show your custom bass!!!

[OdysseyMike]

NICE BASS MIKE!

Um, Tony? It's Jetglo.

Sssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh...............JEFF!

MUST BE NICE!

Not a fan of jetglo I take it? S'ok, I think its cool and classy

[jps]

Tony loves this one of mine, however. Right, Tony?

[ajish4]

LOL,

It's a running gag around here Mike. Nothing personal at all.

No, Jetglo while a "classic" isn't for me.

I've been known to call it "Fingerprint Glo" or Oil Spill Glo, or Exxon Valdez Oil Spil Glo...etc.

Jeff, I must say, a HS DOES make a difference. The PG is cool as well! SO LONG AS YOU KEEP her clean!

This is more my speed.

[jps]

Fraternal twins!

[ajish4]

Fraternal twins!

Yep, my 81 4001 WALNUT and my 78 4001 Autumn Glo. KINDLY photographed by Paul B at SERF.

[OdysseyMike]

Fingerprintglo is a more accurate name. I gave up on keeping it clean by convincing myself it adds "character". I love a good fireglo and that walnutglo (i think thats what the twins there are?) is pretty nice too! Theres no bad color for a Ric !

As for mods to the amp....

First, all the caps and resistors were replaced. Easy enough, something that should be done to any 30 year old amp. Also all the wires replaced with teflon wrapped silver wire.

Otherwise most of the mods were done to the preamp inputs. The Bass channel unput was reworked to be more like early 60's bassman heads. I messed with the mix resistors till I was happy with a good sound on each input. I don't remember the values now, might be 1.5 meg ohms..? I padded one input on the jacks on the Bass channel also, with some electrical tape on the prong of the jack, so one is lower gain and one higher. Also, the Grid load resistor is soldered right to the pin to prevent extra radio noise, ala Spinal Tap. The "Normal" channel was redone with some hotter values, making the whole signal hotter. Again, not sure what I had put in there...? Gosh, I wish I was more technical. There is only one input on this channel, and there is no mix resistor. A wire goes straight to the grid load resistor soldered right to the pin, then to ground. This REALLY brings it alive. The channel has also a bright switch, which when engaged is... wow. It cuts like a razor blade. Pretty cool. I don't really use that channel much, though. It goes into a heavy distortion pretty easy (sounds pretty awesome with guitar). Its basically just a really hot signal.

The other thing I've done, internally, is replace the output transformer. It had a 50 watt old tired thing in there. I replaced it with a 100 watt dixie sound works (I think thats the brand??!). Seemed to do the trick. Loads more headroom on the Bass channel now. Way more punch.. and I never have to worry about heating the transformer up too much. It runs pretty cool.

Add some JJ preamp tubes which I really like, and some NOS US milspec output tubes that a friend gave me.

It all runs into a Weber ceramic Mighigan 100 watt speaker with aluminum dome. Perfect combination I think.

I'm not really technical when it comes to electronics... I just messed with bits and had lots of help!

Thanks for the interest! Hope no one falls asleep reading it...

I'll post some more pictures of the amp if anyone is interested?

[ajish4]

Fingerprintglo is a more accurate name. I gave up on keeping it clean by convincing myself it adds "character". I love a good fireglo and that walnutglo (i think thats what the twins there are?) is pretty nice too! Theres no bad color for a Ric !

As for mods to the amp....

I'll post some more pictures of the amp if anyone is interested?

PERFECTLY SAID MIKE....."theres no bad color for a RIC".

Yes please, more pics if you got 'em for reference if you don't mind.

I love this stuff, even though I can't solder worth a lick...I like seeing what others have done.

How about a DISCOVERY CHANNEL for musicians?

[jingle_jangle]

PERFECTLY SAID MIKE....."theres no bad color for a RIC".

I respectfully but emphatically disagree, Tony.

Although color is a matter of taste, certain colors go with certain shapes, and some look better than others, with few exceptions to this rule.

I think you can paint a Porsche 911 ANY color and it looks great. As a matter of fact, black--a commonly-specified 911 color, while as classic as a tuxedo, doesn't do the most for the car's gorgeous curves. Out of 10, Black is a 9 on a 911. The other colors range from 8 to 12... I've seen 911s in pink that still get an 8 in my book, though metallics are the best for these beauties.

The Strat is the 911 of the guitar world. My daughter's mini-Strat was refinished in pearl pink by "Santa's Elves" three years ago, and the color looks fine. I'm not too crazy about solid pure colors on ANY guitar or bass, but even a Strat manages to pull off bright solid green or blue or even pee yellow with aplomb. Still, these colors on a Strat are a 6 out of 10 in my book. And Fiesta Red is nothing short of incredible IMO.

There are some colors that don't do a Rickenbacker any justice, and the ones above (bright yellows and greens, solid police car blue) look dreadful IMO. But COYs Blue Boy and Sea Green work...BB on anything, and Sea Green on most models. Ricks look great in many metallics and kandies and best of all in the classic JG/MG/FG trio or the darker bursts. There are still hundreds of custom shades that remain unexplored on Rickenbackers.

Of course YMMV--color is highly personal.

[ajish4]

PERFECTLY SAID MIKE....."theres no bad color for a RIC".

I respectfully but emphatically disagree, Tony.

Well, so much for me being a peacemaker!

I DO my MY personal preferences as most everyone here knows, pretty much ANYTHING that allows the grain to show through.......WITH ONE EXCEPTION....my 4001CS that is!

Some I like more than others, ie Walnut VS Burgundy...but being creations made of wood, I just love to see the grain.

[harrek]

Finally got some time out on a nice day to take some pictures of my recently received custom bass. It's a conversion to 8 strings courtesy of Dane Wilder. He can answer all your technical questions on the conversion, I am sure.

[harrek]

And here are 2 more pictures.

[cjj]

Very nice!

[rickenbrother]

Very cool, Brian!

[OdysseyMike]

PERFECTLY SAID MIKE....."theres no bad color for a RIC".

Of course YMMV--color is highly personal.

That's kinda what I meant, its personal. One mans Jetglo is another mans Fireglo/Walnutglo/NeonGreenVomitglo etc....

That 8 string is something else! Fantastic!

[paul_yan]

Fantastic 4-2-8 JG, Brian! Kudos to Dane!