Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm in France and I've just bough on ebay body and neck from a 1983
jetglo 4003. The guy who sold me is sadly known on different Rick forums:
gibsondependable (Ryan Ingram). My target was to rebuilt this bass as it
was in the 80's, and I asked the seller if I could buy most of parts from
it but he preferred sell them as individual expensive parts. So I looked
for Rick genuine parts and today I found all what I needed to have my 4003
finished. Its number is WG 1039, and it has already been registered on this
forum by forward owners. The last informations about it was that it had
been transformed (pickups, electronics...) and was near to be sold in
parts. I wanted to update these informations and write it was close to born
again but I couldn't because I'm not the one who registered it. Is
there a way for me to complete the story of this bass and to upload pictures
of its 2nd life?

Franck:

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on getting most of a Rickenbacker bass...

Yes that instrument is in the register as a collected item, and it shows as butchered.

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Normally, you just send an email to Gil or Peter and the entry will be assigned to you...

But I am not sure what they will do here as you only have the body... (I assume you did not buy the Jackplate with the serial number on it when you bought the body?)

The reason why I track butchered instruments so closely is that we know that the butchered instrument's jackplate will likely end up on the wrong instrument, and will be passed off as factory original.. (or even worse it may end up on a fake instrument as a way to bolster its identity as a real RIC)..

For example see this lovely MG 345 that is for sale on Ebay right now...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Rickenback ... 461dd54337

They want almost $5000 for a pristine March 1967 guitar....

But when we look at the SN GC 1562 in the register we discover that the jackplate was sold from a destroyed JG 330 12 string...

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

So what is it now doing on this $5000 345??

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Rickenbacker's solution used to be that they would issue you a replacement Jackplate with either XX and a number or ZZ and a number.

For example look at this 1974 AZ 4001 with the jackplate XX1001

http://www.maindragmusic.com/1974-ricke ... -4001.html

At least we know as it has a non original jackplate on it by the XX code.

Sadly Rickenbacker doesn't do this anymore... (Can't blame them)...

Now why would you lose the jackplate on a Rickenbacker? Because it was lost when it was in for repair, or was disassembled by its owner at some point..

Surely the most likely reason is that the instrument was stolen - and stolen instruments are tracked by their serial numbers...

In Richard Smith's book on Rickenbacker instruments he specifically warns that the SN is not the only way to date the guitar as "Unscrupulous dealers" have been known to swap the jackplates of older instruments...

Take a late 70s 320... Swap out the high gains for toasters, add a 60s era wiring harness and jackplate, get an oldstyle TRC and hey! Presto! Your $2000 guitar is now worth $5000!!

Vintage guitars are worth the most when they are all original... That is what makes them - "Holy Grail" guitars!!

(And to be fair to his Ebay Seller of the MG 345 - this may have been done to the instrument before he received it and put it up for sale... Not everyone is as knowledgeable as the folks on this forum as knowing what an "original" Rickenbacker looks like)...

Hi Brian, thank you for this detailed answer! My purpose is absolutely not to pretend my 4003 will be an "authentic" 1983 bass, and this will be easy to see (new Ric pickups, re-built harness...) Actually, the jackplate is the only thing I still don't know how I will deal with! So I just wanted to explain all what I've done to give this 4003 a second chance. If you think I can get the entry for this bass and show this work, it will be great. If not, it doesn't matter, my target is to get a good bass to play, not to realize a speculative action...

Ontario_RIC_fan wrote: Now why would you lose the jackplate on a Rickenbacker? Because it was lost when it was in for repair, or was disassembled by its owner at some point..

Surely the most likely reason is that the instrument was stolen - and stolen instruments are tracked by their serial numbers...

Another way of losing the original jackplate is when luthiers swap them over or "lose" them when, for some reason, they are removed from a particular instrument while its being worked on. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this malpractice is not exactly unheard of, and it may be the reason why one of my own own Ricks no longer carries its original s/n but instead, that of a later instrument to which it does not belong.

I've addressed my own problem in this respect by purchasing a blank Rick jackplate and having my own, trustworthy luthier stamp the original s/n onto it. He is willing to do this, since I have absolute proof of the original s/n for this bass. Of course, should the owner of the other bass that now sports a jackplate with an incorrect s/n that belongs to mine ever dispute ownership of the serial number, that would be a matter for the original luthier who swapped them to answer.

Ash

keuf wrote:Hi Brian, thank you for this detailed answer! My purpose is absolutely not to pretend my 4003 will be an "authentic" 1983 bass, and this will be easy to see (new Ric pickups, re-built harness...) Actually, the jackplate is the only thing I still don't know how I will deal with! So I just wanted to explain all what I've done to give this 4003 a second chance. If you think I can get the entry for this bass and show this work, it will be great. If not, it doesn't matter, my target is to get a good bass to play, not to realize a speculative action...

It is all good... I am glad that you rescued what you could of the bass.. I hope that you get much pleasure out of the rebuild... Once you have one, Rickenbacker Acquisition Syndrome tends to strike! (I only had two when I first joined this forum 5 years back...)

You can buy a blank jackplate... The TRC will be the hardest thing to get your hands on.

I've already got a blank jackplate, I was just wondering about having it stamped or not. But I could get a picture from the original plate that was on my bass, so I think I will reproduce this. For the TRC, I found one on ebay... but it was the most expansive part I had to buy!

Ontario_RIC_fan wrote: Once you have one, Rickenbacker Acquisition Syndrome tends to strike! (I only had two when I first joined this forum 5 years back...)

The first bass I played when I was a teenager was a 4001. Nowadays I've got by myself a Thunderbird, a Precision, a MM, even a 1985 Steinberger... but it will be the first Ric I own!

keuf wrote:I've already got a blank jackplate, I was just wondering about having it stamped or not. But I could get a picture from the original plate that was on my bass, so I think I will reproduce this. For the TRC, I found one on ebay... but it was the most expansive part I had to buy!

The auction for the jackplate was here... And yes there was a picture of the jackplate

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-19 ... 7675.l2557

I know, I asked the seller to buy it but he told me it was booked or something like this (the auction was still running yet). I don't know why, but I think he prefers sell each part to different people...

About the original jackplate of this bass, we can see on the picture that numbers are not centered, they are close to the right hole: is it something that happens frequently?