Rickenbacker 4001C64S

Made in 2005, Made in Santa Ana California USA
20 frets 4 strings
Fireglo
maple body and neck
single coil pickups
passive
Schaller Deluxe Tuners

I played this through a Mesa 400+ through 2 ADA Bass Cabs that I upgraded with Carvin Speakers. The bass has the old vintage horseshoe and toaster pickups that were handbuilt to like they used to be. I love the sound of this bass I wish I could say the same about the rest of the bass... PLEASE READ BELOW! I'm a big fan of the rico sound.

This bass has a manufactering defect in the center of the neck and played horribly. I had it set up and it still played lousy so I sent the bass to Guitar Doctor and they said this bass shouldn't of made it out of the factory. The paint was chipping by the bridge THE FIRST TIME I SENT IT BACK TO THEM. They even sent the bass to the Rickenbacker Factory and left them a note informing them of the deficiencies they found on the neck. The rickenbacker bridges are crap. The hipshot bridges are better but they won't fit on this model.

The frets are very thin and look like they will wear out in about 5 years if your lucky. I would use flatwounds if you own one of these... Might help. The woods sturdy, can't see it falling apart.

I sent this bass back TWICE! The first time for the cracking in the finish buy the bridge and the problems in the neck. They fixed the crack perfectly and never done anything for the neck the first time. I sent the bass the second time from the luthier and they sent it back to them because they don't except packages from UPS. I had to have them send it again Fedex ( that ordeal alone cost me about $120 in shipping... thanks Kenny). I had to call them after 3 months to find out what the deal was and what they were going to do. I think they would've had the common courtesy to give me a new class 1 considering everything. It seems like these guys are too busy getting high behind the building to help you.

I've been playing bass for 23 years. I own a Sadowsky M5-24, a Warwick Streamer 5 I&II, Yamaha 3000MA and TRB4, Zon Sonus 5, Reverend Brad Houser 5 and Rumblefish, Mike Lull P Bass, Ken Smith Elite, Kinal 5, Fender 62 Reissue Jazz, Japanese Fender P, American 80 Fender P, Phillip Bulldog 5. I wish I could've played this bass first before I brought it. I can't bring myself to sell it because it's so degrading. I always wanted a ric ,,, never again! This one is the worst. Do yourself a favor and by a good Fender Jazz or P Bass with a ash body and stick with that. Musicman has the best quality I ever seen. Goodluck and thanks for reading my rant. :-)

I finally got the axe that inspired me to take up the bass in the first place! Well, more accurately... they finally issued a replica of the axe that blah, blah, blah. McCartney's left-handed 4001S was the shiz-nit for 16 year old me, and I lusted after that bass! Mine was made in 2005 and was sold to me by the first owner a few months after he got it. Seems a bass that he lusted after came on the market and he needed to clear the decks (and raise the $$). Hence my lucky break! It's got all the vintage 4001S features (if you're reading this, you know what those are...), PLUS the McCartney mods that set this bass apart. And the neck! Oh! The nice, thin, fast profile combined with the satin finish (unique to this model) just kill! The vintage style case also merits mention. I want to be buried in a casket with an interior that plush!

If vintage, organic tone is your thing... this bass is it. No sterile, hi-fi tonality here. Lots of bottom. Loads of mids. Just enough treble... but hey, it's a bass after all! I play through a Trace Elliot/Stewart/Acme rig, so I've got the best of vintage-style axes and the best of modern rigs! I did perform two mods; I removed the "horseshoes" only because my picking/plucking technique puts my hand right where those hunks o'metal would be. And I decided to "goose" a bit more bottom out of the treble pickup by bypassing the low-cut capacitor in the control circuit (a very easy mod). My bandmates have expressed a preference for the tone that the C64S provides in a live setting. They say it's got more "meat" to the tone. Can't say that I disagree with 'em!

The set up wasn't the straight-from-the-factory setup, since I bought it second-hand... but it was very easy to tweak once I had the right tools. Actually, tool. I strongly suggest getting the Rickenbacker Truss Rod Tool. Makes it extremely easy to get the neck tweaked just right, and this seems to be particularly important on Rickenbackers. The closer to dead-flat the neck is, the closer to perfect intonation you can get. As for flaws, the only one I could find was inside the control cavity rout-out. It seemed that on one particular side (just below the treble pick up mounting ring) the rout went awry, so the glued a piece of maple scrap to the side of the cavity in order to create a place for a pickguard mounting screw to bite. Not a biggie, but on a "special reissue (re: more expensive)" model, this shouldn't've passed muster. Just my opinion. I'll deduct a point, but still... it really doesn't diminish my love of this instrument. It's that cool.

