1981 Rickenbacker 4001 profile

[AMV001]

Does anyone here have an '81 4001? If so, how's the neck profile? I can't deal with a chunky neck. I have a 1980 that I like a lot and used to have a '76 that was skinnier. I'm looking at a '81 online that I fancy but am nervous about the profile around that time.

 

My '80 is 23.2mm/0.92inches at the 2nd fret. Same at the 5th and 23.6mm/0.93inches at the 12th. So barely any taper at all. I will be happy if this '81 is the same or very close.

 

Does anyone have a '81 and a caliper they could use get any specs please? I understand that individual instruments may vary slightly, so I'm looking at general trends for the year.

 

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

NOTE- I originally posted this appeal in the wrong section. Mods, please delete the previous post in the 'Rickenbacker Porn' thread.

[Madein1962]

This seems to be inline with my '78 4001 and '81 4001S.

Quickly measured with the strings on, pressed down - approx 26mm front to back, all the way along the neck.

 

Lots of caveats obviously.

RICs seem to vary in 'feel' quite a bit, even for the same model made around the same time.

There's no guarantee that the one you're looking at will have a similar neck profile unless the seller can supply the measurements.

 

Hope this is of some use to you.

 

[AMV001]

57 minutes ago, Madein1962 said:

Hope this is of some use to you.

 

It certainly is, thank you. Much appreciated.

 

I didn't want to go hassling the seller for dims etc if it was generally accepted to be a 'fat neck' period. I'd rather just carry on looking if that was the case as I'd be wasting his time.

 

In light of your measurements, I think I'll follow it up.

[Skybone]

There were a couple of retailers of older basses who used to show pictures of a vernier gauge on the neck & 12th frets on older Rics, it might be worthwhile having a look for these resources (Andy Baxter Bass was a good one).

 

Quite sad, but I did a bit of research about neck dimensions for 70's Ric's to compare with the RickenFaker's I had at that time, but unfortunately, I can't find it.

[AMV001]

18 hours ago, Skybone said:

There were a couple of retailers of older basses who used to show pictures of a vernier gauge on the neck & 12th frets on older Rics, it might be worthwhile having a look for these resources (Andy Baxter Bass was a good one).

I will check that out. Thank you.