Rickenbacker 4000 features

• 33½in scale, 20 frets, rosewood fingerboard with dot markers
• Maple solid body with through-neck. Neck woods varied over the year, mahogany, maple and walnut, sometimes laminated, sometimes not
• Maplego, Fireglo, or colour finishes
• No binding
• One pickup, one volume and one tone control
• Nickel, chrome or black plated hardware
• A fretless version 4000FL was also available
  

Rickenbacker 4000 timeline

• 1957 Launched at a price of $ 279.50. Gold scratchplate. Mahogany one-piece neck. Horseshoe single coil pickup
• 1958 Gold or white scratchplate
• 1963 White scratchplate only
• 1964 Pickup design changed
• 19XX Black scratchplate optional
• 1984 Discontinued

The Rickenbacker 4000 was one of the earliest electric bass guitars being launched in 1957, just six years after the first modern bass the Fender Precision. The instrument was designed by Roger Rossmeisl and was unique in many ways. The 'cresting wave' shape became an instantly recognisable Rickenbacker signature, still in use today, but more importantly this was the first bass to feature a through neck design; the neck is not separate from the body, rather it goes 'through' the body, with the upper and lower wings glued to the central piece. This construction method allows greater sustain than the bolt-on (Fender) or glued joint (Gibson)