For such a thin-necked thing, this bass does convey a solid feeling. I think it has to do with the overall "heft". It is a heavy bass. Deceptively so. It's got such a light, slender, curvaceous look to it that you don't expect the resistance it offers when you try to pick it up for the first time. The hardware is top notch. Some people have reported issues with tailpieces bending up under the stress of string pull, but after about a year with stainless rounds loaded on mine, still no problems (knock on wood!). The finish seems to be holding up well to sweat, smoke and the usual "baptismal ding" (doh!). The strap buttons are attractive, but straplocks wouldn't be a bad idea. The neck is stable... very stable considering it's thin profile. But if it needs it, the tweaking is easy and flexible what with the dual truss rods! I use this bass at gigs where I need an old school, meaty rock sound. If I'm playing with the other band that does funk, pop and latin it shares the gig with a Jazz.

Rickenbacker has been very helpful and customer friendly ever since the days when I was a mouth-breathing 17 year-old lusting after my first 4001. The Hall family seems to have always had a hands-on approach to running their company. I got a manually-typed, hand-signed letter from Mr. F.C. Hall back in the day... and his son John Hall routinely posts on the various Rickenbacker Forums on the Internet. They do have a strict warranty policy that I believe will keep me from getting (or at least make it difficult for me to get) factory service... but the instrument is so well built, I doubt I'll need them to fix anything that I can't take care of myself.

I've been playing out since about 1979, and have owned many, many basses. The fact that this is the bass I dreamed about having all those years ago just seems the perfect way to wrap everything up. This will definitely be the bass I hang onto... my "desert island" bass. Not just for sentimental reasons, but because it kicks major butt! My understanding is that Ricks vary from one to another. This is to be expected, since they're still mostly hand-crafted from what I understand. But you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that there's another C64S out there much better than mine!

from RIC through the local guitar dealer, and took 9 months to arrive. The finish is Fireglo, and it has all the features that were on the bass RIC gave to Paul McCartney in 1964. Its standard features are a reversed headstock and TRC, horseshoe pickup in the bridge position, toaster pickup with 1/2 spacing from the bottom of the neck, vintage reverse tuners, a tapered pickup Mine is a 2005 model, which I have now had for six months. It was ordered directly surround for the horseshoe. It also comes with an unbound body and neck, and dots on the neck instead of the triangle inlays. It has a thinner neck, too, which is true to the 64 bass. The neck heal on the back is square, instead of rounded---another 60's feature. The one-ply pickguard covers all the way to the horseshoe surround, whereas the 4003's come about 1 inch short of the surround. The C64 p/g looks so much better to the current 4003's due to this fact, IMO. The bridge has the split tailpiece, too, which looks cool when compared to the current bridges.
I will give this section a 10 on the loads of features that are DIFFERENT from a current 4003. Many of the features are cosmetic, but they make the bass have a totally vintage look and feel.

I changed the stock Ric strings to TI jazz flats. The stock strings, which I love, are always used on my 4003. They sounded fantastic on the C64 and it was very aggressive with them. I wanted one Ric with flats, and because of the vintage appointments, the C64 was the one to go with. It totally nails the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour sounds with the flats. The clarity of notes throughout the fretboard is mind-boggling. The Ric sound is a thing of beauty, and it is much talked about and described on this site on other reviews. The sound is fantastic in every way---I predominantly use it with the neck pickup soloed. I love the deep, warm toned when played this way. I have thought about bypassing the cap on the horseshoe, as it cuts down the volume and power of it quite a bit. RIC added the cap to be true to the 1964 specs, so I really can't complain, as I knew this when I ordered it. Supposedly it is an easy job to bypass it, so maybe someday when I have the guts I will have somebody do it.

Action---low and fast. Superb. Finish is as good as ever with Ric. They are the best in this department. Gorgeous finish and coloring in the fireglo. It has the pinkish center which will yellow a bit over time---I look forward to that. There is a 5 inch spot along the sharp edge at the front, below the p/g---the edge being where the front of the body meeting the bottom side of the body---anyway the finish is white here---maybe the wet-sanding took the red away along the edge. It is very thin and would almost appear that is intended, and I don't mind it at all. I consider it a birthmark and a true identifying feature of the bass.

Strong as an ox in every way. Like any Ric, it will withstand decades of playing. I've got two USA Fenders, a Music Man Sterling and two Rics. In my opinion, Rickenbacker is a true step above all other production basses---their finishes are a thing of beauty, and their attention to detail is simply impeccable.

