Rickenbacker only made 1000 of these basses and as a general rule, we've seen them appear in one of two conditions: played or unplayed. The unplayed examples tend to bring 4k+ and are obviously near mint to mint basses. Not a fingerprint or scratch to be found, they're collectible closet kings (I just couldn't say queens in this case) and include all of the paperwork and case candy. We've seen a couple of these basses hung up on the walls of diehard Yes fans. And then there are the examples that have actually been played, like this bass. They have a couple of dings, a little fading of the color and maybe some discoloration on the bottom where the bass was placed on a stand. You'll notice some fretwear and maybe a few pick scratches on the pickguard. You might also see a few scuffs on the case, which means that bass has put in some fine playing time in the studio or onstage somewhere and I wish I would walk into a club and catch a band covering some Yes tunes. That would a welcome change to "Shook me All Night Long", for Pete's sake. So, what we have here is a 4001CS that has been lovingly played, but well taken care of and as a bassist, it's more of a tool than a wall- hanger. I was looking to buy a 1968 Ampeg SB-12 amp at the Philly Guitar show and after letting it warm up, I reached for this bass to give it a test run (you can ask King Tut- he was in the booth next to us, watching this all go down). The tone of that amp was as smooth and buttery as hot popcorn and I attribute a good bit of that result to this bass. Fantastic neck and tone- that's what we all want in a bass and what brings a smile to our faces when we find it on the "first run" of a newly- acquired instrument. Simply put, this is a player's dream and a warrior's sword, so if you are looking for a collectible bass that you can actually play, we're happy to provide exactly that. Wall hangers are cool, but players always get the girl...