Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

You may have seen this one on the Bay a week or two ago. It is a 1975 4001 sans fingerboard. I had some ideas of what to do with it but I am open for suggestions. I have a bubinga plank that I plan to make into a fingerboard. The basic plan right now is to make a Shadow look-alike. I was thinking it might be fun to post the progress on a regular basis if anyone is interested in seeing it. Here is where I am starting.

Here is ithe back side.

You go Ted,... is that black binding?

Yeah, I am trying to find checkerboard binding. It is necessary to complete the look. The inside parts will retain the original white color to make it clear that it was altered.

checker binding! horseshoes! split tailpiece! full width MOP inlays! vintage toaster!

Wait a minute-you already have those on your 63!

Sure we are interested in seeing it. Did the bass come with the original parts (nameplate, pickguard, wiring, pickups) or just as depicted above?

There was a TRC in white that I not commited to using. The pickguard is ruined. There is a new tailpiece but it should be black for this project. The tuners are real Rick tuners but I need to find black ones. No electronics at all. I have several pickups and other hardware in my parts box. This will be a project. It can take other directions. If you have ideas please post them. I just got the ball rolling. Lets see what we can build.

Ted, it will be fun and interesting to see the updates along with pictures on that project bass.
I haven't posted in a while, welcome to the forum, that's an awesome looking 4002 you have.

Thanks Joey. I have fun with my Ricks and I like to share them with people who appreciate them like I do. My collection spans 25 years and many many 4001's.

My rationale for a Shadow look-alike is based on the fact that the triangle fret markers would be difficult to reproduce. The finished product must look good and not like a hack job. Black dots would be easy. Of course this bass could also be made into an S look alike if I removed the binding and contoured the body....

Why not make it into a Redneck lookalike? Or maybe a "White Shadow" - white on white, with checkerboard-and-white binding, like the Susanna Hoffs prototype on Björn Eriksson's website:

http://www.rickbeat.com/modelslibrary/350shprototype/000_0300.jpg

I like the white on white idea. Did Rickenbacker use ruby on the Redneck? It always looked like ruby to me in pictures.

The white on white is an awesome combination.

No the Redneck was a solid red. I've been looking for one of those for a few years now. I like the white combination myself, I might do my v63 in white.

do it!