4001 Mapleglo WIth Odd Output Jackplate

[johnallg]

Well, it came today and I had a hard time putting it down after messing with the intonation (way off!) and the height. The neck has a slight bow the rods will fix, but it is pretty grubby and needs a good cleanup, so I will address that after a complete tear down and cleaning. Then a Rick tailpiece/bridge, a correct electronics rewiring, and some new/correct screws all around.

I want to extend a big THANK YOU to Joey for his bringing this bass to the forum, getting pictures, and being my eyes at the store with an evaluation. He was a bit hard on the bass; it is in better condition than I thought it would be, and he was right on with the neck being straight and slim, and the maple looking better in person than in his photos. Half the maple neck has nice flaming, and there is a lot of interesting figuring in the body maple.

THANKS JOEY!! And a big thanks to Jon at Rock It Music in Brea for a smooth sale - Joey's favorite RIC dealer.

PS - how do you clean the nickel finish open back tuners that are dull and oxidized?

[jps]

...how do you clean the nickel finish open back tuners that are dull and oxidized?

What, you want to lose the MOJO?

[johnallg]

The bass has enough Mojo; they look dirty or very oxidized.

[johnallg]

Well, I spent some of my weekend with Scratch-X and Zymol, and the bass is shining like ever. I pulled everything off and out of it - first encounter with old truss rods. Actually very nice and heavier than I though they would be. I had to bend the threaded tips up just a tad to be able to get a truss wrench on them.

BTW, the threaded side goes down, towards the neck and not the fretboard? That is how they were in and how I put them back in.

As for the nickel tuners, I searched the forums and found a thread started by Don Adamek on June 30, 2002. Great to have all this old info available! Thanks Gil and Peter!! What I found was advice for Mothers metal polish, a product called MAAS, and also one from Germany similar to MAAS called Wenol. I knew I had Mothers out in the garage, and I also had a product I bought at a car show here for aluminum wheels. It turned out to be Wenol! So I will add my 2 cents worth on these products - if MAAS works as easy as Wenol, get it! Mine were corroded pretty bad, but they are now very shiny looking. I can only imagine how they would make a set that has been maintained better than these. I followed with a coat of Zymol.

I had already rewired the electronics to the 4001 Rick schematic. Whoever rewired it before, had wire DeMarzio 250k pots as the tone controls, and DeMarzio 500k pots as the volumes, with .01 ceramic caps as the tone caps. The outputs came from the selector switch, while the pickup leads when directly to the tone/volume pots. Totally bass ackwards!

Now I await the tailpiece/bridge, and then with a new set of strings this baby will be ready. I also need to get a Dunlop StrapLoc set for it. Its getting closer.... I just want to play it again - great neck.

[rickenbrother]

I want to extend a big THANK YOU to Joey for his bringing this bass to the forum, getting pictures, and being my eyes at the store with an evaluation. He was a bit hard on the bass; it is in better condition than I thought it would be, and he was right on with the neck being straight and slim, and the maple looking better in person than in his photos. Half the maple neck has nice flaming, and there is a lot of interesting figuring in the body maple.

John, it was my pleasure to help get this 4001 to you. I hope you are truly very happy with it. I knew you would love the feel of the neck and the look of the pretty wood. The neck really didn't have any slight bow to it when I played it. It must have changed during the shipping it to you. I'm sure that setting it up well will get the neck straight again.
I'd rather have been a bit hard on the bass and you are pleasantly surprised when you get it, than an opposite way around scenario! Cleaning it up and setting it up is part of the fun with getting a new to you, 4001. Try some Buckaroo cymbal polish that they sell in the drum section of music stores on the keywinds. You'll never get them to look like they did when they were new, but that will make them look somewhat better. Best to take them off the 4001 and take them apart when you use it so you don't get it on the finish and you can do the best cleaning job. I think Buckaroo is also sold as Never Dull in auto parts stores. I will keep a look out for a proper bridge / tailpiece assembly for your 4001. Congrats and enjoy it!

[johnallg]

Thanks Joey, I'll look for Buckaroo Cymbal Polish. The tuners presently look really good using the Wenol on them, then the Zymol. I did have them off the bass and disassembled when cleaning.

As for the bow, it was ever so slight, and remember, we are in the 50s here now! California is just a tad or two warmer!

Thanks again!