Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Jerry, just to let you know...

When the guitars were sanded, the C64S did not come out of that. The C64 is an unprofessional McCartney special, I believe...when the bass was sanded by a luthier, it still had the cresting wave contours. Look...pics of Paul with the natural 4001 WITH the cresting wave and original stuff are rare...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a326/talanca/Macca_stripped_4001S__681.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/fabbassman/SandedRIC-01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/fabbassman/SandedRIC-02.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/fabbassman/SandedRIC-03.jpg

http://www.beatlesuits.com/Paul4001-1.jpg

Where do you find these images? Great job!

So...when Macca's paint job was first removed, it was done rightly by a pro, then further sanding by Paul took it to the specs of the C64S we know today?
(agreed, wonderful photos).

That's what I believe. The common story is that Macca tried to sand down his Rick by himself, and ended up taking off too much.

In fact, it was professionally sanded down, retaining the cresting wave horns. Why he decided to round them off is beyond me!

So, for people that say a 4001C64 in mapleglo isn't a guitar that was every played by McCartney...think again!

Ol' Paulie has a miserable track record of improving his bass with his own handiwork. I'd advise him to keep the weed and the Rick in seperate wings of the mansion, going forward.

New Beatle trivia is always welcome in my brain. Thanks for that, Nick

Nick, those pictures are great...they make me wanting to get a Mapleglo C64 very badly

The bigger question is WHEN McCartney did the honor of hacking up an otherwise professionally sanded bass...

That last pic up there is from a Ram session, so it had to be after May 1971, when I was released. Then again, he could have shaved it DURING Ram. Ram began recording in November of 1970, so that's where we can start looking.

Here's a picture of McCartney in Newcastle, June 10th, 1973. That narrows it down a bit:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v45/Grinch/bmw005.jpg

Now here's McCartney in Rotterdam, August 17th, 1972.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v45/Grinch/rott72-front.jpg

Going back even further, here's Wings' FIRST show, Nottinham University, on February 9, 1972.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v45/Grinch/Mccart.jpg

So, the timeframe is this: McCartney shaved down his already-natural bass sometime between November of 1970 and February 9th, 1972.

>>The bigger question is WHEN McCartney did the honor of hacking up an otherwise professionally sanded bass...<< Maybe it's just me, but I think I have met guitar luthiers who will say many times old guitars, if only for cosmetic purposes, should NEVER meet sandpaper. Want a natural finish guitar? Strip the finish off. But don't sand it.

In my experiences with guitar work, I've always found sanding a much better alternative to any other method. Using a heat gun can leave burn marks in the wood, and chemicals can leave ugly stains. By sanding with a palm sander, you can get a smooth finish, and take away any nicks that were in the paint.

The trick is to start as a rough grit like 60, just to take off the majority of the paint. Then you move down to 120 to smooth out any big blemishes. Head on down to 220 for details, and keep going down the scale. I usually wet-sand with 600 grit before applying sanding sealer. Afterwards to buff it, you can use ultra-fine grit 2000 to polish it up. It feels like GLASS!

Stripping is only a partial solution, Glen, if the guitar is bound. If unbound, go to it with chemicals.

When I strip a bound guitar or bass, I tape off the binding with 1/2" tape. That gives me a safety margin of from 1/4" to 3/8" or so, depending upon the width of the binding. Stripper (primarily methylene chloride--a plastic solvent) attacks binding and also tape adhesive. I use a minimum of two layers of good tape (Scotch blue paper tape). Vinyl or plastic tapes will not work, as the solvent attacks them and makes them crawl.

When the majority of the instrument is chemically stripped and is dry, I peel off the tape and go over the outside edges with sandpaper. This strips the clearcoat and paint while leaving the binding intact.

The luthier was speaking in broad generalities and feeling angry that so many guitars he'd seen had been destroyed by sanding, is my guess. The most important thing to remember about sanding is sensitivity to the contours of the object. Blocks are necessary on flat areas; pads are used on curved areas. The aim is to get the finish off without altering the contours.

Paul goofed. John goofed. Their music was great; their attempts at luthiery misbegotten and dreadful.

We love 'em anyway, of course.

Nick, I'm not sure I took your meaning fully re: wet-sanding. If you're working on bare wood or stripping down to bare wood, wet sanding is a no-no. Wood is a sponge and water makes it swell and change color and structure in some cases. My own method is to dry sand to #320 before applying sanding sealer. After the sealer has dried (it's a lacquer product), a nice scuff with either ScotchBrite or some more 320 is in order to flatten the raised grain. I prefer ScotchBrite because it doesn't load up.

Color next, then coat after coat of clearcoat (conversion varnish). You notice that I don't mention sanding between the color coats and the clearcoat. This alters the color, except in cases of black.

Clearcoat is not sanded between coats as long as the coats are all applied in one session. If clearcoat has catalyzed (it's a two-part room-temp-cure system), it becomes necessary to roughen up the surface of the clearcoat before applying additional fresh coats.

Color-sanding I do wet, but sparingly. I sand to #2000, then carefully wipe and sand to #4000. Rule of thumb is to double the sanding time everytime you go up in grit. If I spent one hour sanding with #2000, I spend two hours with #4000 to get all the #2000 scratches out.

Then it's machine buff and...Zymol!!!

My 67 4001S has been stripped down a la Macca (it wasn't me...) and feels really quite smooth. It's far from perfect though, and hopefully Paul will work his magic on it sometime this year...

My pleasure, Wints...

Yeah, I wonder why Paul doesn't EVER play the Rick in concert. He really should.

I think Paul is done with his RIC. I don't think it made the gear list for his most recent tour.