Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Doctor, did you ever establish that this bass was a "Blackstar"? Did it have the micro dots on the neck. I could never tell from the photo's

Yes, it has the microdots. Whether it was part of the Blackstar series, I have not yet determined.

Ouch. I wouldn't put much trust in that if you can get it back into shape. The metal must be pretty bad to bend like that.

I really like the similarity of the Hipshot to the original Rick piece.

. . . then you'll REALLY like our new assembly ( 4 & 5) when it's done.

I wouldn't put much trust in that if you can get it back into shape.

I really agree with Jeff on this one. You might want to check with Kenny to see if there's one of these somewhere.

Thanks for the input, John (and Jeff), I'll do that.

I can make one from a 4 string one and you can get it sandblasted and powder coated black ... it should look 95% like the original except for the pullup ... but if you can find a real s5 black tailpiece then go for it ...

and I agree with John ... that tailpiece looks to have deformed plastically ... in layman's terms ... you may never get that metal back into its original shape ...

Metal fatigue. Not from rocking all night long, but from being bent for so long. I hope Kenny can help you out, and I am SO looking forward to what John was talking about!

Actually metal fatigue is from bending back and forth but metal deforming plasticly means it changes shape and stays in that shape ... that tailpiece may never go back to its original shape unless it is melted and recast ... that is due the the basic properties of the metal ...

I agree with your assessment. Ween metal moves like that, it does so on atomic-level defects in the crystal structure (often along grain boundaries). Such movements are usually irreversible, and moving it back just moves it through a new set of defects, which creates yet another new set of defects. Too bad it doesn't exhibit hysteresis like memory metal!

". . . then you'll REALLY like our new assembly ( 4 & 5) when it's done."

I have been very patiently waiting for this John, thanks so much for getting it going!

Maybe soon!

Maybe for the new 4006 series basses.

Update: here is what the lift looks like now after 26 days of gradual clamping:



Still not quite at the end, but it's getting there. The lift is now about 3 mm.

It also remains to be seen whether this process has cracked the metal on the underside. I plan on looking carefully at the bottom under a stereomicroscope at work at the end of the clamping process.

good job ... the clamps won't get it completely flat ... but the screws should ... if you put enough screws that should compensate for metal fatigue and cracking ... the part that bothers me is the arch in the middle ...

Yeah, me too.