Once the dutiful tribute to the production of Leo Fender has been exhausted, the one who more than any other has contributed to the development of our instrument (let’s remember how in the sixties the expression ‘Fender Bass’ was synonymous with electric bass), it is good to take a look at the models of the other manufacturers.

After Fender basses, the Rickenbacker 4001 (preceded by the archaic 4000 of 1957, the first neck-through body if we do not consider Paul Tutmarc’s Audiovox 736) is one of the landmarks of electric bass making, both for the deep beauty of its design, created by the German luthier Roger Rossmeisl, and for the soft and defined sound at the same time. Characterized by the neck-through body and the famous horseshoe pickup, it was brought to fame by Paul McCartney (in the 4001S version without the binding and with dot markers, exported to Europe since 1964), who forged with this bass the sound of Sgt Peppers (must-have album from the sixties). The bass players who introduced it in prog music and perpetuated its popularity in the seventies, with often distorted sounds, was instead Chris Squire, the bassist of Yes and Geddy Lee of Rush. Not to be forgotten is also the good use, always distorted, made of the Rickenbacker by the much missed Lemmy of Motörhead.