My Shadow has arrived

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:29 am

ZI 2528. I got it 4 hours ago. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Some of you already know the story: I saw it on Craig's List, it had a 3-ply white guard and the seller thought it was "a classic Rickenbacher" and wanted $750. The non-original white guard threw him off, he didn't know it was a Shadow. I saw a black TRC in the ****** pic, copied it to PhotoShop and there were the black dot inlays and checker binding. The guys over at the DudePit confirmed that it was most probably a Shadow.

Okay, here's what I got.

The bass was in poor shape. A lot of corrosion, rusted screws, some dings and superficial scratches but nothing too serious that Stew-Mac polish can't fix (and it did). The bass was probably never cleaned. It was filthy. I took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly.

I threw away the b/w/b guard and put on the black guard I got from Mike Parks. Now the bass looks fantastic. I love that checker binding.

The bass had heavy gauge roundwounds, and a bowed neck. I tweaked the rods and now the neck is straight as an arrow. This system is so much better than the rods in my old 4001. Next I did a quick setup with medium gauge roundwounds: medium-low action, no fret buzz, excellent. I think I'll put TI flats on it later on.

The neck pickup doesn't work. I checked again and again, all the solder joints are undisturbed, but still no life in the neck pickup. Tomorrow I'll take it to a tech to see what's wrong. The bridge pickup sounds great, so until I fix or replace the neck pickup I have a 4000 Shadow... And yes, I plugged the cord into the "standard" jack, not the Ric-O-Sound.

One thumb screw in the mute assembly is missing.

So... where can I find a black Hi-Gain pickup and a black thumb screw?

And how many Shadows were built?

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:55 am

There were approx 50 of them made, welcome to the Shadow club Ilan! As for the pickup, you might ask our rezident expert Sergio about doing surgery on it. I also wanted to know how well the pickguard fit?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:59 am

Ilan ... just get a regular high gain and use the black surround from the dead pickup ... you can get a high gain from Mike Parks for $75 ... and he may have some black ones in stock ...

http://www.the-music-connection.com/ricpart.htm

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 11:50 am

Thanks guys. Kendall: the pickguard was not a perfect fit. I had to make a new hole for one screw. I could of course send it back with a trace of the guard with the correct screw-hole placement, but I just couldn't stand to wait any more.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:01 pm

Congrats, Ilan. I wish I could get my hands on a Shadow too.
Pre-1990 high-gain pickups can stop working due to migration of oxides from the polepieces to the innermost coil windings (Am I getting a bit too technical? I hope not).

On post-1990 high-gains this does not happen. I think you'll be better off getting one of those, however bear in mind that if you have me rewind your defective pickup you'll pay nothing. It's your decision.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:50 pm

Congrats, Ilan!! Welcome to the Shadow Club!!
(Ser#ZK3210/Nov.'86)
Yours is Sept.'86 , which you probably already knew,...if not, glad to help.

We MUST have pics, asap!!

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 6:09 pm

Glad to know she's finally in your hands, Ilan!

Heheh! One more Shadow in the family.
And yours is probably the earliest around here. Mine's a ZJ.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 7:31 pm

Sérgio: I understand (I have the old Brosnac book...) Thanks for the offer!

Chris: I haven't had a chance to check the date yet, now I don't have to! I'll post some pics after I take the kids to school.

Paul: thanks for your support, here and at the 'pit. That's a small family, isn't it? only 50 or so produced! I'm so glad to join the Ric family again with a bass that is so special.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:49 pm

I'm going to work now but I'll post better pics later. It's not easy taking a good picture of a black bass, everything reflects on it...

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:57 pm

Welcome to "Shadow Ops" Ilan!

Yes a major b_tch taking colour fotos of a black bass.

Ask Master Paul...

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:57 pm

Mmmm....looks good to me, reflections and all.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 12:04 am

Update... the neck pickup is fine! It took the tech guy less than one minute to find the tiny wire that was disconnected. He saw my embarrassment and charged me nothing. Now I'll just order the screw for the mute, remove some rust from other screws and restring with TI flats, and that's it.

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 11:01 am

One of the top 5 greatest feelings possible has got to be a problem being solved easily and not being charged for it. Congrats on that beautiful bass!

robj · Post by **robj** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 12:04 pm

Very nice indeed Ilan. Congratulations.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:12 pm

I just tried to lower the bridge to very low action. It almost plays itself. Still no fret buzz! it's like a Les Paul "fretless wonder". I'm so happy I with this bass.