I've only dealt with Ric Customer Support one time and they were very nice and accommodating. The CEO, John Hall, is very accessible through email and forums at Ric's website and the Ric Resource forum. I haven't dealt with C.S. enough, though, to give a fair review, so this section gets a "no opinion."

My favorite feature is hard to pinpoint, as I ordered it for all those features that can't be had on a current 4003. If I had to pick, though, it is the horseshoe, toaster, pickguard combo, matched up perfectly to an unbound body. The thin neck, too, is a massive plus to the C64. Oh, and the walnut wings on the headstock. Gorgeous.

If it was lost or stolen, I'd replace it.


One cannot easily describe in words what it is like to see, handle, play and hear a Ric bass. They are simply fantastic instruments. For the C64, they look so cool in a truly retro way. The quality of craftsmanship is superb in every way. The sound can be vintage or modern, depending on strings, settings, etc. You can have the most aggressive, Deep Purple-type sounds with rounds, or the warmer, McCartney-type sounds with flats. And yes, it can sound just like Yes, too, just not when I?m playing it, as that is way out of my talent range!

Gorgeous bass in every way!

This is a reissue of the bass rickenbacker gave Paul McCartney in 1964, after he did a bunch of wacky stuff to it.

It's basically an accurate reissue of a 60's 4001s (dot neck markers, no body or neck binding), "toaster" neck pup (1/2" from neck), horseshoe bridge pup. The neck is super slim, way slimmer than a current 4003. The neck has the modern ric trussrod system so the neck is a lot stronger than some of the ones from the '60's.

McCartney painted his bass in 1967 (you can see the wacky paint job in the "Magical Mystery Tour" booklet, Lennon and Harrison did this too.), and then sometime in 1969 or so had it sanded down to a natural finish (Lennon and Harrison did this to their guitars as well). Sometime in the early '70's he sanded it down further, reshaping the horns slightly. He also added a 0 fret.

RIC replicated these changes in this bass. The satin finish is really beautiful.

It's a neck through bass, neck and body wings made of maple, headstock wings made of walnut, and fretboard of rosewood.

McCartney's bass was lefty (obviously) and at the time Rickenbacker took a righty neck and flipped it the other way, then added the body wings etc. So the downward pointing nameplate, pointed up. Rickenbacker now makes proper lefty necks, so for this bass they put a lefty neck on the righty basses, so you get that reversed headstock look.

The tuners are reverse wind tuners, which takes some getting used to.

It came in the silver vintage cases ric makes, with a poster, cleaning cloth, etc.

It's a reissue so it has weird features like a mute, the big horseshoe surround over the strings, it's not a modern bass by any stretch, but it sounds and feels amazing, so it gets a 10 from me.

I play it through a Ashdown Mag300 4x10 combo. I have the eq bypassed.

I changed the strings from the roundwounds that came on it, to Lakland Joe Osborn flats. The sound is amazing. Instant "Sgt. Pepper" bass sound. A little know turning, and you get that "Silly Love Songs" sound. Rich and full. I am playing with a pick so that adds to the articulation but the flats keep it thumpy. The sound is very supple, so you can get that Chris Squire vibrato thing happening, though with the flats the sound is obviously not a squire sound.

No flaws that I can see, everything felt great on this bass when I first picked it up and played it 2 years ago. It was still in the shop, lucky for me, when I finally was able to buy it!

I've had a bunch or ric basses over the years, and they have been ultra dependable. The modern rics don't need any more adjusting if you take care of it than any other bass. The old truss rod set up from the 60's and 70's is weird, and you can seriously damage the neck if you don't adjust it properly.

Of course at a gig I bring a backup, what if a string breaks? I just bring my other ricky.

Some people complain about Rickenbacker's customer service, but I've always found them helpful and informative. Your mileage may vary of course. There are at least 4 online forums where John Hall (owner, CEO. etc.) will chat with customers, how cool is that?

I frequently buy guitar strings from ric, I don't know who makes them, but on their 12 strings and 6 strings they make a huge diference. Ric doesn't have a flatwound set, so I don't use ric strings on the bass.

I've been playing bass since 1984, and guitar since 1980. Truth be told, ever since I had the "Wings over America" record, with the poster with pics of McCartney playing his bass, I've wanted one like that. The 4001v63 was pretty close, and an excellent bass. they sell for really high prices now. Some people hate the reversed headstock, but whatever, I think it's cool.

It is almost 2x as much as a 4003, which is almost the same bass, but this one just sounds way way better.