Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm considering restoring my '72 4001 (you've seen it posted here before). It looks good from afar, but up close you can see that the job I did waaaaaay back in 1975 wasn't too good. I stupidly used stripper to remove the original finish, but it didn't do too much damage to the plastic binding and that special crushed-pearl plastic position markers before I wiped it off. I attempted an airbrush cherry stain and overcoated with polyurethane. I should have sanded with finer paper as some scratches took the stain, and there's dust in the polyurethane.

Long story short: is it possible to make it look new(ish) again, and would it cost an arm and a leg? It should also be refretted. I got a rough quote from Rauen Guitars here in Milwaukee, and it looks like it may cost at least $700 to get it back to proper condition. Anybody have recommendations on restorers? Or is the old gal not worth messing with?

what ever you do.....its blatently easier to finish it mapleglo i would have thought. I think its worth it....a 72 after all

I have to agree, it is well worth restoring. Since these go for $1500 and higher on e-bay, I would definately invest the money if it was my bass.

Paul - if you like the bass and play the thing, do it justice!

If it were my '72 I would have it restored. But if I were to do it I would do it right. Find someone with a good reputation , particularly with Rickenbackers. It may cost more but you will only have to do it once.

Yeah, I'd definitely do it, and do it right, have a pro who knows what he is doing do it. Like Scott said, someone who knows Rics.

I've done three basses in the last year and I'm on my fourth(a'75 3000 conversion to fretless). To save money and to get closer to my basses, I like to hand sand the finish off. I start with 200 grit and then sand it with 1500. Before you sand it off, here's your opportunity to correct any misaligned screw holes by filling them with dowl rod and re-drilling. If your bass doesn't intonate properly because the bridge is too close to the neck, now is the time to re-locate it. When all the mods are done and you've sanded it down, find a reputable luthier and get it refinished and then re-fretted. If you're in the So.Cal. area I can recomend someone who does killer work. If you're not, you should ship your bass to him. He's that good. He's done Rickys before and is a factory tech for Hofner. A music store will just sub it out to someone else anyway and I'm pretty sure based on the work he's done for me it'll be less than $700.00 too.

If the frets are good and the neck is sweet ... then refinish it ....

If you're still adventurous, check out reranch products. www.reranch.com

Well worth the investment if you've got the cash, but, I'm with James G...if you want to finish it yourself AGAIN try the link he suggested....I did my first real finish job using those methods and Nitrocelluous laquer and got a great finish on my project...people can't believe that it's not stock/pro...the cost was under $100 for materials plus hours of work, but very rewarding!!

Doesn't refinishing detract from the potential vintage value of an instrument? On my '73 4001 I only replaced the old, chewed up screws and missing parts like the mute assembly and one strap button, however I am not sure I want to refinish it. If I needed to I can put all the old screws back on the bass to retain it's vintage value. At least this is the thinking with Fender instruments.

Yes, but i think the point here was that is was unoriginal anyway

I understand, I am asking in regard to an original that could look better if refinished.

Just my opinion, but if I had an original I'd leave it alone, unless it was REALLY bad, like some of these Rics you see with 3" of bare wood on the back. Still can't understand how anyone could do that to a bass, I've always turned my belt buckles to one side when playing.

I think it depends on the quality of the refinish and what an instruments current value is. I had an original '65 4005 in fireglo that looked awful. It had cigarette burns in it, buckle rash and checking all over it. I sanded it till all the **** dissapeared and had it done in a clear urethane. I'm quite sure it was worth more afterward but even if it wasn't, it still looked and felt better and gave me a pride of ownership that would not have been diminished by what someone else thought it was worth. Bottom line, do what you wanna do. 70's 4001's just aren't worth enough to keep original to me if they look like hell and have rusted hardware and tuners that don't keep it in tune.