Rickenbacker 4003 Bass Natural Refinish, 1982

Introduced in 1979 as an update to the 4001 model, the Rickenbacker 4003 Bass and its sisters have been a distinctive alternative to the ‘ordinary’ basses available.

Most of the Riki 4000 series models are very similar – they are generally made of Maple, use a through- neck design with a multi-piece center section for stability, and have a Rosewood fingerboard. Some models have a Walnut center section. Depending on model, the fingerboard will be bound or unbound, and have dot or triangular markers. There are two single coil pickups, wired through a standard harness of pickup selector, and individual volume and tone controls. Dual output jacks are standard – one Mono, the other a faux-stereo ‘Rick-O-Sound’ jack that puts each pickup on a separate output for separate amp or mixer channels. Using that jack requires a special cable, wired in the way that standard Insert cables are.

Here we are looking at a great deal on a Rickenbacker 4003 Bass, built during November of 1982 at the Rick plant in Santa Ana, California. It has been refinished in Natural, and the new finish has a fair amount of wear. During the refinish process, the top contours were rounded slightly, which probably makes the bass a bit more comfortable to play. The body and neck are bound. The electronics have been slightly modified, with the ‘Rick-O-Sound’ jack removed. Fret wear is light to moderate – one of the improvements the 4003 bass received over the 4001 models was harder fretwire.

This Rickenbacker 4003 bass plays well, with that distinctive Rickenbacker look and feel.

A period rectangular hard shell case is included.