Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi everyone, I'm looking to mod my 4003s to make it a bit more like macca's / rose morris 1999.
I'm going to get a horseshoe and a toaster and the black vintage style knobs but i also want the 60's style pickguard that goes right up to the bridge pickup.
I know pickguardian make these pickguards to fit a 4003 (vintage conversion).
What options would i choose?
I'd get the white finish with the 1" spacing to fit the modern neck PU possition but what would i chose for the edges?
the options are flush, bevel and round over.
Also what hole possition would i choose? Standard or move hole 1?
As my bass was made in mid 2015 i'd be choosing the new (2015-current) version option despite not knowing how different it would be to the late 90's to 2014 version.

Thanks in advance guys

Oliver

I'd give Tony at Pickguardian a call. Tell him what you want, and he'll help you out. Great folks at Pickguardian.

cheyenne wrote:I'd give Tony at Pickguardian a call. Tell him what you want, and he'll help you out. Great folks at Pickguardian.

Thanks mate, I'll drop him a message.
hopefully i can get one delivered to England.

McCartney's Rick was a 4001S given to him in this country by John Hall, and not an RM1999.

aceonbass wrote:McCartney's Rick was a 4001S given to him in this country by John Hall, and not an RM1999.

Yeah I know the story behind it, I never said it was an RM1999. That's why there is a slash between the words.
"macca's / rose morris 1999"

MoseRorris wrote:Hi everyone, I'm looking to mod my 4003s to make it a bit more like macca's / rose morris 1999.

MoseRorris wrote:

aceonbass wrote:McCartney's Rick was a 4001S given to him in this country by John Hall, and not an RM1999.

Yeah I know the story behind it, I never said it was an RM1999. That's why there is a slash between the words.
"macca's / rose morris 1999"

I am a student of Ferrari history where the minutia/details of pretty much everything is researched, scrutinized, and if necessary, called into question. Why? Because correct information is the end goal for history's sake. Hence, Dane's pointing out that the Rick bass Macca has is a 4001S, not a RM1999; keeping things historically correct is the goal here, too, methinks.

Yes, but he's explained that he understands. It's all the same anyway. I've always said that the only differences between the nominal Rose-Morris RM 1999 and what we now call a 4001S are a serial number and a boat ride.

Of course, Macca's is different: It's a leftie.

Oh, and it belongs to Sir Paul!

Sorry if that came across as a bit blunt, no disrespect intended.
I am from northern England after all

And on the topic of macca's bass, I do wish there were more HQ photos of it in its original finish

Get the pickguard from Pickguardian, ask for normal edges as he knows what would have come stock. If you are looking for the shape of Paul's pickguard (PG), ask Tony if he still has the template for the 4003 custom pickguard he made for me in 2008. If you want to do a bit of modding to your bass and make it have the correct look, and tone, I suppose you could do the 1/2" neck pickup location (as I did), that is up to you, otherwise just ask Tony to use the modern/current 1" pickup position for the hole for the pickup. You will need to drill one hole for the pickguard screw near the bridge pickup by the E string to look correct and mount the PG correctly (send him a template drawing of your PG with the screw locations to match up all the other screws, or better yet, send him the original PG to use as a template; in my case I gave Tony my bass for the weekend to precisely make the PG for it).

Note that I elected to keep the standard PU surround so your PG will be a bit shorter to accommodate the wider flange near the PG.
IIRC I sent Tony photographs of the bass with the new PG on it for his use.

I ordered the vintage guard from Tony when Larry Davis was doing my 4003S to McCartney-like conversion, and there were still some issues. The biggest being the guard didn't fit beteween the end of the neck and the horseshoe pickup surround, as it is different from the stock high gain surround. Larry had to trace the guard and return it and Tony made a new one that fit perfectly.

I highly recommend Tony, but rather than just picking something from his website, I'd definitely drop him a line and explain exactly what you're wanting, so he can make sure everything fits properly. That will remove most of the uncertainty.

Maccaguy wrote:I ordered the vintage guard from Tony when Larry Davis was doing my 4003S to McCartney-like conversion, and there were still some issues. The biggest being the guard didn't fit beteween the end of the neck and the horseshoe pickup surround, as it is different from the stock high gain surround. Larry had to trace the guard and return it and Tony made a new one that fit perfectly.

I highly recommend Tony, but rather than just picking something from his website, I'd definitely drop him a line and explain exactly what you're wanting, so he can make sure everything fits properly. That will remove most of the uncertainty.

Note that I elected to keep the standard PU surround so your PG will be a bit shorter to accommodate the wider flange near the PG.

And, have 'aceonbassworks' build you a 60's value harness loom too.