Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yup, a 330 bass. One of my 330's will donate its neck to a 350 so my plan is to take detailed measurements of the 330 neck & tongue & make a new 30" scale bass neck for the 330. I'm not a big guy so a standard size bass has never worked out for me. It will be some time before I get this one going but I know a bunch of you are curious about the idea so I'll start the post & give some details.

Since I'm starting with a 24 fret guitar instead of the optimal 21 I did some thinking and decided that the 4005 style bridge should be set back just before the ramp. This will make the neck pickup more bassy than if the bridge was left where it currently lies and will make a 24 fret neck fit better. I'd otherwise have to make the neck longer than 24 frets. I took my 30" scale 24 fret Dano longhorn & set it neck to neck with the 330 & it looks like it will work well. The bridge plate mounting & ground wire holes will need to be filled in but the pickups will stay right where they are. I think 2 HB's will be great & the wiring other than taps will be standard 5 knob with the blend & everything. I don't know if I'll stick a piezo under the bridgeplate like my 370 but I'd just use a push pull for on & a stereo jack to separate the signals if I do. No top pick guard to interfere with playing. Winfield has a 4005 bridge and a bass trapeze which IMO will be nice & stable. Headstock will be traced from the 330 rather than a 4003 if that is even allowed...I'll ask Mr. Hall. I'd never sell it that's for darn sure. I have to unload some gear before I can get going on this one & my 370 rewire & the 350 are first in line for the bench. Going to be a while but any details I can work out ahead of time will save me from issues down the road. I'm just as excited to start this as I am to get the 350 done.

Cool idea.

Like this

I can't wait to see how this one pans out Dom, you're a braver man than I, but I reckon it'll look cool!!

I had one done similarly back about 1974 or 75. I bought the first Rickenbacker I ever saw in real life, an old MG Capri, for $200 and had my luthier at the time build and install a fretless short-scale bass neck on it. It made a very cool looking bass, but we never really got all the systems dialed-in on it. I used it for a couple years as a back-up and sold it off when I got out of the band (the first time) because I needed cash. I can't remember all the details, though I think we rebuilt the original bridge (which had a whammy bar) added a hand rest and stuck a stereo-wired P-bass pickup under it with the toaster as a neck pickup. It was a very different time back then and it's too bad I didn't just stick the Capri in its case and stuff it in a closet for the duration. I gave the original neck to our lead guitarist and he had a Tele body built for it out of sycamore wood. It later got stolen one night after I left the band when somebody in Chicago cleaned out the van. What honks me off though, is that this is the only photo I have of my Capri bass.

Hmm, not much to it.

What is that PA mixer down in front?

An Acoustic 850. We had a sound man for a while, but got tired of them turning mikes down and then missing cues to turn them back up, so we started doing the sound ourselves. I had a 100' long Y-Y stereo cord made for my bass and would wander around out in the room during the sound checks and adjust the levels. A smaller mixer or two were run into a couple of the Acoustic's eight channels so that we could have as many as twelve mics going at once. The acoustic guitar mics were turned on and off when needed by the guitar players, but everything else stayed on through the entire show.

Pretty cool, kind of a more advanced Vocal Master, in looks, anyway.

Dom, good idea and you seem to be approaching it in a very workmanlike fashion, as well.

Of course, the work is in the neck and the result is heavily dependent on just how well and accuratley you can build, shape, and fit it.

Best of luck in what could be a very cool project!

Foxless wrote:I can't wait to see how this one pans out Dom, you're a braver man than I, but I reckon it'll look cool!!

Thanks! I really had to talk myself into this one actually. If my Dad hadn't started building Ukuleles during his retirement a few years ago I don't think I'd have had the guts to attempt either this or my 350 project. He has fingers like fat breakfast sausages and yet he built some delicate looking but terrific sounding instruments. I'll do some of the major work in his woodshop.

teb wrote:I had one done similarly back about 1974 or 75. I bought the first Rickenbacker I ever saw in real life, an old MG Capri, for $200 and had my luthier at the time build and install a fretless short-scale bass neck on it.

Hi Todd, I ran across one of your posts about this and it really solidified the idea. Your 325 style body bass is terrific by the way!

jingle_jangle wrote:Dom, good idea and you seem to be approaching it in a very workmanlike fashion, as well.

Of course, the work is in the neck and the result is heavily dependent on just how well and accuratley you can build, shape, and fit it.

Best of luck in what could be a very cool project!

Thanks Paul, I've been pouring through your posts and those of Dale Fortune for ideas, inspiration, technical knowhow and motivation. I've shaped neck blanks in the past but this is the first I'll make from the ground up, although I may leave the fretting to those better qualified. I've seen plenty of neck builds on the web but there is only one way to really gain the experience. I'm trying to visualize every step of the entire process in my head before I even start. I really hope I can do this instrument justice, a Ric bass has to be a Ric bass. It will only be a success to me if I hear piano tone at the end of the day.