Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So I decided I'm going to strip down my 96 4003 from JG to natural, and I started breaking the bass down. I pull the TRC off and on the under side of it I find "299" with another "2" under neither it. In the cavity I find the initials "DA" Weird. Then I pull the pickguard off. I'm not sure what happened to the original guard but this one is made by pickguardian. In the pickup cavity I find 0 information. No dates just a little spot of natural finish. In the control cavity I find a smaller "2" in black ink, "6.4" or "6.9" in red ink, "2" again in big blue ink and "DA" again. I can also see the marks where the original pickguard was. It was square on the left side where it normally curves in. I cant help but wonder if this thing is a fake made up of Rick parts and someone's used jack plate.

I'll ask the obvious:

Are there dual (two) truss rods?
Does the binding stop at the bridge??
Does the jack plate say "Ric-O-Sound"???

Can you post pics?

1. yes

2. yes

3. if it said ric - o - sound its worn off now. There seems to be a little bit of the black of the text that should normally be there and the serial numbers are where they should be.

I've just never seen this much writing in the cavities of one of these basses ever.

the truss rod cover doesn't say "model 4003" like my 83 does either and has yellowed significantly

At some point in time, RIC stopped putting the model numbers on the TRCs.

Also, the writing inside is pretty much meaningless and varies from guitar to guitar. Some have a lot, some have little. I guess it depends on who was doing the work and what they decided to write (or not)...

I've also just noticed that the neck pickup doesn't have grommets. They must have forgot to reinstall them when the pickguard was replaced

Lots of people just get rid of the grommets because they want less distance from the strings, but I think they fight off some microphonics so I keep 'em.

I really doubt your bass is fake. All of my Rics, old and new, have cryptic writings on the hidden surfaces; I now know how to turn lead into gold, they have some good alchemists working at RIC!

Josh I believe you've come up with the new 2011 color. Goldglo


So far the bass has broken down fairly easily, except that I've run into two major snags. I can't seem to find my bloody soldering iron, and to make matters worse whatever the original owner used to put the schaller strap bolts in did one hello of a job. I can't get them out at all

Try to tighten first, then loosen. Sometimes that is enough to un-seize things

well they'll turn either left or right and then stop like something's got them locked down. Think its going to be time for a rag and the vice grips soon.

I went to the store today to pick out a stain close enough to match the fret board so I can stain the headstock wings. I also checked out a natural stain that will help enhance the wood like. I got some sand paper and other bits, got home and realized I forgot to buy a soldering Iron. D'oh. Ah well gonna have to wait until Monday. The goal is to have the bass down to bare wood by Wednesday. We'll see how lucky I get.

Miles, take it from someone who botched a refin four decades ago. Don't use stain on maple. Maple is not very absorbent and stain will not "stain" like it will to softer woods such as pine. I did this to a stripped down '72 Mapleglo 4001 and it just came out blotchy. The finishes RIC put on the basses is actually a translucent paint (on the bursts), metallics (like Midnight Blue), or opaques (like Jetglo). Clear overcoats produce the gloss (or satin). So don't try to simulate walnut headwings with stains.

thanks for the tip Paul. what would you recommend I tint the headstock wings with?

Well, you could paint them brown and then cover with clearcoat. When I had my '72 restored (professionally), Ted Staberow removed the maple head wings by applying directed heat which weakened the glue joints. He carved new wings from walnut, and glued them on. That's the expensive but best way.

Thats definitely the best way to do it yeah but unfortunately money and time are the issue for me. There's a way to stain maple and it has to do with the grit of paper you use, and then you have to wipe the stain on. I'm not ready for that stage yet. I've only got the headstock, the back of the neck sanded and some of the finish on the back of it cut. I'm starting to notice a significant difference in weight already though

well the headstock front and back has had the paint stripped of it as does the back of the neck and 90% of the back of the body. Its moving right along. I'm hoping to have the sides and front of the bass done by tonight. We'll see. Quite the process indeed

If you want the look of walnut wings, DON'T use stain. Instead, mix up a transparent brown lacquer, mask off wings, apply the tinted brown lacquer, then mask the wings off once dry and paint the rest of the bass whatever color you like.

You really should spray some CV over the completed carcass, then wet sand and buff before remounting the hardware and setting it up again.

It's the CV that makes the difference in longevity between months and decades.