Generic depiction of the instrument model, not the specific item offered on a linked platform.

Bass Guitar

Rickenbacker 4003

Name: Rickenbacker 4003
Brand: Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker · 4003 (2012 - Present)

Price: 2.364 EUR – 6.365 EUR

Price history

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 4/10 (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.

Where available? Go to the best price – 2.364 EUR About this instrument

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

Reverb 2.364 EUR Best price View details
Reverb 2.979 EUR View details
Reverb 3.200 EUR View details
Reverb 3.364 EUR View details
Reverb 6.365 EUR View details

Some links below are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

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.

Bright Growly Resonant

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: 2.364 EUR · Most expensive seen: 6.365 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.