Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

eddied wrote:Thought I'd show eveyone my pride and joy. It is an actual picture taken by me @ The Boston Garden during the Wings Across America Tour. A really nice stage roadie allowed me to get up close and take a picture of the HOLY GRAIL Paul's 4001S. I will never forget the night. Check it out.

Boston garden 76.jpg

THAT is totally AWESOME!

There is a high-res double-page spread image of McCartney's Rick in my book. I describe it as how it looks "today" but the shot is at least 10 years old. I suspect nothing has changed on it since the photo was taken. A good comparison of McCartney's Rick and a lefty C64S can be made with the book as well.

bassduke49 wrote:There is a high-res double-page spread image of McCartney's Rick in my book. I describe it as how it looks "today" but the shot is at least 10 years old. I suspect nothing has changed on it since the photo was taken. A good comparison of McCartney's Rick and a lefty C64S can be made with the book as well.

There certainly is Paul! I guess I'll take this opportunity to tell you it was YOUR book with the comparisons that was part of the inspiration for this project.

aceonbass wrote:I'm quite surprised that no one seems to have noticed the change to the neck blanks and cutaways on Rick basses given the level of scrutiny that Rickenbacker guitars and basses undergo on this forum.

I can't say that I articulated it very well but it was noticed...May 2010.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=395189&hilit=+Neck

congerz83 wrote:For strings, I just bought a set of Pyramid Flats. Your thoughts?

FWIW, search the world for a set of Maxima's with the purple silk, and they would likely be more original. Subjectively, the TI JF344 flats are a more similar sound to the old Maxima on a Rick to me...YMMV. For their tension, they are not a stiff string, and one may need to acclimate, depending on the amount of stiffness your normally preferred brand exhibits .

aceonbass wrote:I'm quite surprised that no one seems to have noticed the change to the neck blanks and cutaways on Rick basses given the level of scrutiny that Rickenbacker guitars and basses undergo on this forum.

I would disagree a bit with this. The variance from year to year is actually quite high. I really do not like the look of the new "deep cutaway" style with the pickguard going very close to the binding of the bottom wing. The engineer in me shivers at the lack of surface contact for a sturdy join at the neck- bottom wing interface near the neck pick up cavity.

godber wrote:

aceonbass wrote:I'm quite surprised that no one seems to have noticed the change to the neck blanks and cutaways on Rick basses given the level of scrutiny that Rickenbacker guitars and basses undergo on this forum.

I can't say that I articulated it very well but it was noticed...May 2010.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=395189&hilit=+Neck

I remember that thread well.

iamthebassman wrote:

ram wrote:don't forget the missing part of the pickgaurd down by the knobs.... progress pictures please!

I thought that broken pickguard was replaced years ago.

Yeah, I think it was... thought we were going for the 'original' post sanding look - Ram/early Wings days.

aceonbass wrote:I'm quite surprised that no one seems to have noticed the change to the neck blanks and cutaways on Rick basses given the level of scrutiny that Rickenbacker guitars and basses undergo on this forum.

Now that you have pointed it out, I can't NOT see it.

Captain Bob wrote:

congerz83 wrote:For strings, I just bought a set of Pyramid Flats. Your thoughts?

FWIW, search the world for a set of Maxima's with the purple silk, and they would likely be more original. Subjectively, the TI JF344 flats are a more similar sound to the old Maxima on a Rick to me...YMMV. For their tension, they are not a stiff string, and one may need to acclimate, depending on the amount of stiffness your normally preferred brand exhibits .

Yep,the old Maximas are the bomb,if you can find them,that is! The new Optima set seems to be the modern day choice for something close to them in feel and sound. And (alledgedly) the optimas are slightly beefier and less floppy than the TI set. I also like GHS flats,but they are nowhere near as good as the Maxima's. Pyramids,which sound and feel great,are sometimes a bit too much tension for some RicKs.

Captain Bob wrote:

congerz83 wrote:For strings, I just bought a set of Pyramid Flats. Your thoughts?

FWIW, search the world for a set of Maxima's with the purple silk, and they would likely be more original. Subjectively, the TI JF344 flats are a more similar sound to the old Maxima on a Rick to me...YMMV. For their tension, they are not a stiff string, and one may need to acclimate, depending on the amount of stiffness your normally preferred brand exhibits .

The Optima 4099 strings are almost identical in feel and tone to the Maximas. I have both sets. The TI flats are not as close. IMHO

http://elderly.com/accessories/names/op ... 4099-4.htm

johnallg wrote:

Captain Bob wrote:

congerz83 wrote:For strings, I just bought a set of Pyramid Flats. Your thoughts?

FWIW, search the world for a set of Maxima's with the purple silk, and they would likely be more original. Subjectively, the TI JF344 flats are a more similar sound to the old Maxima on a Rick to me...YMMV. For their tension, they are not a stiff string, and one may need to acclimate, depending on the amount of stiffness your normally preferred brand exhibits .

The Optima 4099 strings are almost identical in feel and tone to the Maximas. I have both sets. The TI flats are not as close. IMHO

http://elderly.com/accessories/names/op ... 4099-4.htm

Thanks for that information,.....and link! I recall the Optima's from years ago (the gold, etc.) But I wasn't aware of these.

Hey guys - just now jumping in. I'm happy that Rick bestowed upon me the honor of letting me do this fun project, which won't be without it's challenges, I'm sure! But before getting to the McCartnification of the bass, there was the first issue of the twist in the neck that Rick brought to my attention. It was indeed twisting heavy towards the G side, so I released the truss rod nuts to full relief to see what's what and discovered that the G-side nut was cranked pretty tight, possibly two full revolutions, while the E-side nut was pretty much already at full relief!



So yeah... might be a little somethin'-somethin' going on there.

Once both rods were at full relief, the neck came pretty close to straightening out with a little coaxing. (The top angle of the nut is a little deceiving.)




Then once the strings were tuned standard, the neck stayed pretty straight twist-wise.




...but then it was revealed that the neck had quite a forward bow. This was the action at the 12th fret:




At the neck pickup:




I tightened both truss rods about one full revolution, and got the neck pretty straight, but the action at the 12th-fret neck pickup area was still unreasonably high with the bridge sitting flat on the tailpiece - height adjustment screws completely unscrewed.








Then taking a good side view showed that the neck was drastically pitched forward at the neck/body wing intersection. Notice how far forward the neck is angled across the plane of the body - the neck at the first fret is actually above the body plane! Yet from fret-to-fret the neck is relatively straight.



Full size image: http://imageshack.us/a/img7/2694/fgqt.jpg

So next I'll apply a steam-press treatment to see if I can get the neck back to human playing levels. Steams work great for remedying twists, but for correcting a jutting neck it could be tricky.

walker wrote:
...but then it was revealed that the neck had quite a forward bow. This was the action at the 12th fret:


...

...hey, that's great, no fret buzz!!!