Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Very unique looking. Nice.

rickenbrother wrote:There is a thread about this on the RIC company forum also. Like I said there, nice work and pretty wood, but he killed it for me with those pickups. If he wanted humbuckers, he could have gone with the HB-1s and made it sort of 4004-like. I don't like pattern of fingerboard inlays either. I do like the binding on the headstock. As far as I'm concerned, he make a fake Rick out a real one by filling the dual truss rod channels and giving it a single rod, bringing down it's value along with that large route for the control cavity cover in the rear. Just my humble opinion, of course.

I agree - he could have gotten the same result, only classier, by using HB-1s, leaving the two truss rods (maybe getting new-design 4003 ones), leaving the Rick tailpiece and bridge intact and just plating them gold, and leaving off the ugly perpendicular fret marker inlay inserts of contrasting wood. The control cavity route was not so bad, all Alembics do this too, and there is no chance this Rick would ever be restorable to stock-original anyway....

And why the h377 did he not use checkerboard purfling along with the binding? Cheese!

I tend to agree with Joey and Elys - while not exactly my cup of tea you gotta admit he seems to do good work.

elysrand wrote: And why the h377 did he not use checkerboard purfling along with the binding?:P

Yeah, he did all that work left out the checkered binding!!

He did some things that I would have done differently, but all in all, he ressurected what was previously a terrible wreck and turned it into something beautiful. Kudos to him for a job well done.

Give him a break. The guy has talent. If he were a forum member in the "know",,, Im sure it would have turned out differently.

I wish I had his skills................

Single rods work fine in tons of basses and it's probably what he is familiar with so I don't see it as much of a downside. Also the front route under the pickguard on a stock Ric isn't unsubstantial either....the rear loaded cavity doesn't look oversized enough to cause any issues.

I like everything about it EXCEPT the look of the p/u's. Checkerboard binding would have been a nice touch but I would have chose black binding and black hardware. It's a refreshing change IMO.....a "boutique" approach to Ric restoration.

I would like to take a perfectly good 4003 and put a nice veneer on it ... but I would use Ric pickups and keep both rods ...

as per that bass he now has a truss rod that works in a normal way so he can adjust the neck without popping off the fretboard ...

I think he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with this one. Doing all that work, but going to a single truss rod, cutting that panel in the back, his choice of hardware, and then sticking those ugly pickups in it makes it look like a dog's breakfast. I can't image that after that repair and the move to a single truss rod, that the neck is going to be too stable either.

I think it was his bass and he could do with it as he wanted. It was worthless before he started on it. I don't like the wood look, fingerboard, pickups, etc., but he did quality work and he's happy with it and thats all that counts.

I'm not such a fan. I guess I'm too much of a traditionalist when it comes to Ricks. It has some cool ideas, the guy does nice work, and its cool that he was able to dream up his own take on the Rickenbacker bass and see it through.

No comments on the 34 inch scale? Its not for me, but I guess if the guy has mostly Fenders in his stable, then it might be a worth the effort.

P.O.S.

I like it for the most part. Certain details make it apparent that the builder isn't a "RIC" guy though. I would have filled in the truss rod routes but re-routed them for a set of new 4003 rods instead. I like the idea of moving the bridge back a bit to get a 34" scale but the fingerboard overhanging the body was unnecesary in achieving this. I would have used tuners that covered up the 16 holes in the back of the headstock and not had a bigger shaft that interfered with the TRC. The bound headstock is cool, but the transition in the binding on the sides of the neck looks awkward. I would have made the control cavity cover out of maple though. And last and probably worst, DiMarzio pickups? It's still better than it was in most respects and cooler than any Gibson or Fender bass.

Very nice craftsmanship ! Could it have been restored as a real 4001 and still be legit ? With his woodworking skills I would think so . I just think it should have been saved as original as possible .