Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

ok so i'm almost done!! Headstock wings have been dyed and sanded and in need of one more coat. The back has been blocked and the neck has been hand sanded with extra fine grit and is 100% uniform, sides also received the same treatment. The face of the bass is giving me the most trouble as my soldering gun is nowhere to be found, so its off to Home Depot to buy one. Also noticed some of the leads came unsoldered, so not to create further damage, I'm stuck and can't finish the right side of the face of the bass. So its a waiting game, but I should be done in about 3 days

Cool! Any chance of posting some pics as you progress? It would be great to see the process...

This is exciting Nolan, please do post some pics.

Restoring and modding my 4001FL was one of the most cathartic experiences I've had lately. It took me several months to finish up but when I got there it was a great feeling of accomplishment. I bet you're enjoying this just as much.

i've a few b&w pics of it before hand but none while doing so, cause that takes too long. I'll post when done though. Soldering iron has been purchased and leads disconnected. Now I'm shaving the paint completely off the face and then blocking her and she'll be ready for satin by the end of the weekend i think

ok I've one small little patch of jetglo left to shave off. Its actually where the neck meets the body. Not a particularly easy place to get to but other than that I'm in the final stages. I was very lucky there were no wood knots in the body at all. just one small one at the base of the headstock. i've opted to leave it alone, its barely noticeable anyway. After I get that little patch taken care of I'm going to go back over the bass starting with 120 grit and working my way back up to the fine stuff I have and then I'm going to spray satin on it and then thats it.

So it would appear that i've made a grave error. In my haste to dismantle my bass, I never labeled which input was the stereo jack and which one was the mono jack. When I took the pickguard off I also noticed that one of the input leads had unsoldered itself. So now I'm not certain where it goes. I think it goes to the neck pickup volume pot as the the other input lead goes to the treble volume pot. However! This is the least of my worries. Can someone post pics of the underside of their high gain bridge pickup? I think they're may be something wrong with mine. I just need to see the wires coming off the bottom of the pickup.

Prowl wrote:In my haste to dismantle my bass, I never labeled which input was the stereo jack and which one was the mono jack.

The mono jack has a switch and the stereo jack doesn't.

When I took the pickguard off I also noticed that one of the input leads had unsoldered itself. So now I'm not certain where it goes. I think it goes to the neck pickup volume pot as the the other input lead goes to the treble volume pot. However! This is the least of my worries. Can someone post pics of the underside of their high gain bridge pickup? I think they're may be something wrong with mine. I just need to see the wires coming off the bottom of the pickup.

Try Joey's Bass Notes for pics. The hot leads from the pickups go to the lower half of the switch, then the upper lugs send the signal to the volume pots.

thanks for being speedy Josh, and sorry for taking forever to reply in IMs. I was talking to my room mate as well. "UH OH" meant I just discovered that magnet under my neck pick up is cracked almost entirely in half.

So I got her all back together again and then . . . the bridge pickup isn't working at all. Can't figure out why

A picture is worth a thousand words. Show us the bottom and the wires. Clarity is important. Also a pic of the controls might help too.

Ahhhh yes, so sorry i haven't posted pics. I've since solved the mystery and . . . I've been playing it non stop!!!!!!!! mwahahaha. I love the way it feels and looks.

So what was the issue? Inquiring minds want to know.

the ground wire attached to the underside of the bridge p'up broke so I soldered it back together and then the neck p'up was cutting out. I broke it down again and saw that the side attached to the switch came unsoldered so I fixed that as well, and now its all proper

Ahhh, the ole haste makes waste. Glad you got it all working again.

thank you all again every one, you've all been a major help and I appreciate it!

the only thing I'm not 100% satisfied with yet is the tone of the headstock wings. I might hit them again one more time only with something a little redder so to speak. So it'll have the dark walnut look underneath it but its not as dark as I want them to be. I may just give them one more coat and see what happens.