Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey guys, thanks for the support on the FG!! I know it won't please all, but I guess you can tell I'm bonkers over this color and look with the check'd binding and gold pick guard.

Dane, I'll drop you an e-mail off thread about the parts you have too.

So---FG it is!! Whew... I made a decision! That feels better already!

Sergio!! Vintage! An incredilbe offer, but can't we work out a trade or something?... I'll drop you an e-mail and we'll figure out something over here to send your way... some parts to trade or something like that? ...something from across the "pond"... You are in Lisbon correct? I did a show there about five years ago and had an absolute BLAST!! It will be VERY cool to get the first vintage part in the parts box from you as I understand you are THEE pickup guru around here!

Thanks again!

Marty: You should tell the group a little about yourself. They would probably find your studio work to be interesting. The older members would probably like to hear about your boss and the work you do for him.

You're welcome, Martin.
Yes, I live in Lisbon. I'm curious: where did this gig take place? And what outfit where you with?
Well, I can't think of any small parts I could use right now, except maybe a black plastic selector switch cap, if you happen to have a spare one laying around.
Also, should you be unable to find a suitable treble p.u. for the 4003, I'l be glad to build you a replica to original specs.

Wints, is that green neck the RM1999 I want off you?

Take some more pics of it.

Fireglo is a great choice. One of my favorite Rick finishes.

Did you ever wonder what a 4003 looks like with the body segments detached? Here they are after a light sanding. This is a bit gruesome but entirely necessary for this project.



Here you can see just how deep those routes really go.

I have to wonder, how much better would the 4001/3 sound without that deep middle route?

Ted, what did you use to make the clean, straight cut on an odd shape like that? Will you run the three pieces through a jointer to square them up, if so how much material will be removed? Were there biscuit joint in there from the factory?

I very slowly heated the glue and used razor blades to separate the laminations. The technique is very similar to the one used to remove the fingerboard. There were small metal pins like the ones on the ends of the fingerboard that indexed the sides in place.

Ted,

Did you steam the glue joint to remove the sides?

Where is evidence of the grey epoxy that you mentioned? Seems to have come apart pretty cleanly. I wouldn't imagine a factory glue job on the body would steam apart like that. I wonder how it found its way into three pieces in the first place. Do you think the metal pins are factory?

The factory puts the binding on the body wings before they glue them to the neck plank. This is probably easier than after assembly. Since you're going for the vintage look, why not saw off the headstock wings and replace them with walnut and recut in the vintage shape?

Great job Ted! That does look pretty gruesome with the wings off, but it's a great load off my mind. Gettng them off cleanly was my biggest worry.

I wonder; did you notice any damage to the separations that will make it impossible to get a perfect glue line when the wings are reassembled?

Also, I've reconsidered on the Walnut headstock offer. I took a close look at my 660/12 and indeed the wings on the 660 headstock are a darker wood than any other on the neck or body? Could this be walnut on the 660/12 headstock??

Anyway, Dane has also suggested it...I think it's a really cool look and I don't know why I didn't realize the 660 had the darker headstock... Oh well, I'd make a crummy detective huh?

Now you can call me a "Flip Flopper"!
Let's do the walnut!

Marty

Yes, the 660 headstock does have walnut wings. I think Bubinga strips between the body wings and the neck would look real nice on that bass. That would tie in the fingerboard with the body nicely.

That's a very cool idea Jeff.
Especially if there ends up being some edges that need to be trued or cleaned up for a perfect glue line on the body wings. Let's see what the "Maestro" Ted has to say about that idea... I know he's busy this weekend and also said he may have felt the flu bug coming on...sure hope not.

Marty