Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Colonel Sanders wrote:

FabGearHead wrote:John Hall, why don't you guys start making the original style lapsteel pickups so we can get them, modify them and use them in our basses?
I bet they'd sell like hotcakes!

Jim

In the Lollar Lawsuit thread in the General Section, Mr Hall mentionned that RIC would start doing magnetic horseshoe again after the market has been cleaned.

Lollar is not producing its HS anymore (and I am kicking myself not to have bought a couple when it was the time) so maybe, if Mr Hall is a man of his word, RIC will finally produce a real Horseshoe and not the current fake, er... Sorry... Re-issue...

Only if RIC does both the early narrow opening as well as the later wide opening magnetic shoes. I have a need for the wide ones!

sepp

Kopfjaeger wrote:+1 John!

Looks like Dale, if Dale transformed this bass, did a nice job. What was the donor bass? is there a serial number on the jack plate?? I'm guessing new body wings were made and added. I wonder if this is a ground up creation or a heavily modded Rickenbacker.

A real horsie would really make this one special!! A late 50's re configured lapsteel pup with real horseshoes.

Sepp

I seem to remember seeing this,or possibly a fireglo one on the interwebs before,from DF. I believe its a new creation,rather than a conversion from any existing Rick. And it is marvelous......would love to hear a soundclip of it with the 5.4k pickup.
The fretboard on this one is especially beautiful. What kind of wood is it?

Woody, Interesting. We'll see if Baz replies. I'm curious as to the serial number, if it has one and if it has two truss rods.

Sepp

Yeah, I'll reply. Got Nothing to hide. The bass is Fricking Kick ***!!! Serial Number B 138or 138 B. Dual truss rods... Like the old school ones. Looks Like there was a route for a neck pickup, kinda looks factory...I don't know...like i mentioned before..I'm a 1963-69 Gibson thunderbird expert, Rics are NEW to me. Also, The bridge route looks like it was made deeper to accommodate the DF bridge, as there is a step in it.
The DF pickup is 5.6. I'll probably list that and the bridge for sale as soon as I install the vintage Kluson tuners and the New Repro Winfield Vintage Bridge Tailpiece.
Does anybody know how thick the bodies were on the original '59 Rick 4000's?? This one is 1 5/16" thick, the neck is Fat and thick and the headstock is 5/8" thick.

Here is the one you guys probably saw some time ago. It has a single truss rod with those lame *** truss rods that require an allen wrench. Those damn things snap easily and then Boom...you need a whole new truss rod. The Body was VERYT thick maybe 1 5/8"s?? Sounded Great but I fell in Lust with mine.
I've built 8 string T bird basses before, one is owned by Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick and my first one is now owned by Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam. I appreciate Nice craftsmanship. But I am a Player first. My old band Daisy Chain, here in Chicago back in 1991 scored a $750,000 plus deal with Mercury, changed the name to Mind Bomb, did one record and then broke up. I've since recorded albums with Diamond Rexx and Mary's Window to name a few.

Here is a closeup of the headstock on Mine.The center section looks too wide. Thoughts??

And There you have it. As I said. I have NOTHING to hide. This bass is Kick *** and cost me a vintage '64 beat up refin T Bird II. Well...I got a set of 2 Mike Lull T bird pickups in the trade as well. And I actually tried to contact Dale Fortune on Facebook several weeks ago. He replied and told me to email him. I did. He completely BLEW Me off. I even found his home number on the Internet. He completely ignored my phone calls. I only wanted to ask a few simple questions and compliment him. But...thankfully, this seems to be a community of Cool guys who LOVE these Rickenbacker instruments and seem to be a cool bunch of guys...Now I need only some more thought from you guys....How thick are these bodies supposed to be?? And is it VERY hard to find a REAL Horseshoe pickup??? Because I would LOVE to make this as close to original as possible?? thanks!

According to my book (you should buy it! ), the original 4000 in the late '50s had bodies that were 1 5/8" (41mm), and around 1961-'62, they thinned the body to 1 1/4" (31mm). This was accompanied by a longer upper horn to balance the bass away from being neck heavy.

Yes, But didn't they have 2 truss rods?

Disclaimer!!

Baz,

I have zero experience with early 4000 basses. My only encounter, and very pleasurable one at that, was playing Tony Matura's wonderful early 60's 4000 a few months ago.

OK, I've gone through Paul's book and compared to the headstock fotos in the book, it does appear that the center strip is wider than on authentic 4000's.

I'm guessing that this is a ground up creation and not a donor Rickenbacker body. Seems a huge amount of love and time went into her right down to the dual truss rods. Are they the early style folded over "hair pin" rods?

As far as inconsistencies with original 4000 basses, If this is a ground up reproduction, there are going to be inconsistencies. As long as the bass plays and sounds great you have a cool instrument that can't be found unless you are both lucky and have a boat load of cash to spend on an original.

Sepp

Baz Cooper wrote:Yes, But didn't they have 2 truss rods?

I don't believe so, but on the other hand, I don't recall Dale ever using dual truss rods in his scratch builds.

Btw, got any more old beat up refin T-Birds for sale?

So I don't know what this is...

I am in no way an expert on the '50's to early '60's Ricks, but it sure does look like "someone" went through a lot of trouble making the front pick-up pocket old-looking.

Well...either way...I'm going to put the upright Kluson tuners on it and the 6 hole modified guitar bridge/tailpiece, and HOPEFULLY find a REAL new or old Horseshoe somewhere and play this Mutha!!! It ROARS Like a LION!!!!

I think DF probably knows a thing or 2 about making one of these in a way that would capture a lot of the original's vibe. To that end,i would be hesitant about putting a RIHS in it,as the 5.4k pickup in it now probably would be closer soundwise to the original. I don't know if i missed an earlier description,but is the current pickup a magnetic HS or are the shoes merely cosmetic? Also,I've read a lot of good things about those Lull t-bird pickups...not that i'm suggesting putting one in this bass,just sayin' they are supposed to be very much like the '60's Gibson tbirds,which were fantastic.