The Phantom 3000 Project

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:01 am

I'm a little nervous about sharing this with everyone but here goes -

Are you a bass player with a Lennon complex? What if the model 3000 had been designed in say, 1961? What to do with a 1976 3000 with a butchered body and no RIC pickup?

Here is my answer -

The body is hollow alder made using techniques similar to actual 325's. It has a 1/4 inch alder panel for the back and an embedded maple spine running the full length of the body. The pickguard is clear acrylic, back painted with Les Paul Gold Top Gold.

It's not quite finished as I still need a coil and magnet for the V63 horseshoe.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:14 am

I love that body shape ... much more attractive that the 3000 and 2000 series ... I say use modern pickups and a modern bridge and a 34" scale neck and no pickguard ... a bass based on the 600 series guitars ... ya .. a 6000 series bass now that would be cool ...

Also if you are going to do it that way then add a neck pickup ... maybe a toaster ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:14 am

here it is ... the new 6002 Ric bass ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:16 am

and yes there will be a 5 string model

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:21 am

And apparently, a 6 string model as well!

dminer · Post by **dminer** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:24 am

I'll take one of each if Rick would ever produce such creatures!!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:25 am

I am looking at your picture and can't see where the '76 3000 was! Did you "Shape" the 3000 body into the 325 style? I like the thought of a bass in this body style, but I don't know about the nameplate being used!

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:01 am

Everything but the body and pickguard is pure Rickenbacker. I designed and made a new body out of alder based on the 325C58 - at least in looks.

The body is a 2 piece billet of 1 3/4 inch alder mostly hollowed out from the back. The top wound up being 3/8 thick with 3/4 sides. I dropped in maple reinforcement in the form of a spine same width as the neck glued in from the back. I then covered the back with a 1/4 inch alder panel.

Here's a back shot -

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:03 am

And here is a closeup of the body -

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:08 am

And, finally, here is a (dark) pic of the body from back before I installed the back plate -

geraldee · Post by **geraldee** » Mon May 03, 2004 2:11 am

Thanks Ace, I have it back from the shop now and I am still messing with the setup. I'm not happy with the strings. When I picked it up they told me they put a set of medium scale strings on it instead of the short scale. They said the shorts weren't long enough. But the medium scale seem way too loose and are giving me a lot of buzz and rattles. Have you ever had this problem on a 3000 before? I certainly didn't change anything about the scale on this bass.

I know what your talking about with the truss rods. No one provides rods for a short scale bass. I haven't gotten to look at a set of current RIC truss rods but the phots make me wonder if they couldn't be shortened to use in a short scale. It looks like it might be possible to simply cut and rethread one end.

A 620 style bass was another idea I had too. Glad someone is giving it a go. I would love to see pictures. And 8 string no less. What kind of pickups will you go with?

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Mon May 03, 2004 4:02 am

On one of my 3000's I use Pyramid short scale flats and on the other I use medium gauge Rickenbacker nickel rounds cut down to fit. I use standard 4003 pre-cut Ricky nuts that a narrow slightly to fit and then notch a little deeper till desired string heighth is attcheived. I don't get any audible fret buzz through my amp with the neck adjusted dead straight and action at about 1/8" inch. If your strings are too heavy a gauge, they would tend to be looser on a short scale. You may also need to have your frets redressed if there are any high spots. Modern RIC truss rods wont drop right into the old basses but the old style 4001 pieces can be shortened to fit. My "6208" bass will have a 4004 pick up in the bridge position and a toaster in the neck position with standard mono factory RIC harness.