Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Some time ago, a '72/3 carcass popped up on ebay, and I was foolish enough to snag it...cracked neck and all. It had been (unsuccessfully) chemically stripped, sanded rather prodigously and was in the need of major TLC. After 6 months or so of sourcing important parts (Grovers, a toaster, a new 'guard, harness, jack plate, nut and loads of screws) it went to the workshop of Mr Frank Grubisa, Aussie luthier, restorer extraordinaire and all-round champion bloke. Frank was bemused by the condition of the beast, but believed it was retreiveable and thus it went into the "long term project" category at Grubisa Guitars. After painstaking research and structural work, whereby the neck crack (minor, as it turned out) was repaired and a huge amount of the sanding was dealt with, it looked like this: Now structurally sound, a colour had to be chosen. Period-correct burgundy-glo won the day when a survey of the sagacious at RRF was completed, with Ruby Red a runner-up. Alas, the original JG finish had stubbornly soaked into the maple, and Frank believed that an opaque colour was a must, so Ruby it was..... I sought the advice of resident guru Paul Wilczynski, who kindly offered up his secret formula..... Frank bounced from auto paint supplier to auto paint supplier, as Oz and US paint codes seemed to be at odds, but eventually sourced the secret formula. Now armed with the finish, Frank went over the bass thoroughly to ensure the body shape was perfect, and fitted the hardware and set the bass up to ensure the hardware fitted properly and the truss rods were working.... then the finish was applied... The hardware was fitted, the bass strung with TI flats and set up and voila!

Beautiful!

How about a close-up of the body binding?

It sounds brilliant with an RI toaster, '70s higain and vintage tone circuit. It plays brilliantly and is drop-dead gorgeous. I am over the moon!

Many thanks to Paul for his advice and assistance with the finish and for the input from many forumites regarding parts and general tips. Of course, a huge thank-you goes to Frank Grubisa for his painstaking attention to detail and brilliant craftsmanship.

Here's the beast in the hands of Frank: And an incredibly happy man with his bass....

doctorwho wrote:Beautiful!

How about a close-up of the body binding?

Thanks Gary! I'll see if I can get some snaps of the CB.....

As some may know, I'm camera-challenged. Many thanks to Frank for the pics so far!

Blimey... How much did that cost to get sorted?

Eden.

.......strung with TI flats and set up and voila!

Looks more like a bass guitar than a viola to me!!!

Looks great, Evan..... hearty congrats on a great restoration!!!

SO NICE to see an oldie brought back to life.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Looks GREAT!

Gorgeous! Even though I'm not a fan of red guitars, ruby does look great, and that's a superb example!

Looks great, Evan!

This has been the second Ruby 4001 we've seen brought back this year, and it looks fabulous, Evan. Frank did a tremendous job.

Congratulations!

Congratulations Evan thats one great bass enjoy playing it.

Wowza, that's gorgeous!!!! Congratulations. I love Red Ricks, and that Ruby is superb!!!

jingle_jangle wrote: .... looks fabulous, Evan. Frank did a tremendous job.

Congratulations!

+1 on that !!
Love that Ruby color !
Regards

Hi all,
Many thanks for the compliments!

I finally got one shot of the body binding to work - I have taken about 50 that are blurred and have been binned - I think it is me rather than the camera... The CB looks much better in the flesh than I can convey...

Many thanks again to Paul for his invaluable advice and assistance, and all kudos to Frank for a breathtaking job that has been more than worth the wait!

antipodean wrote:I finally got one shot of the body binding to work - I have taken about 50 that are blurred and have been binned

Do you use a tripod? What camera are you using?