No Longer Available – Rickenbacker 4004cii ‘Cheyenne’ MapleGlo, 2014

Based on the very successful ‘Cresting Wave’ 4000 series, the Rickenbacker 4004cii ‘Cheyenne’ mixes Maple with Black Walnut (a Canadian ice cream tradition!) for the body, and Maple with Bubinga for the neck and fingerboard. Both the Maple and Black Walnut used on these basses are from sustainable, North American farms; Bubinga is native to West Africa.

Designed by Roger Rossmeisl, the ‘Cresting Wave’ shape first appeared during 1957 on the new ‘4000’ series bass, though not often – from 1957 to 1961, only 50 were built. The 4004 itself first appeared in 1993 as the ‘Cheyenne’ with Black Walnut body sides. In 2000, the design was revamped to add Maple caps to the Black Walnut body sections, so the Black Walnut is only visible from the edge.

Construction of the Rickenbacker 4004cii ‘Cheyenne’ is similar to other 4000 series models, but with some differences. The body is built on a through-neck design using a two-piece Maple center section. From that, body ‘Wings’ consisting of two layers of Maple with a Black Walnut center section are added to form the body. The headstock uses a pair of Black Walnut ‘wings’ for its own shape. The electronics are also simplified, and the metal parts are gold plated. A pair of HB1 humbucking pickups (also used on the Model 650 guitar) are inlaid into the body and their cables run through a small three-way toggle to master Volume and Tone controls, and to a mono output jack. These basses are not Ric-O-Sound equipped, and are only mono output.

Tuners are Schaller Mini bass models and the bridge is a top-mount and rear-load Schaller roller bridge, model 3D-4.

The control knobs are knurled metal cylinders, reminiscent of standard Gretsch knobs.

This Rickenbacker 4004cii ‘Cheyenne’ is in very good, clean condition with only very light wear. Fret wear is insignificant and the bass plays very well.

The original molded, Ric branded hard shell case is included.