1979 Fretless 4001 Repair

[rflorio1]

I'm looking for some direction. I've been handed a black 1979 fretless 4001 that has been sitting for a number of years. I have all the parts, but the main issue is the neck is seriously bowed (from sitting in a corner). I engaged a local luthier who pulled the truss rods in an attempt replace them, but ultimately he passed (when he found that the replacements he got were not much better). Now I have a bass with the two original rods sitting outside the neck. While this bass isn't pristine, I do like it's bad boy, slightly worn look, and I'm hoping to find a specialist who can restore the neck and other little odds and ends, add or replace the rods, but generally make the bass playable again. Is there hope there? I'm willing to put some investment into its restoration (since I got it for free), and think it would be a great bass to have. Any suggestions on who I might seek out?

[ram]

So are the new rods installed? How bowed was the neck without rods? There have been a few in the forum who have correct bow necks in the past maybe search for those. Where are you located?

[jps]

You don't say where you live, so that makes it difficult to suggest anyone to help with the restoration.

What do you mean by " I have all the parts"? Did the bass come to you in pieces, like a puzzle/kit, to put back together?

What seems to be the problem with the truss rods? "Luthier/repair techs" who are not familiar with the old style rods will most likely have the same opinion as the guy who looked at your bass. The old style rods are actually a very good design, they just need to be understood as to how they work. My March 1973 4001 never needs to have its rods adjusted, they are basically set-and-forget unless you are changing to different strings that produce greater/less tension on the instrument. This doesn't mean they never need anything done to them, if they do it is usually due to some "luthier/repair tech" or owner of the instrument not properly adjusting the rods as they do not work like old fashioned/traditional compression rods (Fender/Gibson style). Where did your "luthier/repair tech" get the replacement truss rods? Unless totally mangled, the original and/or replacement rods can be corrected of whatever ill has befallen them.

As far as the bowed neck goes, it can, most likely, be taken care of, but without good, clear, sharp photos of the bass to see its condition we can't make any "over-the-internet" diagnosis.

What else does this 4001 need to have done to it?

Let us know the answers to these questions, then we can proceed to advise you.

[rflorio1]

Thank you. All good questions. Here are some answers and some images:

1. I am familiar with Rics, and owned a 1978 fretted fireglo 4001 when it was new (and I was 16) until a few years ago that never needed a neck adjustment (unfortunately that pesky economic crisis forced me to sell it).

2. I live in Sag Harbor, NY, on Long Island. I am happy to ship this one to the right person if repairs are feasible.

3. This one came to me from a cousin who had bought it used in the early '80's, but someone had already messed with it, incorrectly setting (or understanding) the neck adjustment process. In fact, whoever adjusted it, complicated the truss rod bracket in the headstock by overlaying another retaining bracket (not shown in the images, and not necessary). My cousin never really played it because the action was too high. So it sat for 25 years propped up in a corner, apparently. It did have strings on it during that time.

4. A few months ago, it was disassembled a bit for the removal of the truss rods and some cleaning (from the images, you can see there are missing screws, etc, but those are the "parts" I have and which I was mentioning. The body and neck have never been apart.

5. The previous luthier understood that the process for the Ric bass neck adjustment was different and once he got into it he realized he wasn't specialized enough to get it done and, like others, recommended finding someone who knew what they were getting into.

6. The images show a couple of things but do not really accurately show the bow without the strings, but the bow is most notable in the mid-to upper are of the neck, which I guess would be normal. The action is way too high to be playable, and with a fretless, it just compounds the problem.

7. There are a number of things that need to be addressed on this guitar, such as a misbehaving input jack, rotted mute material in the tailpiece, some decals on knobs, but generally, the unit as a whole is solid. As I mentioned in my previous post, even if it is put back into playable condition, I sort of like the worn, beat-up look of this bass, and would actually want to keep it looking a bit like that.

Hope this additional detail helps.

Rob

[rflorio1]

Additional images:

[rickyfricky]

My first choice would be Mouradian Guitar in Winchester Mass (near Boston).

Good luck with the resurrection.

