Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Oh...and Congrats, Mitch!

I used a JG 4003S for about 6 weeks.

A real simple, no-frills Rick bass full of bottom end. I liked it.

Keep it stock, for goodness sake.

Of course...it is your bass, its a free country and you can do whatever you want with it.

Maybe its that really dark wood on the fretboard that they were using for a while there that made these so sweet. Anyway...I think you will see, feel, and hear the mojo and decide to leave it alone.

I'd refinish it in SquireGlo, put a toaster in it with some vintage knobs, make a one piece vintage-style plexi guard for it and get a horseshoe pickup for it. There's one on E-bay right now.

The thing is, the body is not standard 4003 construction. An opaque finish would hide that fact. This is probably a one of a kind instrument.

You can get a pickguard like this one from Pickguardian; he made this one which is white backed clear lucite and also one from the normal white plexi for me.

Jeffrey,
Will that guard fit a new 4003?? Beautiful woodgrain on that. Very jealous here.

Yes, as this is a '04 4003FL.

I'd leave it as is. I've always been a fan of the Mapleglo finish, and like the woodgrain look in ANY guitar. So........I vote NO to a refin.

hope I'm not too late!

repeat after me.......

mmmmmm...... refinish in white with white trim......mmmmm

.....repeat

I thought I was bad over Fireglo, you Whitie's are a fanatical lot !!!!

Jeffery this is the same way I make Pick Guards.
.125 clear acrylic cut to shape, then spray the back side with white lacquer or any other color one may want. It gives more depth and a nicer look to the Guard. This is a factory fretless isn't it? It looks as thought there is no finish on the fingerboard. The ones we made in 1974 had Fullerplast on the fingerboard as well. Looks beautiful. The toaster in the bridge position, is it a 4 pole bass P-up? IMO if I were going to re-finish this, I'd go with Black(Jetglo) with Gold pick guard and name plate. I make those also.

Dale: I know the 4003S at the top of this thread was made after your time at Rickenbacker but do you have any idea why it would have been made like that?

I would have to think that as time goes by improvements are made, but it looks to me that someone took the bridge pickup apart and mounted a toaster in it's place. Maybe Larry has some input on this. The finish on the fingerboard is easy to remove and IMO has a better acoustic tone from the bare wood.

Jeff Scott showed his fretless here as an example of a vintage style pickguard on a modern bass. The thread was originally about a 1984 MG 4003S that has a 3 piece neck like a 4001 but instead of walnut in the center lamination there is a strip of maple.