We have previously discussed the special run Noir basses and guitars (click to learn more), but there were three—well, technically four—1980s-era 4003s that walked so the Noirs could run. And since it seems nobody on Reverb can keep them straight, let’s try to clear it up.
The first one—or technically two—wasn’t an official model. When the Black Hardware/Black Trim era (click to learn more) began in 1985, certain finishes came standard with black bits: Red, White, Midnight Blue, Silver, and Mapleglo. But other stock finishes—like Fireglo and Jetglo—could be custom-ordered with black hardware and black trim. And it didn’t take people long to figure out that it looked pretty badass on Jetglo instruments.
Almost everything that could be black was. Finish, binding, truss rod cover, pickguard, tuners, pickup cases, pickup covers and surrounds, bridgeplate…all black. The only parts to escape were screws, bridge and saddles, and the jackplate—all wear pieces where a black finish could scratch or flake off during assembly or normal adjustment. Even with those little bits of chrome…still pretty badass.
Now about that “one or technically two” model bit—remember that, like today, there were two 4003 models at the time: the 4003 and the 4003S. BH/BT examples of both exist—I happen to think the deluxe 4003 with its binding and triangle inlays looks a little bit better than the 4003S, but the S looks pretty darn good too. So, technically two.
Truth be told, I just realized I’ve opened a can of worms because there were also five (click to learn more) and eight-string (click to learn more) versions of the 4003 during the BH/BT era and, sure enough, I found a five-string example the moment I remembered that.
You will note, however, one difference on the “extra strings” models: the toaster pickup’s cover isn’t black. They never bothered making one.
So should I count these or not? I’m going to say no—there can’t be more than a handful of either out there. We’ll just say they exist and leave it at that.
So that’s the first and maybe second of the “none more black” 4003s. Now this is pure speculation here, but I have to imagine somebody saw some of those first few custom orders go across the shop floor and say, “Hey, that looks pretty badass!” because in 1986 we saw our second—and first official—“none more black” model: the Shadow.
We have a more detailed write-up on the Shadow you can read here, but here are the key takeaways.
Rickenbacker took the 4003 BH/BT template and tweaked it slightly, replacing the black top binding with two-ply black and checkered binding, trading the silver-top knobs for black Kurz-Kach vintage knobs, and swapping black dot position markers for the standard 4003’s inlaid triangles. Fifty were produced for Guitar Center.
As cool as it looks, the Shadow is especially prized today for the very slim neck Guitar Center requested—much closer to vintage 4001 specs than the beefy necks production 4003s wore at the time.
The Shadow is also notable because it may be the first example of what we think of today as a Rickenbacker “special run”: nothing on it was really new, but the particular combination of existing features was.
Okay, two down, one to go. And this one really commits to the bit. What’s the biggest thing left that could be black but isn’t? Allow me to introduce the Blackstar.
The 4003S Blackstar replaced the standard Rickenbacker bubinga fingerboard with a black-painted maple board with white pin-dot fret markers. Why maple? Presumably because it held the Jetglo finish better than bubinga.
The Blackstar did stray a bit from the “none more black” ethos, however, with a chrome case on the neck pickup, chrome bridge pickup cover, chrome mute screws, chrome tuner bushings—and chrome lettering on the truss rod cover. Because why not?
And yes, before you point it out, there were a handful of 5-string Blackstars, but no, we’re not counting those either. At least they weren’t breaking the rules with their chrome toaster case.
200 Blackstars were produced between 1988 and 1990.
So those are the three (maybe four) “none more black” basses from the 1980s. And here are the simple rules for telling them apart:
Black fingerboard? That’s a Blackstar.
Checkered binding and black dot inlays? That’s a Shadow.
None of the above? 4003 BH/BT or 4003S BH/BT.
This should probably be required reading for Reverb postings.