The Rickenbacker 4005V

[Chris Maury]

Hi Everyone -

I'm certainly one of those bassists who kicked myself for not buying a Rickenbacker 4005 when they were initially available. I started in music retail in 1980 and worked for a Rickenbacker dealer, and had always had an interest in one of these wide-bodied basses. Little did I know at the time that Rickenbacker actually had some NOS models from the 60's still in inventory. The bass was discontinued in 1984.

 

In hindsight, it's actually a good thing I didn't buy one at the time as I'm certain I would have ended up selling it - not because it wasn't a great bass, but because it would take me decades as a player to really appreciate this instrument.

 

So truth be told, the first time I had a 4005 in my hands was about 20 years ago. It was a Mapleglo '66 that I played at the Guitar Center in Hollywood. Man, the shallow neck was fantastic! The bass played like butter, and was strung with flats (as it should have been.) The killer feel haunted me for years and it certainly became a quest for me to own one.

 

As we're all aware, Rickenbacker reissued the 4005 as the 4005V ("V" for Vintage) in 2024 in 3 finishes - Fireglo, Mapleglo and Jetglo. However, I became aware very early on that Rickenbacker had made 2 in custom finishes - this was confirmed when Eddie's Guitars posted a Rickenbacker Factory Tour video early that year:

 

The custom finishes were British Racing Green and Satin Autumnglo. Rickenbacker had done some special runs of models in BRG over the years (and made a few other custom instruments in this finish as well,) but to see a 4005V in that finish was amazing - I fell in love with it immediately! It would be several months before either of these basses would be available for purchase, but I was determined to continue the pursuit. In July 2024, the bass was eventually sold to a dealer and I purchased it immediately.

 

The 4005V has the same wonderful shallow neck feel just like the original models built in the 60's. The basses come strung with round wound strings which (in my opinion) are a mismatch for these basses - their true character is revealed when strung with flats. I immediately removed the rounds and restrung with a set of TI flats which not only sound amazing, they have the low tension feel like the strings which originally came stock on new Rics.

 

To me, this bass was screaming for gold plates: 

 

I'm happy to report I've been gigging with the bass ever since, and it fits wonderfully in the mix with my band. This is certainly not a bass for everyone or every type of music, but if you're interested I wholeheartedly recommend it.😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaggy]

Beautiful.     About the only bass left on my bucket / GAS list

[AlexDelores]

Gorgeous 👌 Great story too! Enjoy.

[itu]

Lovely! 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Nice! I'd love to have one of these in mapleglo, but the pricetag is a bit more than my budget can accommodate.

[Chris Maury]

2 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Beautiful.     About the only bass left on my bucket / GAS list

Thanks!😀 I hope your bucket runneth over soon!

[Chris Maury]

1 hour ago, AlexDelores said:

Gorgeous 👌 Great story too! Enjoy.

Double thanks!😀😀

[Chris Maury]

1 hour ago, itu said:

Lovely! 

Thanks!😃

[Chris Maury]

51 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Nice! I'd love to have one of these in mapleglo, but the pricetag is a bit more than my budget can accommodate.

Thanks!😀

They're certainly not cheap, however, there are stores in the U.S. with inventory and are willing to deal. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.😉

[Chris Maury]

For anyone who's interested, I posted a video on YouTube all about 4005 basses (including the 4005V models) in 2024:

 

[Misdee]

Hi Chris, I remember you from the original Bass Center in Calabasas back in the late 1980's when I was house-sitting in L.A. You were always so kind and friendly, even though I was only looking or buying some strings ect. You could even understand my accent, probably because I sounded a lot like Barry Moorhouse. Glad to see you're still enjoying some beautiful basses. 

 

If someone described that Rickenbacker to me I before I'd seen it I would have said it's not my cup of tea. Seeing those pictures though, it looks stunning. Some basses look good in certain colours when others wouldn't., and that shade of green suits that bass. If it was a Fender, for example, it wouldn't look good at all, not to my taste anyway.

[Chris Maury]

51 minutes ago, Misdee said:

Hi Chris, I remember you from the original Bass Center in Calabasas back in the late 1980's when I was house-sitting in L.A. You were always so kind and friendly, even though I was only looking or buying some strings ect. You could even understand my accent, probably because I sounded a lot like Barry Moorhouse. Glad to see you're still enjoying some beautiful basses. 

 

If someone described that Rickenbacker to me I before I'd seen it I would have said it's not my cup of tea. Seeing those pictures though, it looks stunning. Some basses look good in certain colours when others wouldn't., and that shade of green suits that bass. If it was a Fender, for example, it wouldn't look good at all, not to my taste anyway.

Hi Misdee - Thank you SO much for your kind comments! I appreciate you making the trip to our original location in Calabasas (we were there from October '86-July '88 when we moved to Studio City.) Yeah, I really lucked out with the BRG - I agree it looks great - it's such a freakin' classy color, and you're right, it looks better on some models rather than others. 

 

It was great to meet people from all over the world, and was a privilege.  I imagine your accent was easy for me at the time working with Brits every day! 

 

Are you still gigging? If yes, what are you using?

 

Chris

[Misdee]

19 hours ago, Chris Maury said:

Hi Misdee - Thank you SO much for your kind comments! I appreciate you making the trip to our original location in Calabasas (we were there from October '86-July '88 when we moved to Studio City.) Yeah, I really lucked out with the BRG - I agree it looks great - it's such a freakin' classy color, and you're right, it looks better on some models rather than others. 

 

It was great to meet people from all over the world, and was a privilege.  I imagine your accent was easy for me at the time working with Brits every day! 

 

Are you still gigging? If yes, what are you using?

 

Chris

Hi Chris, I'm not gigging at the moment unfortunately, mainly due to some serious health problems, but I'm still playing the bass everyday. 

 

I've got a few nice basses nowadays, but the one I use most of the time is my USA Lakland 44-64 PJ with a Jazz Bass neck profile. It's very well-made, comfortable to play and the classic sounds available with that pickup combination are the perfect choice for most of the music I play.

Edited 4 hours ago by Misdee

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

There's a lovely fireglo 4005v in mint condition listed on the BassBros website. Very keenly priced, however I have challenged myself (and told the missus) that I won't be buying any guitars or basses in 2026.