And so it begins...

[squirebass]

Are the shoes included?

Those aren't period correct 'shoes!!!

[jps]

Well, they are a bit fuzzy in that photo so it was hard for me to tell.

[thx1955]

Well, they are a bit fuzzy in that photo so it was hard for me to tell.

They'll never hold a charge, and it'll be real hard to keep the strings in tune too ...

[Maccaguy]

Larry can keep his shoes, I've got several pair around here for running.

Last update for a while. Larry's going to put mine aside and work on another project while he sends a physical sample of the finish to me. He doesn't trust digital photos and wants me to be happy with the finish color. Anyway, here's the finished 'construction' part of the project:

[jps]

His headstock job looks amazing.

[thx1955]

Looks like a leftie C-64 !

[aceonbass]

I'd oil it and wax it, then play it as-is. I love the feel of real wood...on a bass!

[Lefty4001]

Wait...what happened? I sold you a good bass and you go and do this? Awesome.

Update again when you can.

[aceonbass]

You going to square off the heel on this bass?

[Maccaguy]

No, the heel and the extra fret marker will stay as is. I won't change the tailpiece for a "vintage" model, either. I prefer the security of the extra screws against tail lift.

[Maccaguy]

Minor update: picking the Fireglo finish. Needless to say, Rickenbacker has been all over the place with their Fireglo over the years.
This is a burst from a 1964 4001:

And here is Larry duplicating it on a 4001S replica:


To me, that looks spot on! Larry did a small sample and sent it my way to make sure I was happy with it. Compared to my Mapleglo (to see how the burst pattern would look against the size of the bass):


And in natural light:


I LOVE the amber center (compared to the area with no tint beyond the black line), and the longer, more subtle transition. I just want to hit the good balance between too much amber and too short of a transition zone. Either way, it looks WAY better than what's coming out of Ric these days. And Larry knows that there was amber and orangish areas around the edges of the body on most 1960's Rics. Sir Paul's had a really light upper horn:


Now the only concern is getting the size of the amber center and transition sized properly. Larry is going to spray it in stages, so we can get the burst just right.

[Maccaguy]

Now we're getting some color! Larry shot the amber part of the burst all over the bass to build the Fireglo on. Here's the photos I received this morning:







More color coming soon!

[teeder]

Nice!

[cheyenne]

Whoa! Nice amber! I believe I'd stop right there and buff it out and call it done.

[ricosound]

Hey wait a minute the photos are reversed