'76 4001 restore/parts questions

[grahambo!]

#1 Where can I buy proper saddle for a '76 4001 bridge? The set currently on my bass are all marked up. I'd like a fresh set. Do they come pre-slotted? Do I NEED to slot them?

#2 I would like to replace my nut, too. How should I take off the old one and how should I put on the new one?

[jingle_jangle]

Hey Graham...

I'm leaving this one open for the bass guys to chime in. New saddles are available from the RIC boutique, and will require slotting with a triangular file. The small protrusions on the bottoms of the saddles may need a touch-up with a file, too, in order to fit the bridge slots.

To remove a nut: Put some masking tape on the fretboard just south of the old nut, and rest a small block of wood against the nut, sitting on the 1st fret. Give the block a sharp tap with a hammer and the nut will break loose.

A new nut will have to be shaved in height, and probably shaped a bit in width, too, to match the exact width of the neck on your '76. This can be done with a file with the nut in a vise, with a disc sander (careful!) or a sanding block with some #100 paper on it. Clean up any visible edges with #320 after it fits properly.

Glue it in place with a couple of dots of yellow AR glue. Some folks use gap-filling super glue, but take care if you do, as it can make a mess of your bass's finish.

[grahambo!]

Cool. Thanks for the great (and detailed!) information!

I suppose I have one more question. Whoever owned this bass must have had a red finish on it at one point. He then stripped it (haphazardly) and put some sort of clear coat on top of it. Still... there are red splotches here and there, and even some on the white binding. Any help in regards to getting that off and then perhaps coating the bass to protect the wood? I'm not looking for any fancy refinish or anything, I'd just like to fix it up a bit. Maybe I can't do that on my own? Maybe it DOES require an entire refinish? I will upload pics later tonight.

[jingle_jangle]

Yes. Let's see some pics. Then we can all pow-wow.

[grahambo!]

Not the greatest, most detailed photos in the world, but I seem to have left my camera at my friend's house. These were taken on my mobile phone.

http://i49.tinypic.com/28sypsk.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2igzwpv.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/28jcdp1.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/2gt5egx.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/300wuoo.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/jjpk6a.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/33ekfsz.jpg

[grazioso]

that bass was once burgundy... now it is sandthemglo

[grahambo!]

Any tips on getting rid of some of the burgundy paint-job (and the DIY refinish goop) that is all over the white binding of the body (and a little on the neck)? Should I just take some fine, fine sandpaper and have at it? Or use some sort of stripper and put painters tape on the body first? Or should I just strip the whole guitar and put some sort of stain/finish on it? I don't know. I'm really more concerned about playability right now, being a poor post-grad, but I wouldn't mind getting rid of some of this burgundy (and clear/brown) gunk that is all over the bass and binding.

Any tips on cleaning up the fretboard? I read some people recommend Scratch-X and Zymol, but my fretboard is pretty damaged, I'd say. Maybe 80% of it still has some sort of coat on it. Maybe 20% is pretty worn and the wood is unfinished/uncoated, presumably from heavy playing.

The previous owner also drilled his own straplock holes. Now there are 2 or 3 holes near the straplock areas. Unfortunately, I think he even made the original holes bigger than they were originally made. I suppose I'll have to stick with the "new" holes then, as the Rickenbacker straplocks are too small to fit in the original holes, it appears.

[jingle_jangle]

I'd sand the entire bass by hand, with #80 or #100 aluminum oxide paper. This stuff cuts fast and will clean the maple up really nice, and take off the old finish. Use a rubber block!

Work carefully to avoid modifying the body's e4dges and radii. Use a block on flat surfaces to keep them flat.

Once you've got the maple nice and clean, switch to #220 aluminum oxide paper and go over the whole bass again to remove the sanding scratches from the coarser stuff.

Next, you need to seal the surface. Use Behlen's vinyl sealer. Two coats, sand in between with #320.