[RickyBubba]

hard to judge from the pictures, but my guess is that beauty can be fixed right up! Aside from the neck bow, the rest of it is a walk in the park for most folks to sort.

[jps]

Did someone use a butter knife to gouge out that truss rod cavity?

[squirebass]

Did someone use a butter knife to gouge out that truss rod cavity?

Yes, that isn't very pretty is it -- I'm surprised that the nameplate actually covers it. But that aside, that bass has some serious mojo to it -- I can feel it coming thru the photos!
It WANTS to be played, to be musical again, to LIVE again, and it seems to me that the amount of bowing in the neck should be VERY fixable, it doesn't appear to be that bad....

I wish you the best of luck with that bass, I'll bet its a really GOOD ONE, once it gets repaired and set up properly, and given a good home in your studio...

[rflorio1]

Thank you for the comments. I've hooked up with Mouradian. Will update after they get to work on it.

Rob

[rflorio1]

I'd like to report the fantastic news that my 4001 fretless was repaired better than what I could have ever expected. It was lovingly restored back to playing condition (excellent playing condition, mind you) by Jim Mouradian. And therein lies a bit of an emotional story. When I was recommended by this forum to connect with him at the end of last year, I sent him the same photos which appeared earlier in this thread. The guitar had not been played in over 30 years, the truss rod nut had been messed with early on in its life, and there was serious bow in the neck, among other more minor issues. That turned out to be a good thing. After shipping it to Jim, he called and said that it was a good candidate for putting back into shape, and that, contrary to other luthiers who didn't have specific Rick knowledge, the original truss rods were still very usable. This was all before the holidays at the end of last year, and he told me he'd have it ready to go sometime early January.

When Jim called me to tell me it was done in early January, he was very excited on the phone. He said that it had come out way better than expected, and while I had expected simply a playable bass, I was under no misconception that it would only be a sort of beat-up survivor. He let me know that in fact it was really just in need of some serious cleaning and buffing, some replacement knobs, but that it was actually in great shape. He liked that I had put black tapewounds on the guitar. He wanted to ship it back to me, but I said, heck no, I wanted to come up to meet him at he and his son's guitar shop outside of Boston. I'm on Long Island.

Over the winter, between having to get another car, a couple of snowstorms, the flu, etc, I just couldn't get myself up there until March. I found a day to to go up and quickly checked the website for Mouradian Guitar's open hours. What I found online, to my horror, was that Jim Mouradian had unexpectedly passed away in late January. I called the store, and spoke to his son, who was cleaning out the old store for a move to another location. They still had 100 or so cases of guitars to move, and one of them was mine.

I headed up to Winchester a few days later and met with Jim's son. He explained that Jim had put a ton of hours into the bass, and was happy with the result. I felt like some magic had come over me, and once I got the bass home and plugged it in, it just came alive. I thank the Mouradian family for having put this gift back in my hands.

I wanted to share this story for those of you who may have interacted with Jim. The 4001, which was a gift to me from a cousin, now has a special place in my heart for the love Jim gave to it, and I am playing out with it as often as possible.

And I thank this forum for the solid recommendation. It will be well taken care of, well-loved and well played.

[daveman]

Wow. Wow. What a story. An amazing touch of grace is on that bass.

[prowla]

Poignant story.

[FretlessOnly]

I'm glad to read your story but gutted to learn of Jim's passing. Jim was a wonderful guy with great luthier and repair skills. I haven't been in their shop since late last year. I'm not surprised that he was so enthusiastic about your bass project. He loved Rickenbackers. I few years ago I brought in my Paul W.-restored (before I got it) December '72 4001 and opened the case on his bench.

His eyes lit up: "Full-width inlays!" was all he could muster at first.
"What do you need done?"
"Nothing other than to see you play it for a while," I responded.

So, he dropped his tools on the bench, grabbed a strap and played my lovely bass for a bit. That's the sort of relationship we had. Every time I went in there, whether to get work done or just to chat, he was happy to discuss basses and guitars. Sometimes I had to force myself to leave because I knew he had work to do. But he could talk and work with the best of them.

Enjoy your bass and know that it was resurrected by a true craftsman and a fine man.