Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, I am finally going to do something with beat to hell 4003S/5 I bought on Ebay about a year ago. Here is a shot of the back to give you an idea of the condition. The CV is just flaking off. Notice how white the paint is when the CV is removed.



Nice, eh? This bass has nearly 20 hard years of touring on it. It belonged to Ronbo from the Killer Dwarfs. He is a Rick fan and loved the bass. He bought it because he had never seen a 5 string Rick before and thought it was cool. The B string was rarely used he said. It was mostly just a thumb rest.

After kicking around a few ideas I have decided it is going to get a CS treatment. It was originally white with black trim but I am going to do it up with white plastic and chrome hardware. The very worn and yellowed finish will be replaced with an approximation of the Colorglo finish. So far all I have done is this....



It still need some shaping and the tuner holes drilled. I will post more pics as the project progresses.

This will be interesting. I have a 1986 4003S/5 in white that I'd love to have in some transparent finish. I'd like to see what kind of wood you have under the white. It will help me to decide what to do with my bass.

Cool project Ted! I'd like to see some more pics of the bass in it's current state.

Looking forward to seeing this project in the works, Ted.

Here are some other shots of the old girl.






There is lots of finish checking and the body is covered with some indescribable dreck. I tried using straight naptha to remove it but it won't budge. Yuck. There is significant creaking at the neck / body joint that will probably require some glue but otherwise she is quite solid.

My goodness!

Do you do refinishing, Ted, or will this one be sent out?

It looks like it a couple of spots will need some filling.

The re-fin is still up in the air. My Spirit Guide (Dale Fortune) has urged me to learn to do re-fins but I don't know how well I will fare on the learning curve. Paul W. and Dale make it look easy but it certainly is not.

You might be right Joey. There are some serious bashes in the maple.

Ted - You seem to have the "make up" for it. You certainly have the love of the instrument which will carry you through the learning curve!

Thanks Charly! I hope so.

Good luck with the new project Ted!

Thanks Brian!

The action was a bit high when I got it. I suspect that is why Ronbo let it go. The neck flexed a bit at the neck pickup route giving it a bit of a forward attitude and high action. There are finish cracks along the laminations on both sides. I may have to separate the body wings and reglue them to fix the problem. It is relatively easy but takes a while.

easy for you anyway ...

Jeff- His pictures make it look easy too!

May the force be with you, Ted!