Rickenbacker Craigslist/Garage Sale Cleanup Project

[itsalljustaride]

Here's the story:

I browse the musical instruments section on CL quite often, just out of curiosity at what is out there. One day I saw an ad for this Ric which the seller tells me he purchased at a garage sale for...wait for it...$25. Says the old man selling it had no idea what it was. I've never owned a Ric before, and have only played a couple, and they didn't really do it for me, but I know they are definately worth more than $25, and also more than what this guy was asking, but he said he needed cash for car repairs, and didn't have the skills to fix it up right in any case.

It was in pretty rough shape, somewhat disassembled, and with a bunch of gunk on it that I can only assume was dry Coke, beer, or bongwater, or a combo of the three, but otherwise it was all there, and the finish was still in pretty good shape. No buckle rash or huge gouges. So I pulled the trigger and got to work on it.

I tore it down to the bare body, cleaned off all the gunk, polished it up with some of the Stew-Mac polish and wheels. I spent a good two weeks polishing the metal hardware with chrome polish, etc. I got the pickups re-wired and cleaned up, and purchased a few replacement parts like screws, etc here and there. Also shielded the control cavity with copper tape, just because I figured it'd be a good time to do it while everything was tore apart.

So, here's the rub, as far as I can tell, everything about the bass tells me it is a legit 4001, from April 1978 according to the serial on the jack plate, with one tiny exception...the route from the neck pickup to the control cavity is smooth, and not the series of circular drills. There was writing in the control cavity that said "4001-B-R" so I'm having a bit of a hard time reconciling what some of the online stuff is saying about 4001s only having the drilled route.

Any ideas? I've pretty much decided that at the very least this has to be a 4003 with a replacement jack plate from a parted 4001, but that writing in the control cavity is throwing that theory off too.

Pics, start to finish:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dyarq75irrjr ... qBKPa?dl=0

[Thornton_Davis]

Nice find. Someone's removed the .0047 cap in the wiring harness which allows the bridge p/u to produce more bass tone.

You might consider contacting RIC to see if they'll sell you a new TRC and the correct Phillips screws for it. You'll have to send them your damaged one first.

Enjoy

TD

[aceonbass]

The truss rod routes tell me that this is a 4001 with the old style hairpin rods. A 4003 with those rods would be adjusted at the body end, and have a two piece pickguard. The .0047 cap is still in the circuit, but the bass would indeed sound better with it bypassed. Excellent find. So how much did YOU get it for? By the way, RIC will only get you a new truss rod cover for $50+the old one+shipping.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

From the raised letter TRC with the model number it is from 1977 to 1982ish. Is the jackplate with the SN still on it? that will date it precisely...

Good score though!

[Thornton_Davis]

The .0047 cap is still in the circuit, but the bass would indeed sound better with it bypassed. Excellent find.

I stand corrected, after a closer look at the pics, I see it hiding in the background.

TD

[itsalljustaride]

So how much did YOU get it for? By the way, RIC will only get you a new truss rod cover for $50+the old one+shipping.

I paid $400 for it, and put about $200 in materials/supplies/etc into it. I thought about getting a new TRC, but ultimately decided to keep the original for now. I'm selling it, but if I were keeping it for good I might rethink that and get a new one. I may try the cap mod though, that sounds interesting.

[marc61]

Nice score...try and enjoy it before you sell it

[bassduke49]

Hey Mark! Haven't "seen" you around here in a while. Hope you are well!

[itsalljustaride]

So, I just did the .0047 cap mod, and I'm loving the extra bass and volume from the bridge pickup, but it seems to have rendered the tone controls somewhat superfluous. Both pickups just kind of sound the same, and blending them to any degree really doesn't do a whole lot tonally. Kind of makes it into a mostly one-sound kind of deal. Is that others' experience too?

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

I stand corrected, after a closer look at the pics, I see it hiding in the background.

TD

It is from April 1980 then. Number range is 1250 to 1681.

Incredible deal indeed.

I paid $1100 for my Nov 79 4001 and thought it was a very good deal.