Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

at the rickenbacker site, if you go to factory, and then the woodshop, on the 4th picture down, the second bass from the front looks like it has checker binding on one of its horns. how is this possible?

I'm not an expert,and I do need glasses for reading, but all I see is white binding, maybe it's your monitor.

Dan, I see what you mean but I think it's just an artifact of digital photography.

I don't know, that second bass sure looks like it has checkered binding. If you look real close on the opposite side (the smaller body horn), you can still see it.

I think it is checkered binding!

Dave W; I'd say you are correct! NO checked binding here![this opinion from one who used to have that job, among others, in the Rick woodshop...]

It's just a joke. Don't worry about it.

Want to see something really funny on the site? Look at the picture of the 4003S/5, which is now discontinued.

Tell me what you see.

It sure does look like checkered binding on that second bass. I've looked at it through 2 different monitors and it's still there.
A joke indeed. (look what you can't have)

I still can't see it but if it is checkerboard, maybe it's a Lemmy model before the carving, although you would think the carving would happen before the binding was added.

Dan: You do indeed see checkered binding. This goes to show that, when it comes to Rickenbackers, we are driven by a level of analysis that is second to none. Here is a slighly magnified photo with contrast enhancement. Good eye!

Somehow your computer manages to bring this pic into better focus with the resolution; on mine, the binding was indistinct.But there ya go!
While we are on the subject of binding, anyone read the copy during the factory tour regarding binding, where it says "Binding is a lost art, rarely attempted by others", or something to that effect.Excuse me??? Oh, and Gibson hasn't done a lot of it?? Guild?? Martin??I don't think the "art" is all that "lost".Rick does a nice job with their binding, but this copy makes them out to be a little more elite than they are.....

It has maple wings, so it wouldn't be a Lemmy.

Ouch! Dan!

Hey, I'm not putting Rick down, but I think the guys who do the binding work for these other great American companies might not dig being minimalized.I just think Rick could have done their copy work better,and still make rightful
compliments for their own workers.Doesn't matter What company does a binding job; to use this material for aesthetic enhancement takes skill, and I doubt a guy from Rick does it any better than a guy that's doing Gibson Jazz guitars.
My original point was that the copy made it sound as though Rick somehow corners the market with making instruments with binding on them.

Agreed! I'm just busting you!

Cheers!