1973 RICKENBACKER 4000 BASS
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1973 was a transitional year for the 4000. The neck through body design was discontinued in favor of a glued in set neck, still including the skunk stripe through the neck only. The Grover Imperial tuners changed to wavy. The thumb rest was discontinued. The bridge changed to a non "gaptooth", still including mutes.
Other 1973 Ric 4000 features: cresting wave shaped headstock, plexiglass truss rod cover with logo but no model name, dual truss rods, 20 frets, dot fret markers, no binding, white pickguard, horseshoe pickup or four pole pickup including cover and chrome surround, two black heptagonal knobs, mono input jack plate, black Tolex case with blue or orange interior.
The letters on the chrome input jack plate determine the year and month of production. The digits indicate the number of production. Some examples of 1973 Rickenbacker serial numbers are:
| MA 13x | 1973 January |
| MB 55x | 1973 February |
| MC 67x | 1973 March |
| MD 118x | 1973 April |
| ME 189x | 1973 May |
| MF 262x | 1973 June |
| MG 322x | 1973 July |
| MH 374x | 1973 August |
| MI 414x | 1973 September |
| MJ 465x | 1973 October |
| MK xxxx | 1973 November |
| ML 677x | 1973 December |