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 single coil pickups, two volume and two tone dials, selector switch,[2] and wiring for Rick-O-Sound (standard after 1971).

[2] The 4001's bridge is of a fairly unusual design, both in aesthetics and in function, featuring removable saddles as well as a built-in adjustible foam mute.

The 4001S, 4003S and 1999 models have been produced as cheaper, streamlined versions which feature unbound, contoured bodies, unbound fretboards with simpler dot inlays as well as a conventional mono output jack instead of the dual Rick-O-Sound system..[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).

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.

In the early 2020s, the 4003 model was given a slight overhaul with a more conventional single truss rod-system as well as a redesigned bridge with individually adjustable saddles.