Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

While waiting for some varnish to dry on the new body I'm building for my 430, I got bored and decided to see what I could do with the original body. It had cleaned up reasonably well with some work, but I've never liked the shape of those 2000 series bodies. The horns look too much like Mickey Mouse ears for my taste. Other than that, they're nice guitars and under-rated compared to what else is out there.

Anyway, I figured out that I could go kind of "Retro-Rick" with a bit of de-horning and re-horning. I also cut a channel on the top for binding, radiused the edges of the back and recessed the pickup openings for use with modern pickups. The neck pocket and bridge location were left as original. I don't know about anybody else, but I really like this look! Here it is wearing the guards I made last week for the other body and one that's been Photoshopped at the front end for more of a retro look. Mickey Mouse ain't so ugly anymore. Now it will be like having a quarterback controversy....wondering which body I should go with, or switching them from time to time.

Lots of horny talk here...

Those remind me of Reverends, except that they're better proportioned. I'm impressed. I like the lower, Combo-ish guard, Todd.

Colors?

The lead guitarist in TKK just bought his 3rd Reverend!

Wow... You're doing a great job!

Nice work!

Very nice work Todd! I like the design quite a bit. Reminds me of the EBMM Reflex.

Nice blend of old and new! I'm with Mr. Jangle--the bottom guard looks better to my eye.

I'm still pretty amazed that I managed to get such a nice shape out of Mickey's body without doing anything disruptive. I have both black and white binding in the stockpile, probably black. I also have a whole box of 1/8" clear plexi sheets about 18" square with the paper backing still on them that my wife got out of the dumpster at work, so guards-a-plenty aren't a problem.

Colors? I might try a burst, but my cheap spray guns have a very nasty habit of doing fine and then throwing out a blob of something. I was spraying amber on the other body this afternoon and it was also windy. It was literally, spray a coat and then run into the house with it before something ugly settled on it. Not really a great formula for a tedious paint job. I have amber, red, black and tobacco brown Transtint dye and good sanders in case I blow it. I managed to cut out some of the extra holes that had been drilled in it, but there will still likely be some spots where I have to fill and then try to hand-paint them to look like a bird's-eyes. At one point, I had a black Pedulla, a black Takamine twelve and three black Rickenbackers, but other than the 2030, I'm not all that into black these days. I'd probably go for red or white metalflake if I knew how to do it....A rosewood veneer top would be pretty neat, and I do know how to do that. If you're getting the idea that I'm currently clueless on colors for this beast, you are on the right track.

Very nice indeed.

Pickguards are done. Still wondering about color, but I'm tempted to paint it bright red for some strange reason. Kind of like Mosrite bright red.

teb wrote:Pickguards are done. Still wondering about color, but I'm tempted to paint it bright red for some strange reason. Kind of like Mosrite bright red.

It does look really good natural...

Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist but I see it in white with black binding.

If it has to be red, I'd do Ruby/CAR.

White does kind of reach out and grab you. Maple isn't bad, but there are some old holes that would require careful filling to try to hide them, so a solid color would be easier. I didn't draw-in the binding, but white with black binding might be the leader at this point. I did try Photoshopping a burst, which certainly wasn't perfect, but I really got the feeling that the solid colors complimented and showed-off the shape better.

I tend to agree with you on the solid color, even though I'm a confirmed wood grain freak. Perhaps you should try it in Azureglo...

jingle_jangle wrote:I'm impressed. I like the lower, Combo-ish guard, Todd.

Colors?

Ditto here; very cool silhouette, and the binding is a nice touch!

teb wrote:Pickguards are done. Still wondering about color, but I'm tempted to paint it bright red for some strange reason. Kind of like Mosrite bright red.

Bright RED is a great idea, IMO!

Bright Red would contrast nicely with the binding.

cjj wrote:Perhaps you should try it in Azureglo...

Azureglo is similarly striking, and also contrasts nicely with white binding.