Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Here is one from March of '63.

rickfan60 wrote:Here is one from March of '63.

That one looks very close to the one in the original post. They were made a year apart

Notice how square the top corners are? Most are more rounded.

rickfan60 wrote:Notice how square the top corners are? Most are more rounded.

Exactly why I was psyched out about the bass I originally posted, it has very square corners and the longer top.

Hmm. You are right about that. I did not look that closely before. That is the first one I have seen that looks like mine. They must have been made by the same guy.

Here is another shot showing the full body.

That could be an original surround....It's hard to tell if that is a short taper or a slightly shorter version of the later, longer one!

Can we confirm it is a March 64?

wints wrote:That could be an original surround....It's hard to tell if that is a short taper or a slightly shorter version of the later, longer one!

Can we confirm it is a March 64?

Andy, IIRC it is DC 179....pics are in the gallery.....I think it's the same bass, but I haven't double checked....I guess I could to that before I typed this, LOL...

Thanks John.

That is a superb example, no question. Just looking at my pix of another March RM 1999, and the surround on that one is much more rounded.

As ever, YMMV!

This surround is obvoiusly not original to the '69 4001 LH I just bought, but it has a pretty decent shape to it, more like the early type used on the RM's of the day, but the corners on this one are a little softer....I date the one on my bass to the late 80's....YMMV

wints wrote:That could be an original surround....It's hard to tell if that is a short taper or a slightly shorter version of the later, longer one!

Can we confirm it is a March 64?

The big deal with the OP bass and Ted's is that the top half (non taper part) appears to be about twice as long as the other types. This leads to a significant difference in the amount of pickguard between the toaster and the HS.

How about this one, short taper with no curve to it. Also, a big pickguard gap. Possibly a pickguard that was meant to be used with a surround like Ted's or the bass in the OP?



At any rate, it seems like I'll at least be able to reproduce the short taper version of the surround for my bass, and if there's enough material there I'll try the long taper.

Wes, I think Pete Quaife's 1999 was pretty early in the run, although I don't know the month it was made. Possibly even as early as Jan-Feb 1964....some of the earliest known RM's have had 'guards similar to the on this bass....it's just another inconsistancy that make the early basses special....technically the same, but still a bit different from bass to bass.

Of course, the backside of the surround is really thin, could be that the 'guard is normal.

Weren't a lot of the early surrounds cut from lap parts? I seem to remember reading this.

Also, Ted, is the pickguard on your March '63 original? Did the early ones bulge near the jackplate?

Sort of - it is a Pickguardian copy of the original (which is cracked).