1970 RICKENBACKER 4001 BASS

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In 1970 the ric-o-sound stereo input jack plate became standard.

1970 Ric 4001 features: cresting wave shaped medium length headstock with walnut wings, Grover Imperial wavy or flat tuners, logo on plexiglass truss rod cover, full width maple neck through body design, full width triangle crushed pearloid fret markers, 20 frets or 21 fret option, checkered binding, toaster shaped neck pickup, four pole bridge pickup including cover and chrome surround, white pickguard, clear plexiglass thumb rest, heptagonal shaped knobs with silver top and lettering, CTS potentiometers, Sprague "orange drop" or molded blue capacitors, a combination of cloth and plastic wiring, 3 way pickup toggle switch, chrome "gaptooth" bridge assembly including mutes, black Tolex case with orange or blue 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 1970 Rickenbacker serial numbers are:

JA xxx 1970 January
JB 06x 1970 February
JC xxx 1970 March
JD 1xx 1970 April
JE xxx 1970 May
JF 52x 1970 June
JG xxx 1970 July
JH 87x 1970 August
JI xxx 1970 September
JJ xxx 1970 October
JK 33x 1970 November
JL xxx 1970 December