Last, the color. You can do it with nitro, if you're not concerned with originality and want some durability. But for best results, you've got to coat the color with conversion varnish, which catalyzes, must be shot through a spray gun, allowed to cure for a few days, and then wet-sanded with #1000 grit wet or dry sandpaper and then buffed to a mirror gloss.

That's a rough overview of the process; it has a fair amount of financial commitment and a steep learning curve, which is why most amateurs turn to a pro refinisher to get this sort of thing done.

You can fill those extra strap button holes with a small (3/16" D.) wooden dowel that's been sharpened to a point, cut to about 1" long, then dipped in gap-filling super glue and driven into the hole with light taps from a hammer. Cut off the excess length after the glue cures and sand flush.

[grahambo!]

Thanks for the tips. Any way I can get my original straplock holes into working order again? Fill it with wood-filler and re-drill? Or are they useless now that they are too big?

And for my fretboard? Lemon oil do the trick?

[jingle_jangle]

As I mentioned, you can fill the oversized holes. Then, simply re-drill them and then tap them with a metal tap to fit new strap pegs. Wood filler is a less than optimum solution; I do not have any filler at all in my shop, nor have I ever had any.

The use of Lem-Oil on a raw fretboard is OK if you never plan to finish it to look original again.

[grahambo!]

I took off the old nut last night and was going to attempt to glue the new nut in place, but upon first glance I noticed the string notches on the nut come awfully close to the fretboard itself. There isn't much of a gap, is what I'm saying. I threw my old nut in place for a comparison and I was surprised to see the same thing. The notches come almost down to the fretboard wood. Is this normal? I don't remember having an issue with string rattle with the old nut. But now I'm a little perturbed. Can I lay down anything inbetween the nut and the fretboard to raise it a bit, or should I not be concerned at all? Can someone send me a picture of their nut height?

[jingle_jangle]

String height on a hand-cut (read: inaccurate) nut has as much to do with the diameter of the string and width and shape of the slot as the depth of the slot. Lots of times, the string is of a diameter and the nut is of a dimension that the string does not "bottom out" in the nut, but rides high in the slot so that clearance between string and fret is hard to predict.

Best to place the nut in place, string the bass, tune, check clearances, and work from that point: either widen, deepen, fill each slot as required, or if it's a loss, shim up the nut or cut a new one--carefully. Considering the nut without the strings that sit in it or its location on the neck is often futile.

[Wiker]

I had that too when fitting a new 4003 nut to my ’79 4001 - seemed very low. I could have shimmed up the 4003 nut, but.. Also, strings were spaced wider apart on the new nut. As a result the strings was not running straight down the neck, G and E string coming closer to the edge at top of the fret board. I didn’t like this, especially the G string being (too) close to the edge, and ended up making a new nut from a blank Graphtech slab in order to get original string spacing. The Graphtech slab was the largest black nut slab I could find, but was not high enough and had to be shimmed up. A piece of ebony was perfect for this. I made the shim slightly thinner than the TRC, but should have made it even thinner.

Anyone know of other sources for black nut slabs that are higher than the Graphtech one?

Don’t know if the photo helps. String height at the nut is 0.85mm (1/30”).

[grahambo!]

You mentioned using Behlen's vinyl sealer after I'm done sanding. Let's say I want to keep the bass the same color (i.e. natural maple/wood color). Can I just stop there after "sealing" it and call it a day? Or do I need to do the nitro/color stuff like you mentioned? I like the color of the bass now. I realize the former owner did a **** poor job of sanding off the original finish, but I happen to like the natural + white pickguard look. I'd like to keep that look, but sharpen it up.

Thoughts?

Oh, and if I sand down the fretboard, can I use the vinyl sealer on that, too?

[grahambo!]

In other words, can I use this and call it a day to get that McCartney-esque feel? ---> http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200527 ... Quart.aspx or do I need to apply anything else? and can I use this on the fretboard if I sand that down, too?