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Clear pick guard for 4003?

Anyone done this? Does it look good or ridiculous? It would be nice to not cover up all the nice wood grain and Sunburst on my 4003 but I don't know if a clear pick guard is really going to look good.

I think Tony Dudzik will do one for you, just ask for a lucite pickguard with no back paint on it.

lumgimfong wrote:Clear pick guard for 4003?

Anyone done this? Does it look good or ridiculous? It would be nice to not cover up all the nice wood grain and Sunburst on my 4003 but I don't know if a clear pick guard is really going to look good.

Understand that the controls and pickup wiring will be exposed, and it may not be pretty. The control cavity is pretty big, so you're not gaining any visible wood there. Best left covered in my opinion. If you like the look of more wood and less pickguard, consider the 4004 series.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Whaam-Rickenbac ... SwZ1lWf3zQ

I think it would look like this, but even uglier lol

I saw one example with a fully painted cavity (so it looked seamless) and a neat and tidy wiring harness, and I thought it was gorgeous.

You may want to scope things out below deck before proceeding.

I added shielding on the control area of the guard and is silent again now. No buzz. Pickguardian guard.

Not my first choice, but an interesting look nonetheless. Good job!

What's going on with your wiring harness? Master V+T?

bassduke49 wrote:

lumgimfong wrote:Clear pick guard for 4003?

Anyone done this? Does it look good or ridiculous? It would be nice to not cover up all the nice wood grain and Sunburst on my 4003 but I don't know if a clear pick guard is really going to look good.

Understand that the controls and pickup wiring will be exposed, and it may not be pretty. The control cavity is pretty big, so you're not gaining any visible wood there. Best left covered in my opinion. If you like the look of more wood and less pickguard, consider the 4004 series.

cassius987 wrote:Not my first choice...

+1.

It is selector/volume/tone.
I like this look better than the big white guard covering all the fireglo burst and wood grain.


It is an easy switch back to the standard white guard. I have one for this three control setup from WD.

I like this wiring scheme better than the 4 control.
My first Ric, so I am learning as I go what my preferences are.
I think for the next Ric I would get a 4004 but I also like the 4003's.
It is my favorite bass. Sounds fantastic and plays great.

It's a cool concept and you did it well. I think it could work better for me on an MG bass with no shielding in the cavity, so everything looked consistent. Lots of finished Rics seem to be missing some finish in the control cavity.

I understand wanting simple volume and tone controls, but in so doing, you can't really run ROS anymore (since this is a 4003). On the other hand, it probably sounds brighter and louder, since there circuit resistance should be higher.

Thanks.

Yes it does eliminate ROS but I don't need ROS so it works for me as a single.

I have always had 2 control basses and so I like that.

As for the shielding, it was noisy without it so I added it and now it is silent.
Yes it is a bright, punchy, growly bass. I love it!

The factory 4 control harness was jettisoned due to excessive noise issues. No shielding helped at all with the the single coils.
New HB1/2 control is noiseless with control cavity only shielding. The bass sounds even better than with higains to my ears.
Would have been cool to do without shielding and be able to see into the control cavity thru the guard. But I am ok with the control cavity coverage.

interesting look!

You could try to recreate the fireglo finish on the under side of the pickguard using modern technology.
Or even only above the cavities
It would give a more consistent look.

Fender used to spraypaint the underside of clear guards to cover cavity areas on their “60’s era blue flower and paisley guitars.