Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

In 2019 I bought this 1976 4001 off Reverb. I got it for a really low price because it was in somewhat rough shape. Some of the problems it had (which are apparent in the upcoming photos) were as follows:

• The frets were so badly worn that it was hardly playable

• I have no idea what its original color was, because at some point it had been refinished in transparent black. The color itself was okay, but whoever did the work did a pretty crummy job; there are places where the paint coverage wasn't good and you could see bare wood, like the back of the top of the headstock.

• The original pickguard had been replaced with a truly hideous yellowed pearloid version

• The original knobs had been replaced with some gross beige knobs that came from god knows where

• The pickup switch cap was gone

• The neck pickup wasn't secured to the pickguard at all; when it arrived it was just floating freely in the pickup cavity, held in place only by the strings themselves. (I ended up getting a small refund for this because it wasn't like this in any of the listing photos; the seller swore it must have been damaged in shipping, but I don't know how you lose a whole pickup assembly in shipping.)

• It had aftermarket hipshot tuners (but they're pretty good so I ended up keeping them)

Of course I knew it was rough when I placed the order, and I had a plan in mind already. I contacted Larry Davis about doing a restoration. Although it took a few years to get started due to swings in my financial situation and other issues on Larry's side, in December of 2021 I shipped the bass off to him, and then we worked out the details of the restoration.

I wanted a period-correct color and I had a few options I liked in mind. Unfortunately, whoever refinished the bass in black neglected to put on an initial layer of clearcoat, so black paint had been sprayed directly onto the body wood. Larry put some effort in to see how much of it he could get out, but in the end he recommended going with a solid finish, limiting our options (I'll get you next time, Burgundy!)

After some consideration, I opted for the White Tuxedo look--that is, white with black binding. However, I asked Larry to mix up a creamy, aged white, to give the impression of the instrument's age (without being that gross splotchy yellow that you frequently see with old white Ricks.) What I wasn't expecting was that he actually did try to simulate slight differences in the coloring of the finish in different places, as an aged white Rick would show, but I'm quite pleased with the effect.

I finally got the instrument back this month, and after a brief wiring hiccup that I resolved with a local tech, I have to say I couldn't be happier with the bass--it looks, plays, and sounds fantastic. I would 100% recommend Larry for any restoration work in the future.

Also slight tangent... If I refinish a guitar in the registry, do I update it's entry to its new color?

Sweet! Though I have to say, that transparent black in kind of interesting.

As for the registry, since you don't really know the original colour, I'd say put the current colour in. You're not really losing any history...

cjj wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:38 am Sweet! Though I have to say, that transparent black in kind of interesting.

I liked the color, but like I said the quality of the finish itself was shoddy. You can really see it on the top back of the headstock but it had other issues as well. And I figured if I was going to get it refinished anyway, I would rather have it restored to something period-correct.

As for the registry, since you don't really know the original colour, I'd say put the current colour in. You're not really losing any history...

Fair point!

I can't believe it but I like the look of the trans black! Of course Larry's work is stellar, but dang it, now you've got me thinking about trans black on a Rick.

Looks good. Congrats! Only needs a spades sticker on the body now in my humble opinion.

Congratulations, looks fantastic.

Larry does indeed do fantastic work, he recently completed a substantial rework of my 1973 Fretless, converting it to Fretted.
Here's the link to my journey with Larry
viewtopic.php?t=417050

jdogric12 wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 8:43 am I can't believe it but I like the look of the trans black! Of course Larry's work is stellar, but dang it, now you've got me thinking about trans black on a Rick.

Or .... Transparent Fireglo

Personally, I prefer the finished product in white, just beautiful to me!