New guy, and '82 JG 4001 questions.

[jdawe]

And while I'm usually not a fan of natural finishes, this is a seriously good looking bass.

+1 to that. Most of the time MapleGlo is my least favourite Rickenbacker finish, but when it's applied to wood like that it moves right up to the top of my list.

[cjj]

And while I'm usually not a fan of natural finishes, this is a seriously good looking bass.

+1 to that. Most of the time MapleGlo is my least favourite Rickenbacker finish, but when it's applied to wood like that it moves right up to the top of my list.

Yeah, me too. Plain Mapleglo? Nah, but I'm a total sucker for figured maple...

As marc61 said, "More figuring in that pic than a calculus test"

[Satellitedog]

Hmm...

The second from left is my fave of the MGs...
then again, I don't think anything trumps the Jetglo 4001/03's pure rock'n'roll, down to business look.


Back to OP, does anyone have advice on pickguard yellowing? Do I have to worry about uneven/spotty yellowing of the white plastic, or take any preventive measures to know of?

[Satellitedog]

There it is.

The fine beast.

sideview

Exaggerated view of stains (added contrast and darkened to bring them out more visibly)

Tail lift left view

Tail lift right view

Tailpiece rear view

[johnallg]

Nice 4001! To me it looks like the owner was a smoker and his fingers, over time, left deposits that have yellowed. I think it adds to the mojo. I would think a plastic cleaner or, like Jeff recommended, Swirl-X would clean it up some. As to tail lift, it is not all that bad, but if it bothers, the tailpiece can be removed, clamped, and straightened. There are a few threads, with pictures and good descriptions, on how to do it. Look for the threads by Gary Clausen. Then once it is straight, you can put a maple layer in the rout hole that the 3 screws go into to fill the too-deep gap so the screws can't pull the tailpiece down into the gap and raise the end again. Some of us just use varying thickness flat washers to fill the gap too. Threads on this also.

Nice bass, I'll bet it sounds really good.

[jps]

As John said, that lift is pretty normal and has no effect on the bass. Here are some photos of the July '73 4001 I used to own:

4001_1200_7403.jpg

Tailpiece_800_1837.jpg

The bass sounded awesome and in the 7 years I had it there was no change at all to it.

[Satellitedog]

Thank you guys!

Exactly my thoughts actually.
I also thought about the stains coming from smoker's fingers, HECK! Come to think of it, they could even have been mine, as I was a heavy smoker at the time I bought it sometime in 2003, and I quit in 2009 :-DDD How could I have forgotten about that.
Even if it was stored smoke free I was touching it (plus it lived in a smoking flat of a friend for about two or three months)

That lift on yours, Jeff looks even better, as if it was a design element. Is that a Montezuma Brown finish?
The lift on mine hasn't worsened one bit in the last eight years, the playability is just fine, the bridge pieces (is there a name for the triangular bits the strings rest on?) are cut somewhat awkwardly and one is quite rough looking, but the setup is just fine as is.

I'll try to get the stains off the guard, but that and new strings are about all the change that needs to happen.

Thanks again, enjoy your Rics in 2013 too. I'll post some soundbites once there are good ones, and here's a tune recorded with the 4001, titled La Rain

http://www.myspace.com/thesatellitedogs ... n-10009078

[cjj]

If the tail lift hasn't changed in years, I wouldn't worry about it or even mess with it.

The triangular bits are called "saddles."

And congrats on quitting smoking!

[Satellitedog]

Of course they are It escaped my mind strangely, I mixed the saddle up with the nut (cowboys probly would chuckle at this...)

As for smoking, it was a weird thing, I really enjoyed it, but wasn't keen on the long term health consequences, so I just stopped and never went back. Weirdly I never missed them, like if I smoked enough and my nico-meter just maxed out or something. Lucky I guess.

[cjj]

Sounds similar to my wife. She just decided it was stupid one day (while teaching a CPR class) and quit right then and there. She had a pack in her purse for over a year, but never touched 'em again...

[Satellitedog]

Congrats to your wife then too!

It was quite surprising an experience to be able to do that, but of course I don't regret it...