Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Update

The pickguard arrived this afternoon. Tony did a great job!! Everything matches up perfectly! I had a nice set of vintage knobs that came off my 73 4001. Glad I didn't sell them!!

I installed the toaster and the harness in the new guard. Tomorrow I'll solder the toaster leads. Quick question, where are the correct solder points for both the ground and the insulated conductor????

Also, stupid question but, I purchased the tug bar as well. Does the beveled edge face downward??

Sepp

Bevel faces downward. Here is a photo to guide you with the pickup connections.

Jeff,

Thanks, any ground will do, correct? The wire will not reach to the first pot but I should be able to ground it to the switch, unless the lack of shielding will give me noise issues.

Thoughts.

Sepp

The ground to the switch should be fine and you shouldn't have any noise issues. How far back to the pickup is the shield, or better yet, how much of the pickup lead is unshielded?

Jeff,

About and inch to and inch and a quarter will not be shielded. I know the shielding should be attached to the pot. That's how it is from the factory. I'm seriously mulling over replacing the wire from the pup and do it right. I just don't have the proper wire and Stew mac sells it in 25" rolls. All I need is less than a foot.

Sepp

Don't fret over that, some day down the road you can take care of that little detail; for now, just get the bass making music.

jps wrote:Don't fret over that, some day down the road you can take care of that little detail; for now, just get the bass making music.

I'm real close to doing that! Mark is working on my bobbin and horsie. My parts from PotR should be here tomorrow.

Sepp

Bass is looking great, Joe!

I got the bobbin disassembled, cut down, reglued, and holes plugged. The holes were a little tacky this morning, but will probably be able to sand tomorrow and paint.

walker wrote:Bass is looking great, Joe!

+1! It landed in the right hands Sepp!

opticnerve wrote:

walker wrote:Bass is looking great, Joe!

+1! It landed in the right hands Sepp!

Second that
Looks like you've made a great save.

That bass is looking great. Every step toward finishing the project is great to see.

I thought I'd mention that when you complete the detail work on the loom, you may or may not wish to run the obligatory two strips of masking tape on the backside of the pickguard before attaching the loom to the 'guard for the last time, just for an added detail.

Agreed - you're bringing it back to life and preserving what it has. Glad to see it in such great hands, Sepp! Should be a great player when its done, I love restorations like this.

leftybass wrote:
I thought I'd mention that when you complete the detail work on the loom, you may or may not wish to run the obligatory two strips of masking tape on the backside of the pickguard before attaching the loom to the 'guard for the last time, just for an added detail.

+1 This is a dumb minor details for us Rick anoraks, but I love seeing it under the guard. Devil's in the details.

What a cool old bass this will be when finished.

Doesn't that old Fireglo look just great now...

wints wrote:What a cool old bass this will be when finished.

Doesn't that old Fireglo look just great now...

Andrew, you know I was leaning toward having her refinished. After cleaning her up, I'm really liking her just as she is. I know she's worn down to wood in a few places but in the places she still has finish, the finish is stunning!!!

I've never played her though amplification since she was so screwed up but acoustically, she sounded awesome. Nice low action with a super fast neck!! In my experience, electric basses that sound good acoustically often sound very good through electronics. i really believe the sound quality is borne in the wood and enhanced though the electronics.

Everything I've heard about horseshoe pups, make me believe she is going to have a real snarl to her with the road worn scars to back it up!! If she sounds like I imagine she will, I will play this bass at gigs! In a week or two I should have her back together and functional. I will have her neck re-fretted since they are pretty worn but that is the only work I plan on having done to her. I already have a slot for her scheduled with Larry Davis for that in December.

Sepp

+1 on the wood & acoustics (and also setup).

I dot think I've ever played a guitar or bass that sounded great unplugged and terrible plugged-in. It just doesn't work that way. I have seen plenty of guitars that sounded horrible unplugged AND plugged.

Pickups are like a microphone for the guitar as a whole. If everything else is bad, electronics won't save it.