Rickenbacker 4001

The 4001 model features a neck-through construction, a full-wood body, fretboard with metal strings (originally flat-wound, though many players replaced them with round-wounds), twin truss rods, triangle inlays, two pickups, two volume and two tone dials, selector switch,[2] and wiring for Rick-O-Sound (standard after 1971).[1] Rickenbacker also produced six-string and 12 string guitars and a short-scale bass, the 3000 model.[2] The bridge system is a relatively unusual design, both in aesthetics and in function, featuring removable saddles, as well as a compartment designed to hold a foam mute.

A 2020 CieloGlo 4003S, showing the lack of body/neck binding and dot fret inlays

The 4001S (and 1999) model varies in its use of dot inlays, and unbound neck construction.[2] The Rickenbacker 4003, which replaced the 4001, differs in the truss rod design and introduces a fret wire that better withstands the wear from round-wound strings (fast fret wear was a common complaint for many years, and Rickenbacker strived to address the issue). The pickups are also higher in output, and the bridge pickup, a so-called "horseshoe" pickup, was entirely remodelled, featuring a more conventional design, although the "horseshoe" is still part of the construction, albeit removable. More recent 4003 models also feature a push-pull switch on one of the tone knobs, which diminishes the output of the pickups, to more closely resemble the original 4001 tone. Other features remained similar to its forebear.

Rickenbacker has in recent years also produced a five-string model, featuring a more conventional bridge system, smaller Schaller machine heads and distinctive, asymmetrical pickups. It retains the Rickenbacker's signature 33" scale length, an unusual design for a five-string instrument. Between the years 1993 and 2018 Rickenbacker also manufactured a streamlined model, named the 4004, that used the 4001's trademark shape but featured smaller pickups, a simplified control layout, a more conventional bridge system and eschewed the use of aesthetic details such as binding or a pickguard.

• Lemmy Kilmister[4][5] of Motörhead
• Cliff Burton[6] of Metallica
• Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival, with a 4001 featured prominently on the Bayou Country album's cover photograph
• John Bentley[7] of Squeeze
• Audun Laading of Her's
• Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash
• Geezer Butler[8] of Black Sabbath
• Jon Camp of Renaissance[9][10]
• Peter Cetera of Chicago[11]
• Al Cisneros[12] of Sleep and OM
• Paul D'Amour of Tool
• John Deacon[13] of Queen
• John Entwistle[14] of The Who
• Bruce Foxton[5] of The Jam
• Simon Gallup of The Cure
• Ken McNaughton of High and Outside
• Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees
• Roger Glover[15]
• Martin Gordon of Sparks and Radio Stars
• Paul Gray of The Damned, Eddie & The Hot Rods and UFO
• Bob Hardy[5] of Franz Ferdinand
• Glenn Hughes[16] of Deep Purple, Trapeze, and Black Country Communion
• Rick James[17]
• Inge Johansson[18] of Against Me!
• Prakash John
• Simon Johns of Stereolab
• Jesse F. Keeler[5] of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT
• Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather
• Geddy Lee[5][19] of Rush
• Phil Lynott[20] of Thin Lizzy
• Paul McCartney[5][21] of Wings and The Beatles
• Randy Meisner of Eagles[22] and Poco
• Mario Mutis of Los Jaivas
• Chuck Panozzo of Styx
• Charles Michael Parks Jr. of All Them Witches
• Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin
• Pete Quaife[23] of The Kinks
• Scott Reeder[24] of Kyuss
• Heidi Rodewald of Wednesday Week and Passing Strange
• Mike Rutherford of Genesis
• Don Schiff[5]
• Timothy B. Schmit of Eagles and Poco
• Paul Simonon[25] of The Clash
• Chris Squire of Yes[26]
• Josephine Wiggs of The Breeders
• Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear
• Pete Trewavas[5] of Marillion
• Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• Andy Warren[5]
• Roger Waters[27] of Pink Floyd
• Chris Wolstenholme[28] of Muse
• Buddy Zabala of the Pinoy band Eraserheads
• Haruko Haruhara, fictional character from the anime series FLCL
• Scott Pilgrim, fictional character from the Scott Pilgrim series
• Joey DeMaio of Manowar
• Matt Gatera of The Seagulls

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rickenbacker 4001.

• Rickenbacker International Corporation