Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

As some will know, a while back I bought this off Kevin Teed, who had decided not to go ahead with the planned rebuild (I'm now beginning to understand why)!



I initially saw it as a cheap, quick fix up in the style of Lemmy's first Ric; just fix the holes, stick any old pickups in there (even fancied a T-Bird like his), Hipshot bridge etc; just a beater with a hopefully great neck. I'd even planned on probably keeping the replacement board. Of course things haven't panned out that way. More to follow......

The bass went to the highly recommended Larry Davis at Larry Davis Guitar Works (thanks for reminding me to include that Paul!) who confirmed the neck angle was fine and we were good to go.

First issue; after discussion of my action requirements (how low can you go?) Larry considered the board was too thin, so that had to go....



Turned out the rods were glued in place too and the retaining bar wasn't the right size. All will be fixed as we go along.

Larry made a replacement board with full-width crushed pearl inlays, done as they used to do them at the factory by adding crushed pearl to epoxy and pouring this in to the inlay cut-outs. This will obviously be finished once fitted....

Body stripped.....

We had long discussions about filling the routes - many and mostly horrible (the routes, not the discussions!) - and about finish. In the end Larry suggested a novel approach, using inserts of new, figured wood on both back and front, somewhat thicker than veneer, which would theoretically enable a burst paint job. I realise some may throw up their hands in horror at this point, but let's run with it. Templates were made to give an idea of the work to be done...

New wood was chosen & bought....

Next job was to fix up the enormous neck route(s), which involved routing out for a new neck block...

Oh, man, this is great! I love seeing in-progress photos like this! By "Larry," may I assume you mean Larry Davis? Two of the Ricks that I still have were restored by Larry. Great work!

In the meantime various other parts were being obtained, including a plexi trc from Larry's stash. Dane Wilder has built one of his superb harnesses for the bass, has obtained several of the parts (it'll have reissue Klusons as per the C-Series), and has been involved in much of the metalwork. This V63 pickup surround was again from Larry's stash:




This was sent to Dane who did a fabulous job of reshaping it as per my requirements (this is prior to sending to be re-chromed; big thanks to Steve Wood for inspiration!):






I had been planning to put a Hipshot on the bass, with a view to possibly replacing it down the line when a genuine aluminium tailpiece became available. At this point Tony Matura listed his on ebay, completely out of the blue (thanks to Andy Wints for the heads-up and a big thanks to Tony); Dane graciously bid on my behalf and we got it! Dane then routed the tailpiece, which was perfect for our needs in already being almost completely bereft of chrome, for a later, wider (and more readily available) bridge unit, whilst tidying up the detailing on the tailpiece itself. Both the surround and tailpiece were sent to Van Nuys plating and are due back this week.

Next, cutting the wood inserts and routing the body:

Routed:






And filled:











Obviously the burst should minimise or cover any transition lines between the new wood and the old. If we're not happy (although judging from Larry's mock-ups we should be), we can always go solid or deep translucent...

bassduke49 wrote:Oh, man, this is great! I love seeing in-progress photos like this! By "Larry," may I assume you mean Larry Davis? Two of the Ricks that I still have were restored by Larry. Great work!

Yes, sorry, definitely Larry Davis. Doh!!! I'm not really with it today as I lost my cat on Thursday; as anyone who knows me can tell you I love my pets above all living things so it's hit me hard.

Have now updated earlier post....

Dude, those were, like, lightning bolt inlays you replaced!

Seriously though, I am absolutely green with envy at the way you are doing this, REAL crushed pearl inlays, checkerboard binding, replacing all the routed out wood from the previous butchery, wow that is gonna be something when it is finished!!! Beautiful!

And I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. Pets are VERY special to me too....

Very excited to see the finished product. The figuring of that maple is going to look gorgeous with a burst. You guys are amazing.