Rickenbacker 4003S

About the Rickenbacker 4003S

The 4003S is the plainer 4003: dot inlays instead of triangles, no binding on the body or neck, rounded body edges and a single mono output with no Rick-O-Sound stereo jack. The look goes back to the 1964 4001S, once sold in Britain through the distributor Rose Morris.

Recent ones differ in four ways: a single two-way truss rod in place of the older pair, a walnut stripe in the maple neck, a slimmer neck and the V2 bridge and tailpiece. The first two digits of the serial are the year. Weighed examples come in at about 8.9 to 9.6 lb (4.0 to 4.4 kg), with necks about 0.87 to 0.91 inch deep at the first fret. It comes in a hard case with a polish cloth, Allen wrenches, a case key and paperwork. Many owners take off the cover over the bridge pickup or swap the white pickguard for a black or clear one, so ask whether the original parts come along.

Otherwise it is built like the 4003: maple body, maple neck through the body, rosewood board, 20 frets, a 33 1/4 inch scale and a 1 11/16 inch nut. The two single coils each have a volume and a tone, with a three-way switch, and pulling up the treble tone knob gives a vintage voicing modelled on the 4001. Every one is made in Santa Ana, California. Most are Fireglo, Jetglo or Mapleglo; Matte Black, Ruby Red, Midnight Blue, Plumglo and satin Autumnglo are less common.

In one paragraph

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Sellers are asking a median of €2,140 for the Rickenbacker 4003S today, 38% over the €1,550 it actually sells for (24 recorded sales, last 6 months; most sold between €1,500 and €1,650). New, it costs €2,444 at Thomann (read 7 October 2026), so a used one at the median saves about 37%. There are 10 listings live right now across Reverb, eBay United States, from €1,865 asking. Figures computed 18 October 2026 by Doirado from cross-platform listing data.