Commemoration - Your Guitar's Manufacture Anniversary

[ram]

Mark W – what can I say … the bass looks cool! Chrome is good – my hair is chrome…. I glad you didn’t use it to do some cranial restructuring on a clerk. The headstock may have ended up worse than Mark K’s pic. The bass sounds good on TIH.

Ryan – nice looking bass. So bass and wife the same year – how convenient!! Indeed a good year!!

Mark K – Ouch! Would you see the walnut with the JG?? Might look really cool…..

[melibreits]

Now that I've taken the time to catalog the serial numbers of my guitars, I can finally participate in this thread!

Here's my December 1975 481 slant-fret. When I got it about five years ago it was a very chewed-up Jetglo that had evidently been stored in a damp basement. The paint was bubbled and peeling off, and there was some checking in the finish:

481.jpg (9.9 KiB) Viewed 2305 times

Two years ago I sent it to Paul Wilczynski for a complete restoration and refin... After sending me many different color samples, we finally decided on a lovely custom shade of Blueburst, just a little bit greener in color than the RIC factory shade.... It is now a true thing of beauty, and a joy to play!

BTW, I was 6 years old when this guitar was manufactured!

[walker]

Nice choice on the color scheme! Sort of a turquoise-to-Azureglo vibe. I take it everything else on the guitar is stock? Didn't the 481's almost exclusively sport those big 'Rickencbaker' stamped humbuckers?

[melibreits]

Mark, my 481 is 100% stock, and still sports its original humbuckers.... I think these date a little bit earlier than the ones that were embossed with the Rickenbacker name. However, I have an extra one of that type that I bought a couple of years ago from John Williams--I am still trying to decide whether or not to replace the bridge pickup with it, as one of the pole pieces on the original pickup was corroded, and Paul W. was unable to lower it without risk of breaking the pickup. It's not normally a problem for me, but when the guitar is played above the tenth fret, the pole piece mutes the low E string.

[walker]

Is there room to raise the other pole pieces so that they're in line with the E string pole? If you can do that, then you could lower the entire pickup bringing down all poles at once - provided that there's room to lower the pickup.

[walker]

OK... so here it is - 2008. A new year, and a new month. Any January birthdays out there?

[admin]

Mark: You will find a few January instruments here. 335 for your consideration.

It will interesting to see if any of the folks here recognize them.

[walker]

Wow! Nice collection there! Among the list I saw 7 RM's, a 21-fretter, a Lightshow, and a Blackstar.

If the owners were hip to this thread, I'm sure there'd be some amazing stories to read here.

[berth]

I was looking at the register and found out I almost forgot the birthday of one of my most favorite basses.

The previous owner posted in this topic about this bass on this forum. It had some issues like an amateurish fretjob and a previous humbucker in neck position. Soon thereafter the bass was on a dutch ebay like (and now ebay owned) site. I wanted this bass and set a bid about 200 euros higher than the than highest so I was the highest bidder. We went to the other side of the country to get the bass and while test playing it I felt this was the easiest neck I have ever played. I still think so...

This year will probably bring a restore of my '73 4001 MG.

[admin]

Bert: A gorgeous photo. The binding is stunning.

[berth]

Bert: A gorgeous photo. The binding is stunning.

Thanx!

One more then:

[johnallg]

Thanks Bert! A really great looking MG! CB........

[berth]

Thanks Bert! A really great looking MG! CB........

Thanx. One more then:

[ram]

Wow - nice binding, great grain, wavy Grovers...neck and all. Thanks Bert!

[dale_fortune]

Great story Steve...I didn't know about this...I really think you got a great Bass for the money you've invested above the $300 you originally paid....Now tell us how it sounds? I know the toaster in the neck is awesome, but how about that 7K bridge pickup? I only tested it thru my VOX 8 watt Pacemaker shop amp and it had some serious tone especially the neck pickup..IMO you just can't beat that sound...