Bass Guitar
Rickenbacker 4003
Price: 2.044 EUR – 6.507 EUR
Price history
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
Availability: 6/10 (Common)
A neck-through-body bass built entirely from maple, known for a bright, ringing sustain and pronounced midrange that comes from its construction as much as its electronics - the direct successor to the 4001, in production since 1981.
About the Rickenbacker 4003
The 4003 is built with a neck-through-body design: the neck and center body section are a single piece of maple running the full length of the instrument, with maple body wings glued to either side, giving it a distinctive tone often described as brighter and more piano-like than bolt-on or set-neck basses. The scale length is 33.25 inches, and the neck carries dual truss rods with adjustment nuts at both ends.
Electronics are a pair of Hi-Gain single-coil pickups, a modern redesign that replaced the "toaster" (neck) and "horseshoe" (bridge) pickups used on earlier Rickenbacker basses, though the bridge pickup keeps a removable metal cover styled after the original horseshoe magnet housing. Wiring includes two volume and two tone controls plus a pickup selector switch, and the instrument is wired for Rick-O-Sound, Rickenbacker's stereo output system that can send each pickup to a separate amplifier via a dedicated stereo output jack. Triangle-shaped fretboard inlays and the string-through-body bridge with an integrated mute are further identifying features of the design.
Where to buy
Price
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Reverb Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2026 - MapleGlo 2.044 EUR Best price View details
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Reverb 2013 Rickenbacker 4003 - Fireglo 2.610 EUR View details
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Reverb Rickenbacker 4003 2018 - Black 2.859 EUR View details
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Reverb Brand New Rickenbacker 4003 Jetglo 2026 2.900 EUR View details
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Reverb Brand New Rickenbacker 4003 Fireglo 2026 2.900 EUR View details
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Reverb 2025 Rickenbacker 4003 - Mapleglo - Mint/Unplayed 3.045 EUR View details
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Reverb Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2015 - Fireglo 3.200 EUR View details
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Reverb 2026 Rickenbacker 4003 - Mapleglo - Mint/Unplayed 3.262 EUR View details
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Reverb 2023 Rickenbacker 4003 Satin Autumnglo | Checkerboard Binding | OHSC | Rare 3.439 EUR View details
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Reverb 2026 Rickenbacker 4003 Noir 1 of 20 Satin Black Checkerboard Binding OHSC 6.507 EUR View details
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Source: https://reverb.com/item/100018060-2012-rickenbacker-4003-midnight-blue-w-ohsc
Sound character of the Rickenbacker 4003
The combination of a horseshoe-magnet neck pickup (the magnet literally surrounds the strings) and a humbucker at the bridge, paired with Rickenbacker's through-body neck construction, produces the brand's signature bright, growling, highly resonant 'Rick bass' bite and sustain.
Technical data for the Rickenbacker 4003
| Construction | Neck-through-body, all maple |
|---|---|
| Scale length | 33.25" |
| Truss rods | Dual, adjustable at both ends |
| Pickups | 2x Hi-Gain single coil |
| Bridge | String-through-body with integrated mute |
| Fretboard inlays | Triangle |
| Electronics | 2x volume, 2x tone, Rick-O-Sound stereo output |
| Successor to | Rickenbacker 4001 (1961-1980s) |
| Introduced | 1981 |
Price history for the Rickenbacker 4003
Cheapest seen: 2.044 EUR · Most expensive seen: 6.507 EUR
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
The history of the Rickenbacker 4003
Rickenbacker introduced the 4001, designed by Roger Rossmeisl, in 1961, and it became closely associated with the bright, jangling bass sound heard across a wide range of 1960s and 1970s recordings. The 4003 followed in 1981 as its direct successor, keeping the neck-through construction, general body shape, and most external features of the 4001 while updating the truss rod system and pickups.
With the 4001 discontinued during the 1980s, the 4003 continued as Rickenbacker's flagship bass and became the company's most commercially successful bass model, carrying the same visual identity and construction philosophy established more than two decades earlier into ongoing production.
