Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My first attempt at stripping and restoring a 4003. Actually, I'll just be doing the preparation as I'm much better at destroying stuff than restoring things. The truly good work will be done by Paul W when he repairs all the damage that I'm probably doing now, and turns it into something that doesn't make reasonable people fall to their knees weeping. Anyway, it's his advice that has got me this far, so.....

First off, getting off the clearcoat. I figured that as the bass was already a Mapleglo, it wouldn't be too thick or too hard to get off. I figured wrong. The stuff is a mile thick and could be used to coat the space shuttle for re-entry. Anyway, after attacking the coat with 80 grit to rough it up, many applications of Jasco were needed. Then lots of hand sanding with 100, then 220 grit. It's a toss up who got more material stripped off them during the application of the Jasco, me or the bass.
Then it's on to removing the binding. This stuff was locked up like an old lady on a cheese diet. Lots of application of the heat gun and an X-Acto no 18 chisel blade. If you don't have Tourettes and would like to aquire it, I can't reccomend this activity highly enough.
Finally it's done. The next step is to meet up with Paul W next week to borrow his bar heater to get the glue softened up so that I can remove the fretboard and get at the broken truss rods. What could possibly go wrong ? At least I know why this stuff doesn't come cheap when you get someone else to do it.

Why do you need to remove the fingerboard to get the truss rods out? I thought they were relatively easy to slide out.

nice read.

Love your writing style, Gareth. Also curious why the board has to come off.

What future color are we looking at?

jps wrote:Why do you need to remove the fingerboard to get the truss rods out? I thought they were relatively easy to slide out.

Jeff's got a good point, Gareth. If the rods aren't rusted in place, a piece of metal rod inserted into the body end and tapped with a hammer should easily drive the rod out the headstock end, far enough that you can get a vise grip onto it and snake it out of its hidey-hole.

Then shorten the rod a bit or weld it up if it's broken at the bend, and Robert's your mother's brother.

Eh? Oh! "Bob's yer uncle"

Well, the neck has been peeled back up to the second fret for reasons unknown in the past. It looks as if someone has tried to remove the fretboard to get at the broken rods and given up after realizing that they were about to FUBAR the fingerboard. This lift has cause the inlays in the first two frets to lift and they are no longer flush with the fret board. I'm going to drop by to see Paul next week and let him take a look at it to decide whether it needs to come off, or whether it can just get glued back on. It has some varnish missing on the upper part of the fretboard and some lacquer chipped on the binding so it's not as if it doesn't need some work. I'm sure that whatever we decide, I'll somehow make it way more difficult than it needs to be, and somehow wind up with the fretboard glued to my arm.

Here's a shot of what the fretboard is doing right now.
Here it is from the side. These aren't the best quality as they were taken with an iPhone at the place where I got it.

johnallg wrote:
What future color are we looking at?

As Paul will probably tell you from his experience with the other two basses he's done for me, that I'll probably decided on fifteen different colors before settling on the one I first though of. Right now, I'm leaning towards a deep burgundyglo, but ask me again tomorrow, when it will probably have changed to yellow, and so on and so forth. I'm very easily tempted by people who post nice pictures of their basses here......

I take issue with the title of this thread. If you've gotten this far, you're far less idiotic than I am!

Have anything special planned for this one besides the finish?

This is a great thread! It'll be really interesting to see how the refin proceeds, an amateur guided by the master. I'm particularly interested in this topic since I have a 4001 that could really use a refin too and being over 1400 miles away from Paul, it's not exactly convenient to pop over for a bit of help...

Great thread Gareth, love the dry quips!

That reminds me...I gotta remember to pick up a new package of DryQuips next time I'm in the Scratch-X and Diaper aisle...

Great job Gareth. Hope the chemical burns heal up soon....

Well, I had a look at the truss rods today. They are seized in a treat. I can't get at the acorn nuts to get them out of the TRC end, and no amount of hammering seems to get them to want to move down to remove from the front pickup cavity. I am tempted to believe that the neck damage was caused by a botched attempt to get the broken rod out. I think we'll be taking the fingerboard off......

Maybe during the botched attempt the rods got glued in place.