Wood identification?

[bluewhale]

There is a thin layer of wood on my '78 4001 between the fingerboard and the maple neck. I checked in parts of "Ted's Rickenbacker Bass Anatomy Threads," but so far haven't found this feature discussed. I think I remember some older RIC literature mentioning this, but now I can't find anything on it.

Does anybody here know what wood this is, what it's for, or in what years it was used?


Thank you,
bluewhale

[FretlessOnly]

Every 4001 or 4003 has it, as far as I know (well, the S series doesn't have binding, so they look different). And it's not a strip of wood per se, it's the rosewood fingerboard. The binding obscures a portion of this, making it look like a thin strip of wood rather than just the fingerboard itself.

[bluewhale]

No, I think there's something else there in the '78. I believe it's absent from the current 4003.

I am looking at the bit of fingerboard visible beneath the binding. Underneath that, there is a thinner layer, like a veneer, darker than the fingerboard.

[cjj]

Pictures?

[rickaddict]

Yeah, we'd need photos to figure this one out. RIC didn't ever put another layer of wood between the fretboard and the maple neck as far as I know. Maybe yours has been modified/repaired by a luthier at some point.

In the meantime, here's a pretty good shot of my Burgundy '79 4001 neck for you to compare:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/us ... llsize.jpg

[antipodean]

Interesting Jeff - the fingerboard is much darker where it meets the maple - it almost looks like another layer of wood.....

[rickaddict]

Oh! I have an idea...Depending on the color of your Rick, you might be seeing the mask line:

If your 4001 is Fireglo, for example and the fretboard was masked so that a little bit of the fretboard (maybe just a mm or so) has the Fireglo tint it might appear to be a different material than either the Maple (Fireglo) or the bare fretboard. Does this make sense, or am I not communicating properly?!

What I mean is that RIC tries to put the finish only on the maple, masking off the rosewood (bubinga?) fretboard...But sometimes the masking is less than perfect and the finish actually overlaps a tiny bit of fretboard.

[rickaddict]

Interesting Jeff - the fingerboard is much darker where it meets the maple - it almost looks like another layer of wood.....

Yes it does. But I think what you're seeing is the same thing that I was trying to describe in my last post.

(I know Evan...we posted at about the same time and you hadn't seen my last post yet! )

[jingle_jangle]

It's the mask line, where the finish overlaps the fretboard wood for a couple of millimeters or less. Obvious on transparent finishes, as the tint darkens the wood over which it's painted.

[bluewhale]

Mask line!

Thanks,
bluwhale