Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello all,

I have just put some pics of my much cherished Ric on the site and was wondering if any of you guys could give me some advice on restoration or to leave well alone? I have owned it since 1989 and have no real knowledge of its history before that time. I bought it from a guy from Birmingham(uk) who kept his stash in it. I used it on stage in Manchester in the early 90's and then kept it safely under lock and key since. It has always puzzled me why it has a Gibson gold paf pickup and a Hofner 12 string tailpeice, but even more strange is the extra input on the main body? The rest looks like genuine 1967 Rickenbacker 1998, Rose Morris with f hole. Should I be looking to restore this guitar to its original state (bearing in mind the damage done with the install of the Gibson pickup) or should I just love it the way it is?

Regards
Nigel

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... hp?id=3821

That's a beautiful guitar Nigel, and very rare. Restoration is a personal choice. If you like the way it plays and sounds, and your playing it a lot, keep it the way it is.

If those modifications bother you, restore it.

You'll probably get a lot of different opinions but If it was mine, I'd probably restore it. It's a very rare and desirable guitar. There are people here on this site that do amazing work and can help you with that.

Oh, and welcome to the RRF!

Nigal:

Congrats on such a lovely guitar!

Thanks too for registering it and sharing the images...

I would vote too for eventual restoration..

Nice guitar Nigel! Has that really bright '67 type Fireglo.

I'd actually vote against a full resoration. If you fully restore, you'll need to add wood to the body where the humbucker was and it would need a full refin (or at least full-frontside), and will lose that vintage aged finish.

I'd suggest making it look much better by fabricating a "mounting" plate that will cover up the humbucker footprint and allow for the Toaster pickup on top, or even carefully adding wood to the humbucker cavity and trying as closely as possible to color-match the repair area.

Either one of these won't makeit look 100%, but will look much better from a foot away, and will get that humbucker out of there while still saving the vintage patina and color.



Btw....welcome the the RM 1998 club, they are great guitars!

Thanks guys, Good advice, It may take me some time but I am think I will start with the easier stuff first like the tailpiece although I think I may strugggle to find an original tremalo tailpiece. The alternatives also look expensive:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Rickenbac ... 439ae91e54

I should be able to source a vintage toaster pickup from ebay and will probably look to cover the hole in some way. I should be able to cover the costs with the sale of the Gibson "PAT. NO. 2,737,842 pickup which is probably older than the guitar itself.

Am I better off keeping the original knobs and scratchplate even though they are damaged? or should I replace these too? The final piece of the jigsaw will be a case. So plenty to do them.

Nigel

Nigel ive a Accent if you want it PM me if your interested also if your wanting Vintage style knobs look here http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardia ... Knobs.html

NScanlan wrote:
I should be able to source a vintage toaster pickup from ebay and will probably look to cover the hole in some way. I should be able to cover the costs with the sale of the Gibson "PAT. NO. 2,737,842 pickup which is probably older than the guitar itself.

Depends if the humbucker has the pat. number on a sticker or stamped into the metal, and whether or not it has a T-top.


Keep the original pickguard/knobs, even if they are damaged. Originality is key. Just repair the cracks. The extra input on the pickguard is actually taking up the hole where the 5th knob is supposed to go (blend knob), so when the proper electronics are put back in it, there shouldn't be any tell-tale holes left.

Thanks Colin,

The Gibson pickup has the pat number on a small black sticker not sure if its a t-top as this would mean breaking the solder to find out and am not sure if that's a good thing?

NScanlan wrote:Thanks Colin,

The Gibson pickup has the pat number on a small black sticker not sure if its a t-top as this would mean breaking the solder to find out and am not sure if that's a good thing?

Nope----best to leave the cover alone, as heating it up to unsolder it can potentially damage the coils. Gold cover pat. decal pickup would date to at least post-1965, so it's probably worth around $300 on eBay.


ps. Lovely flame on your 1998, Nigel. Looks great at an angle.

I have had the stings off to give it a good clean and to take a look at the alien pickup and electrics. I may as well re string it, does anyone have any advice on what strings I should be using. Ive generally taken a wild guess over the years. I read somewhere Pete Townsend used extra thick gauge strings to get his big chord sound.

p.s. I am so glad you guys like the fireglo on my guitar, the body has worn well and looks used in the right places. One day she will be restored

Welcome, Nigel! That's a lovely guitar you have.

If you use the Search function, you'll find many threads on what strings are recommended, and why some prefer certain brands. My personal favorite for many of my guitars are the D'Addario Flat Wound XL Chromes, Jazz Light, # ECG24 (gauges are 0.011 0.015 0.022w 0.030 0.040 0.050). I have them not only on some Rickenbackers, but also on an Epiphone Revolution Casino, and they feel and sound great to me.

Thanks,

doctorwho wrote:Welcome, Nigel! That's a lovely guitar you have.

If you use the Search function, you'll find many threads on what strings are recommended, and why some prefer certain brands. My personal favorite for many of my guitars are the D'Addario Flat Wound XL Chromes, Jazz Light, # ECG24 (gauges are 0.011 0.015 0.022w 0.030 0.040 0.050). I have them not only on some Rickenbackers, but also on an Epiphone Revolution Casino, and they feel and sound great to me.

Just checked them out on Amazon I will give them a try, thanks