Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My luthier and I are going through a restoration on a horribly abused RIC and I realize that the vintage inlay material (from Japan) is no longer available, but I was wondering if anyone had a thought on what might be a decent substitute material for the inlays?

I bought some MOP Sparkle from rescue pearl, but it has too much color (pink and green) to it and I don't think it's a very appropriate substitute for the project.

Thanks for the help.

tellus more about the project!

John: I bought this horribly abused JG 1989 350 that was sans fingerboard. It was in such terrible condition that I decided to make it into something special. My two favorite 350s are the Hudson and the Hoffs. I decided to add a 1 O'Clock F-hole like the Hudson (came out pefect), as well as checkered binding and full sized vintage inlays on the replacement board. The F-hole and binding came out perfectly, but the MOP sparkle from Rescure Pearl has too much color for my taste and doesn't simulate either the vintage or modern RIC inlay material very well. Lastly, I love Ric-o-sound, so I'm using an old 370 wiring harness I had laying around and the final product will be typical RIC stereo rather than the standard 350 mono. I have .jpgs of it from the time I bought it and it's really coming along nicely. The only problem is getting a close simulation to the inlay material now that we've routed the fingerboard.

I forgot to mention one other detail. I never cared for the double octave on the standard 350, so I dropped the bridge back and made it 22 frets...

Warren: I have a model 350 and share you view that 24 frets, at least for my playing, are a few too many. Can you comment on the change in feel after the refret?

Peter: It's not yet finished so I haven't had a chance to play it yet. I'll be happy to give you a break down when the guitar is complete. The project is in the final stages, less the inlay material which was the genesis of my post. I don't like double octave guitars in general and believe the 22 fret and extended scale will be an upgrade, but we'll have to wait and see.

If anyone would like to see a few .jpgs of where the project is, I'd be happy to email a few of the pics. I can be reached at either [email protected] or [email protected]

Best,

WL

warren, where did you get the check binding. i have an old 330 i'm going to work on. cheers
john stephensen

John:

It's not available anywhere, so I had to have it custom made. Not a cheap option of course, but this project was an expensive labor of love. If you want, I'll drop you an email with a .jpg of how the binding turned out on the guitar and you can decide if it's worth your while. Personally, I think it turned out incredibly and I'm very pleased. I'm still battling with the inlay material issue, but I've got a few more leads and have ordered additional samples to consider. Hopefully my 350 project will be completed within the next two months. Best, WL

hey warren
absolutley. love to see your pics and especially the check binding. at the moment my guitar is firelglo or should i say abusedglo but i think jetglo or white respray will be cooler.
cheers
john

John:

I'm in Denver on business and have all my RIC .jpgs at home. When I get back home next Monday (28th), I'll shoot you some images of the project. Everyone that's seen it thus far has had positive comments.

cool
look forward to it
cheers
john stephensen

Just a quick update on my search for inlay material... I decided to finish my 350 project with a multi-layer MOP sparkle. I have a sample of the vintage RIC material and while it's not quite the same, it's very close and will finish off the project nicely. I'll offer up some photos as soon as the guitar is completed.

Another update on the inlay material and 350 project. The vintage fingerboard inlay is complete and the board is bound. I have some updated .jpgs available for anyone that would like to see the progress. If interested, please email me at [email protected]. Because I extended the scale and went with 22 frets, I decided to go with an additional inlay on the 21st fret.

These photos have arrived in The Rickenbacker Forum mailbox from Warren.

I think that stuff looks great. Pretty close, eh??