Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Step #1 - got the right sized drill bit at least. That's always a good start. Worked fine on a test run with shims. Nut on the way and bridges too.

It's tough to find a gold bridge of the right string spread (2 3/8" one method, 2 1/2" another method) that's not too pricey at the moment. I ran across 5 single string bridges on Ebay today. The seller said the string spread on the five of them is 2 3/8". The price was right enough that if they look ugly before completely installing or are cheap quality, no great loss.

Could be done by the weekend!

OMG, you butchered it!!!!


Okay, just yankin' yer chain. Got a picture of the whole headstock, or where did you drill - wave crest or right half middle?

What you see there are the new balsa wings I had put on. Got tired of walnut.

NO no no!!! I haven't drilled the beast yet. That was just a test run on some old shims in the garage to be sure I even have the right drill bit. It's still very much a 4 stringer with no modifications for the fifth string yet.

Sorry to cause minor uprisings there. Just kind of documenting my steps as I go. Practicing on useless wood before I (GASP) take a drill bit to the headstock. I'm leaning toward the Rath version for now. I know it looks odd to some, and I understand the usefulness of drilling in the crest area. But I just can't seem to get over the latter.

Dane had a terrific suggestion of having a luthier extend the upper shoulder back a bit and repositioning the top tuners to accommodate the extra key, finally refinishing the whole headstock. But I fear that approach will have to wait some time for funding. And I can't justify leaving the bass at home un-gigged and I tried it as a four stringer a couple weekends ago with miserable results. I have to have my fifth crutch. I can always come back to this method down the road with some creative work in the right hands.

Bruce, I know exactly how you're feeling since I've drilled "that hole" three times now. I used a 1/2" forstner bit and used the tip of that bit to chase a 1/8" pilot hole that was drilled all the way through the headstock. I took my time and bored on both sides of the headstock so that the last "wafer" of wood was in the middle of the hole and would not splinter the outer wood. I felt this was the safest way to make the hole since I was drilling in the wave area that only had 3/8" of wood surrounding it after I was done, I didn't want to take a chance on the bit seizing up and the torque snapping off anything. Forstner bits are nice because they cut the sides of the hole while also chipping away at the bottom, I drilled mine free hand since I didn't have a drill press. Because I used Hipshot tuners I had to Dremel sand the holes up to 9/16" this may be unnecessary with the Schallers. Location of the hole is a personal thing with many things to take into consideration. I chose the upper location because the bottom area would have been too cramped for me, I have a five string project that will be using cloverleaf tuners that wouldn't have fit down there. There are no strength issues on the top, mine have done fine and the wood in the headstock is very strong.

Got tired of walnut.

OK, you lost me there.

I was kidding about the walnut wings because I though John was giving me grief about what kind of wood I had the tuner in in that photo. Threatening that I had replaced the walnut wing with shim wood.

As far as the bit, yep, that's exactly the bit I used per your suggestion, Mark. It was a touch larger than the Schaller tuner, so I wanted to test it on other wood in case it was too much larger. Fits absolutely perfectly. Just waiting on the bridge and nut arrivals in the mail.

Although I much prefer the way Mark Gilbert does the 4-2-5 in comparison with the Rath Modification, I agree with Dane about getting the job done right to better accomodate the extra tuner.

please post a pic of this bass as it is. i love the monty.

This is its current state. The back of the neck is absolutely gorgeous.

Sweet!

I was just having a little fun with you, Bruce.

My hat's off to anyone who could take a drill to a beautiful instrument like our Ricks. If you can swing it, it would be best to have the headstock filled on one side and then the 3 tuners evenly spaced, but as you stated, that could happen later. As to which of the other two methods I like best, I really can't decide, but if I were to do it to one of mine, probably the Rath way, but I'd be really torn to decide.

aceonbass wrote:Bite the bullet and have it done right Bruce. While the basses that Jeff and Mark have 4-2-5'd all perform just fine, their value is killed by several hundred dollars. Schaller makes or made a bridge with the correct spacing. They show up on Ebay quite often. The separate bridges thing just looks out of charactor for a Ricky bass. Just pickup a nice used Yamaha 5-string to get you by till the 4004 gets out of the shop.

The Schaller bridge is too wide it will leave the B and or G outside the 2 1/4" rails on the bridge pickup. Then you have the same problem as the 4004cii5.

It is too bad because I like to use the Schaller bridges on my non-Ric 4-2-5 basses ... if only Ricenbacker made a pickup that had rails/poles that were wider than 2 1/4". That is biggest problem you run into when trying to make a Rickenbacker 5 string bass. That is why Rickenbacker had problems with the 5 string models they built in the past. If only Ric pickups covered a 2 1/2" string spacing ...

There are 5 string bridges out there with a 2 3/8" spacing. They are hard to find though.

And for me rebuilding the headstock is too extreem just to add a 5th string. Especially on a bass like the one pictured here.

jwr2 wrote:And for me rebuilding the headstock is too extreme just to add a 5th string. Especially on a bass like the one pictured here.

With the look of the back of the neck on this bass, and also the dark color involved, it would be a meticulous challenge to blend the repair to the existing and make it look original. I'm not doubting Paul or Dale or any COMPETENT luthier could do this, but it seems like a high price to pay to add a string.