Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Great looking 4005... Hard to beat a good JG sometimes, can't wait to see it assembled.

RIC_FACTORY wrote:Great looking 4005... Hard to beat a good JG sometimes, can't wait to see it assembled.

Neither can I!

Nice work, Paul. I see the new neck binding is way thicker than the original that was on it.

The closeup photos of the neck binding were taken before it was thinned fro its supplied thickness of .060" to the original .025".

As far as height of the binding, it is identical to the original...

Back to the late '40s SP. This was a bargain basement find in serviceable but sad condition. Biggest problem was the headstock joint, which had been badly (and I do mean badly!) compound-fractured, then repaired with epoxy and wooden dowels. Then some black enamel had been slopped over the whole mess. It fooled nobody...

Here's how it looked out of the gate:

With the paint stripped and sanded, the need for a new, scarf-jointed headstock is obvious:





The neck was reset, as without a truss rod, it had shifted over 60+ years. The horseshoe surround is made of nice maple, but a previous owner had notched it so the strings would clear, due to the neck being bowed. That piece will be made from scratch to the original pattern.

Here's the attractively-stripped and sanded body with reset neck. Its Harmony origins are obvious.





Original pots, harness, etc. are all present and accounted for. The shoes will be replated and remagnetized. There was some discussion about whether to add a truss rod, but in the end, I've decided to keep it as original. The fretboard will be replaced with new; the original was badly scarred, oil-soaked, and split in several places.

Also, I'm just completing a custom 12-string Rick bass for Mr. Kenny Howes.

This is the neck in the routing jig for dual truss rods:



Here it is, routed and with filler strips glued into place. Note fretboard in background.



This one is at the top of the stack right now. We'll follow it through finishing and assembly!

I like the forstner bit headstock cavity.

I think the Paul´s SP will be even better that Graham´s SP

jingle_jangle wrote:That was a Leo/Rossmeisl "innovation".

Thanks for the explanation behind it, Paul

It looks nice, but can you actually play it properly tuned with the .009?

tristanbacker wrote:I think the Paul´s SP will be even better that Graham´s SP

My stuff is usually slick. Graham's has that indefinable mojo!

Wildberry wrote:

jingle_jangle wrote:That was a Leo/Rossmeisl "innovation".

Thanks for the explanation behind it, Paul

It looks nice, but can you actually play it properly tuned with the .009?

Good question. I haven't re-strung it yet...I'm going to push it as far as I can with the .011s first.

Incidentally, I've strung a number of Rick 12s with .009s at owner request (ref: Dave Stewart), and they play fine and stay in tune, with only minor tweaks to truss rods and intonation. The intonation would worry me on this one--earlier Fender acoustics had very fiddly Tele-style intonable bridges with adjustable drum-shaped saddles. This one is the simpler (read: less flexible, cost-cut by CBS) version.

I want to see a picture of mine !

It shouldn't take as long to paint as there's less of it after my great prep and sanding.

I expect a discount on paint for this BTW.

I think he's charging more if you worked on it first.

kiramdear wrote:I think he's charging more if you worked on it first.

gareth wrote:I want to see a picture of mine !

It shouldn't take as long to paint as there's less of it after my great prep and sanding.

I expect a discount on paint for this BTW.

Stop!!! You're both right!!!

It's a candy and a breath mint!

Gareth, the paint will be cheaper by about 2%, because that's how much smaller the carcass is after all the sanding you did. However, the Bondo material and application bill more than makes up for it, so...

jingle_jangle wrote:Also, I'm just completing a custom 12-string Rick bass for Mr. Kenny Howes.

This is the neck in the routing jig for dual truss rods:



Here it is, routed and with filler strips glued into place. Note fretboard in background.



This one is at the top of the stack right now. We'll follow it through finishing and assembly!

Far out!

More to get Kenny all excited...worked on this one all weekend...

The body, hanging in my booth getting its coats of clear varnish. Yep, it's RUBY!!!



The billet T6 truss rod block/tensioner I made to fit the 30" scale neck. Fretboard is bubinga, of course...



Here's the neck in the booth getting sealer and tint:



I decided to make the neck in tinted amber maple with a headstock painted to match the body, for more eye appeal than a painted neck. So, here's the masked Ruby headstock drying in Sunday's sunshine:



I still have color sanding, buffing, wiring and assembly to do. Gotta find a case to fit, too, but it is in final stages!

Kenny's 12er is looking amazing. My favourite colour too!