Pickguard to 4000

[YZZ]

Hi! Nice BT Mapleglo, I love that combination.

Just a question, did you buy this one around 2009? I remember seeing that black painted back on the bay at the time I bought my 4003. Just curious

Again, nice bass! I completely understand what you mean by being careful with it at some places. I never take my Rick out to rehearsal rooms I don't know or bad reputation bars :p

Hi Joaquin!

Yea it looks and is a totally amazing bass!
You're actually totally right, it was bought from the bay in 2009 by the guy who was the owner before me.

He had it a few months, discovered Rickenbacker was'nt the thing for him (yea, i know wtf.. ) and then he sold it to me.

This is actually interesting, do you remember what the description was for why it is painted black?

[jc-sz]

Hi Daniel! Sorry I didn't see your reply before.

Yes, I do remeber, but it won't be of much help though: it said it came out of the factory like that, which is obviously not true. The only reason why I would think somebody would do a thing like that is: back finished was scratched, wanted to cover up the wood to protect it but didn't have anything other than black paint.

How pro does the finish there look? And the rest? maybe it was a whole refin?

Anyways, like I said, Maplego with BT looks great to me! I hope you are enjoying it!!

[YZZ]

Hi Daniel! Sorry I didn't see your reply before.

Yes, I do remeber, but it won't be of much help though: it said it came out of the factory like that, which is obviously not true. The only reason why I would think somebody would do a thing like that is: back finished was scratched, wanted to cover up the wood to protect it but didn't have anything other than black paint.

How pro does the finish there look? And the rest? maybe it was a whole refin?

Anyways, like I said, Maplego with BT looks great to me! I hope you are enjoying it!!

Yeah that's what the guy i bought it of said as well.
"Limited Edition" but as you say that is not the case.

No it's not a whole refin.
The MapleGlo is the original finish.
I actually cleaned it up quite a bit and sanded some of the black paint of so that black paint was not very solid or thick wich was good until i saw the real reason why it was black..
The reason why it is painted black is because the neck was cracked at the neck joint.. someone (probably that guy who sold it on the bay) tried to cover the crack up and sell it for the same price as a stock rick.

It's professionally fixed though.

So the reason i asked was because i was wondering who tricked who.
If the guy that i bought it of tried to trick me or if the guy on the bay tricked that guy i bought it from.
And a bit to find out what really happened to her.. did someone throw it over the whole stage or did it fall or something? No one knows and probably i will never find out.

I got some money back from the guy i bought it from so he's probably a good guy

And yeah, im totally enjoying it!
I pretty much only play that bass out of all i have.
On all gigs i only use the rick nowadays.

Amazing bass in every way but it will soon need a re-fret im afraid.
I like a bit of that rattle and buzz sometimes but it's getting more and more and when i tried to record with it a few days ago it did'nt work out cause it was to much buzz so i had to record in the studio with an ugly black Fender Jazzbass with the stringheight up to the roof. It was pretty much an inch.
Terrible to play.

I can't tell how much i missed the Rickenbacker then

[jc-sz]

Sorry to hear about the crack. Is it like the neck came apart or just a crack in the wood? If just a crack and if it has stayed solid all these years, then you probably have nothing to worry about. If I were you I would rather have the crack visible though, in case it stops being stable.

So they guy who bought it from you had been tricked by the one selling it back in 2009 or maybe this guy had, in turn, been tricked by someone else... You can never tell really.

About the fret buzz, did you try having it set up by a pro? I'm sure that'll help. I mean, there's got to be a lot of fret wear for it to be buzzy, and also how many hours a day you play? Cause if you say it started getting worse lately, and you only had it for a couple of years, I would think your problem is set up and not fret wear, but that's just a thought.

Also, even if the frets are worn, there are instances before an actual refret. Frets can be leveled by sanding them, or re-crowned. A re-fret in a Rick is something you want done by a real pro who knows his job and is also very meticulous. Otherwise, you will always tell it's been refretted. Just my 2 cents.

Keep enjoying it!! Keep playing it! Ricks are the best! I love 80's... I would definitely trade my mint '03 for an 80's in good condition.

[YZZ]

Sorry to hear about the crack. Is it like the neck came apart or just a crack in the wood? If just a crack and if it has stayed solid all these years, then you probably have nothing to worry about. If I were you I would rather have the crack visible though, in case it stops being stable.

So they guy who bought it from you had been tricked by the one selling it back in 2009 or maybe this guy had, in turn, been tricked by someone else... You can never tell really.

About the fret buzz, did you try having it set up by a pro? I'm sure that'll help. I mean, there's got to be a lot of fret wear for it to be buzzy, and also how many hours a day you play? Cause if you say it started getting worse lately, and you only had it for a couple of years, I would think your problem is set up and not fret wear, but that's just a thought.

Also, even if the frets are worn, there are instances before an actual refret. Frets can be leveled by sanding them, or re-crowned. A re-fret in a Rick is something you want done by a real pro who knows his job and is also very meticulous. Otherwise, you will always tell it's been refretted. Just my 2 cents.

Keep enjoying it!! Keep playing it! Ricks are the best! I love 80's... I would definitely trade my mint '03 for an 80's in good condition.

The neck has been totally apart at sometime in the past but is professionally fixed by the looks of it.
I probably won't take off all the black paint because i think there is some glue and stuff under the paint which i think will not look so good.

Yeah of course you are right about that.
No i set up all my instruments myself 'cause only i know what kind of setup i want.
I don't play it very much a day but i rehearse with it 3 days a week, 4 hours each rehearsal and then gigs and recordings on top of that.

I don't think it's my setup, you know i'm not the only who have played it for the last 31 years
It's been played a lot i can tell, the frets where already very worn when i got it.
Of course i get them sanded but the rick frets are so small so i'm wondering if it's not easier to just get a re-fret instead.
I would'nt dare doing it myself, when the time comes im going to send it up some guys in northern sweden where they have something called PLEK so i might try that.
I guess you have it in the US aswell.

it's like a machine that levels the frets totally after calculations and it said to be really good.

yea, I love it myself.
it's become a bit like a companion, always with me!
I think the old ones are a bit better then the newer ones aswell.

Other neckdimensions etc etc of which i prefer the old thinner ones.

[jc-sz]

Good then, if you are sure it's just that the frets are worn then go for it! Try getting your current frets levelled down. That's what I would definitely do. Then, if that doesn't help, try refretting. But like I said, not my first choice... I've seen some basses refretted that looked like ****, specially when binding is involved.

Enjoy your bass!! And don't worry about that crack too much! If it's been solid for so long, then it's most likely to stay that way!

Cheers!