Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:23 pm
Very cool. Keep the Bigsby on the 430.
Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum
Rickenbacker Forum, Amplifier, Bass and Guitar Register
https://www.rickresource.com/forum/
BUMPER WEEK!!!
Page 2 of 3
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:03 pm
It makes me feel warm inside, to know that I will be paying for these (well at least a small part).......congrats Paul, that Capri looks beautiful already.
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:10 pm
Beautiful work on Aitches guitar Paul. I have been wanting a SH 350 for some time now because of the beautiful binding on that guitar. The paint on my 350JG has checked quite badly. Therefore, I have been debating whether or not to have it re-finished at some point in the future. So we may be on to something here. I just need to get my thoughts together on a plan that is starting to germinate. I'll chat with you off list further about this.
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:12 pm
Your fleet of Ricks sure is boss, Paul. (love that Capri!!)
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:27 pm
Tony, it does have a small bump, about half of what your 230 had, and located closer to the tuners. I may do some work on the neck of this one, too, and if I do, the swelling will disappear.
Ted: Thanks, I'm leaning toward keeping the B5.
Graham: Thanks for the kind words. Actually, according to my timing, your project(s) will be contributing to the BB325/6.
Brian: I'm all ears...
Ted: Thanks, I'm leaning toward keeping the B5.
Graham: Thanks for the kind words. Actually, according to my timing, your project(s) will be contributing to the BB325/6.
Brian: I'm all ears...
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:59 pm
Congratulations, Paul! Wow! You've really gotten a few beautiful Rics in a very short time....
That f-hole 325 is heartbreakingly gorgeous, even in spite of the anemic (sorry!) Blueboy finish....
Is the color of Aitch's Gretsch your batch of Turquoise?
That f-hole 325 is heartbreakingly gorgeous, even in spite of the anemic (sorry!) Blueboy finish....
Is the color of Aitch's Gretsch your batch of Turquoise?
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:11 pm
Actually it's a 50s Cadillac Green, Melissa, but Paul can no doubt expand on that further. He's got one hell of a collection going there, hasn't he?
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:37 pm
Wish I had projects like that!
Now, it's your guitar, Paul, but were I in your shoes, I'd refret the Capri, but I'd try to preserve as many of those wear spots as possible. Gives it character, and shows you it was played (a lot) in its lifetime.
Now, it's your guitar, Paul, but were I in your shoes, I'd refret the Capri, but I'd try to preserve as many of those wear spots as possible. Gives it character, and shows you it was played (a lot) in its lifetime.
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:55 pm
Congrats, Paul! Nice year, indeed!
I , too , will be contributing to your BB purchase!
....but with MORE than what we talked about....!
I , too , will be contributing to your BB purchase!
....but with MORE than what we talked about....!
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:12 pm
...sounds like there are some interesting projects cooking for next year...
Scott, you need to see the guitar. If it was an original finish, no doubt I would do exactly that. But I can't live with somebody else's bodged attempt at refinishing, and that's the reason John sold it to me, and the reason I have no qualms about redoing it properly.
Melissa, I realize that BB is an acquired taste for some (and some never do acquire it!), but I have no BBs in my collection, and the rarity and uniqueness of this one overshadow the sometimes-unpopular color.
BB has always been popular with me.
Scott, you need to see the guitar. If it was an original finish, no doubt I would do exactly that. But I can't live with somebody else's bodged attempt at refinishing, and that's the reason John sold it to me, and the reason I have no qualms about redoing it properly.
Melissa, I realize that BB is an acquired taste for some (and some never do acquire it!), but I have no BBs in my collection, and the rarity and uniqueness of this one overshadow the sometimes-unpopular color.
BB has always been popular with me.
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:56 pm
Paul, I was just talking about the fretboard -- I totally agree that it should be refinished and rebound.
(Lookit that orange peel...)
(Lookit that orange peel...)
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:04 pm
Ah, the fretboard!!!
Yer post said "wear spots" and the Capri has more than a couple...
Stripping the fretboard will not eliminate the dark areas in first and second position. So that lovely aging will remain under the new varnish. The chips in the heel end will be fixed, however.
Yer post said "wear spots" and the Capri has more than a couple...
Stripping the fretboard will not eliminate the dark areas in first and second position. So that lovely aging will remain under the new varnish. The chips in the heel end will be fixed, however.
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:11 pm
Paul, your Capri is lovely -and will only be moreso when you refinish it.
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:52 am
Paul , congrats on your beautiful collection!!
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:28 pm
Update, here, friends.
Today I finally got home at a reasonable hour (Finals the last three weeks!) after spraying up Alan Z's sample chips (should go out Monday after a thorough curing of the clearcoat).
I had time to take the pickguard off the Capri for the second time and poke around inside. Jwilli had packed some parts inside the guitar, under the guard, and I removed the guard the first time to take them out, when I first strung it up, on Wednesday afternoon.
The reason I could get no sound from the bridge pickup became obvious--two ground wires were broken--one from the bridge pickup braid to ground and the other from one output jack to ground. Five quick minutes with a soldering iron, another couple of turns with a screwdriver to put the plate back on, and plug it back into my amp. Remember--tone controls work backwards. I had thought that volume controls did, too, on these, but mine are forward (clockwise to decrease resistance).
