Dale 1966 4005WB Project

ealdrett · Post by **ealdrett** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:30 pm

As per John Biscuti's request at the Rick forum, I've decided to post a progress of one of Dale Fortune's projects, my 1966 4005WB MG soon to be BBR.

Here are photos of the bass when she arrived:

I know you can't see much from those photos, but she was in very bad shape.
The center piece on the body was coming unglued, there were cracks all along the fretboard and the binding was coming undone.

Here are photos of the last progress that I received from Dale:

There was a hairline crack on the tailpiece so Dale sent it out to be soldered and re-chromed. The covers for the toaster pickups were re-chromed as will.

The tuners were in pretty bad shape but Dale said they could be salvaged. However, I did give him a set of '68 tuners that I bought a while back and are to be utilized if any of the original ones couldn't be saved.

I apologize for the low resolution photos but this was the only way for me to post these photos.

More to come when I get a progress report.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:32 pm

Alright Edgar!

This is a sad looking bass with some really nice wood - a Blueburst finish will be killer and one-of-a-kind, too.

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:06 pm

Edgar, I am glad to see the effort to restore such a gem.

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:40 pm

This is going to look great when Dale gets done with it. Interesting choice of BBR for the finish!

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:24 am

Cool!

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:31 am

Dale's gonna work his magic on a piece of Rickenbacker magic! (I've always wanted to say that line!)

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:06 am

Very cool. John Entwhistle used to have one just like it.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:54 am

This may of been his. I'd love to trace it's history. There were very very few of the WB models made in 1966. The binding on this one had shrunk badly and was coming off the body, so how did some try to fix it? They used a lot of super glue on those areas, bad bad way to repair the binding. If you have an instrument that has the old celluloid binding that has come off, use a heat gun very carefully(I'd really recommend letting someone with experience do this) you can easily catch the binding on fire, and there goes your instrument. Once the binding has been restored to it's normal size, then it can be reglued. The rest of the problems were this: neck binding replaced, refret, the neck had to be reset and the middle piece from the end of the fret board to the bridge pickup had to be refitted cause it was separated, the back middle seam glue join was apart, but the biggest problem was the neck angle had drifted and needed reset(the strings were laying on the treble pickup. Now the body has been rebound and the neck realigned, so after sanding everything it will be time for the BlueBurst, which I would like Edgar to be here when I shoot the color..

ealdrett · Post by **ealdrett** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:26 am

ram · Post by **ram** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:39 pm

I'm just pulling up a seat with some popcorn and a beer to watch this unfold....'mazin!!

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:08 pm

I got the M&Ms!

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:14 pm

Whose's bringing the pizza?

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:42 pm

The little Ball Peen Hammer you see in the picture, my Father gave me in 1966 when I worked for my parents at their R.V. shop in Santa Ana. When I went to work at Electro String I used this Hammer to do fret work. Now all these years and thousands of fret jobs later,I still use this little Hammer to set frets. Funny how we hold onto things like this for so many years.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:37 pm

Ringside seats! Dale, it must be really rewarding to be able to return these instruments to their glory. Have you ever refinished an instrument you knew you worked on years ago while you were at RIC?

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:57 pm

I have only because from 72 thru 75 I worked there, and I have restored quite a few instruments from that time era. Edgars will be a thing of beauty when it's finished in BlueBurst. It has some very figured Maple Grain patterns. Rewarding to say the least, I have been blessed with this craft. When I finish an instrument, I stand back and admire the beauty and give thanks back that I have been given the chance in life to do these things.