

It's just a sliver under 9 1/2 pounds. It lives in a newish RIC hardcase (the standard kind that new Rickenbackers come in). The original case died a long time ago.

I'm not the original owner or a vintage Ric expert, so to be safe I won't say what's original and what's not on this bass. I tried to include a lot of photos that accurately represent the condition of the bass. These are all iPhone SE photos, taken in natural light (except for the scale and the case photos) and no fancy editing. I can tell you that the nut is not original, but it is a lovely unbleached bone nut; the bridge pickup is a genuine Rickenbacker replacement that was installed before I acquired it; I don't know about the toaster; the saddles look to me non-original but the rest of the bridge assembly looks original; I know the little plastic tip on the pickup selector switch is non-original because I replaced that (the original had broken off when the bass was shipped to me over 10 years ago...). The neck pickup has less output than the bridge pickup, as it often is with these older instruments; the bridge pickup sounds very, very good. Everyone I know who's ever played this bass immediately falls in love with its feel and sound. It's just a beautiful instrument with so much life and character. It was born in 1968, the same year as me. Pretty old! : ) I'm so attached to this bass I actually feel kind of sad about sending it away.

Free shipping to anywhere in the U.S.A. Whoever buys it, please take good care of this very special bass friend!

Please let me know if you have any questions.