Wow. Smooth, clean tones from the neck pickup, brilliant highs from the bridge pickup. Smooth "surf" tones from both dialed in full. I "A-B"d this 45-year-old sweetheart with its infant cousin--my '04 MB 381V69 with scatterwound toasters. The new toasters are a good deal harsher sounding, though not unappealingly so. These vintage pickups are the nuts!
The neck on this guitar is super-nice; there's a bit of relief that I will dial out eventually (one thing at a time). It's thin, with a nice radius (haven't measured it yet, but probably 6") and even with a worn fretboard and some badly worn 1,2,3 frets, it intonates OK (high "E" is a bit flat with plenty of room for adjustment) and the bridge is at 1/2 travel with lots of adjustment there, too. My guess is that, once the neck relief is eliminated (and offhand it's about .015 or even .020" at the 10th fret) the bridge can be raised again to darned near its original '60 position.
Still, the guitar is quite playable. I filed the nut a bit high, just as a starting point, so it will come down a bit, too.
Amazing. Already, the only difference between the two guitars, feel-wise, is the grungy fretboard on the Capri slows it down for me a bit. New frets and a revarnish, and it should play like a new high-end Rick.
The waist of the big Capris is a couple of inches higher than it needs to be for comfortable sit-down playing; you really need a strap or your picking hand and arm tire of holding the guitar in position, as it doesn't want to sit with the waist over your leg. This was corrected when RIC moved away from the "long tails". 330s and 360s sit properly, as does my 381.
Although the pickguard is old, is it original, you oldie experts? The color and tarnish from the grommets it sits on are consistent with the guitar's age, but there is no masking tape on the backside around the drilled holes for the switch and for the pot shafts. Or perhaps they did not do this yet in '60? The holes for the attachment screws--oval head #6 are not countersunk, either. Could this guitar have possibly had an upper guard, too?
As is typical of many of the Capris I've seen, the neck is a 3-piece with terrific rippling in the maple on the top (bass) side.
More as more discoveries are made. But soon--probably sometime mid-next-week, the disassembly will begin, and plan on the resto taking a couple of months or so.
Today I finally got home at a reasonable hour (Finals the last three weeks!) after spraying up Alan Z's sample chips (should go out Monday after a thorough curing of the clearcoat).
I had time to take the pickguard off the Capri for the second time and poke around inside. Jwilli had packed some parts inside the guitar, under the guard, and I removed the guard the first time to take them out, when I first strung it up, on Wednesday afternoon.
The reason I could get no sound from the bridge pickup became obvious--two ground wires were broken--one from the bridge pickup braid to ground and the other from one output jack to ground. Five quick minutes with a soldering iron, another couple of turns with a screwdriver to put the plate back on, and plug it back into my amp. Remember--tone controls work backwards. I had thought that volume controls did, too, on these, but mine are forward (clockwise to decrease resistance).
Wow. Smooth, clean tones from the neck pickup, brilliant highs from the bridge pickup. Smooth "surf" tones from both dialed in full. I "A-B"d this 45-year-old sweetheart with its infant cousin--my '04 MB 381V69 with scatterwound toasters. The new toasters are a good deal harsher sounding, though not unappealingly so. These vintage pickups are the nuts!
The neck on this guitar is super-nice; there's a bit of relief that I will dial out eventually (one thing at a time). It's thin, with a nice radius (haven't measured it yet, but probably 6") and even with a worn fretboard and some badly worn 1,2,3 frets, it intonates OK (high "E" is a bit flat with plenty of room for adjustment) and the bridge is at 1/2 travel with lots of adjustment there, too. My guess is that, once the neck relief is eliminated (and offhand it's about .015 or even .020" at the 10th fret) the bridge can be raised again to darned near its original '60 position.
Still, the guitar is quite playable. I filed the nut a bit high, just as a starting point, so it will come down a bit, too.
Amazing. Already, the only difference between the two guitars, feel-wise, is the grungy fretboard on the Capri slows it down for me a bit. New frets and a revarnish, and it should play like a new high-end Rick.
The waist of the big Capris is a couple of inches higher than it needs to be for comfortable sit-down playing; you really need a strap or your picking hand and arm tire of holding the guitar in position, as it doesn't want to sit with the waist over your leg. This was corrected when RIC moved away from the "long tails". 330s and 360s sit properly, as does my 381.
Although the pickguard is old, is it original, you oldie experts? The color and tarnish from the grommets it sits on are consistent with the guitar's age, but there is no masking tape on the backside around the drilled holes for the switch and for the pot shafts. Or perhaps they did not do this yet in '60? The holes for the attachment screws--oval head #6 are not countersunk, either. Could this guitar have possibly had an upper guard, too?
As is typical of many of the Capris I've seen, the neck is a 3-piece with terrific rippling in the maple on the top (bass) side.
More as more discoveries are made. But soon--probably sometime mid-next-week, the disassembly will begin, and plan on the resto taking a couple of months or so.