Building a six string.

xKennyx · #1 08-09-2009, 06:50 PM

I had posted this in another forum a couple days ago, but no admin had moved it or anything and I was directed here, so I figured I'd just repost it.

Without going into any boring details, I'm looking to build my own guitar. Not a bass, but a six string. However, I want it to have the body of a Rickenbacker 4001/3. If I were to find a body for it, or even one of the ric ripoffs (like the old Ibanez or the Shine), would this feat even be possible, or even plausable? I know I may have trouble finding a neck for it that would scale to a standard six string, but I'm sure I could find a way around that. One suggestion in the other forum was to just use the Warmoth body and carve it like a Rickenbacker but I wasn't sure if there would be an easier way to do this that might look a little better (not sure how good I am with wood carving). Any advice would be great.

cmlax21 · #2 08-09-2009, 07:03 PM

Isnt it illegal to make a ric copy in usa?

OHSPyro89 · #3 08-09-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmlax21

Isnt it illegal to make a ric copy in usa?

Nope. Just don't sell it and you will be okay.

xKennyx · #4 08-09-2009, 07:19 PM

Yeah, I've gone into that a little. Which is why I thought it would be hard, and didn't really want to get one of the Ric copies.

Beej · #5 08-09-2009, 07:48 PM

Rick's are neck throughs, so you won't be able to remove the existing neck and put a new one on it without major work. Even if you were willing to saw up a 4001/3 to make it into a six string, I'm pretty sure there would be a long lineup of people waiting to murder you for it.

I'm of the mindset that if you want to do this, the best way is to build it from scratch, or use a Warmoth blank and blank neck with a paddle headstock to help create the look you want. There are a couple of threads here in the Luthier's Corner that concern themselves with the construction of Rick copies from scratch if you search for them.

I agree that owning one would be the shiznit...

pilotjones · #6 08-09-2009, 09:52 PM

Before making your own version of "a guitar version of the 4001/4003 bass," you might want to research the actual Rickenbacker models 480, 481, and 483, which were the real thing.

Beej · #7 08-09-2009, 10:10 PM

Well, whaddaya know, pilot's onto something there. I wondered if there had been something like that out there, but being the antithetical Rick fan that I am, I never knew...

xKennyx · #8 08-10-2009, 12:11 PM

Damn. I had no idea. Thanks very much for the input and ideas guys, if I do build my own (which may be cheaper than buying the real thing) I'll definetly keep you guys posted. Either way thanks a million.

Darkstrike · #9 08-10-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

Wow, almost pre-empted Novax!

xKennyx · #10 08-10-2009, 12:37 PM

So I got right on this and it seems that there are no 480's on eBay or CraigsList, but I saw a post on another forum saying they go around $1,200 which wouldn't be bad at all. While it would be nice to have one (and I'm sure I will some day) the style of music that I play would require me to replace the pickups in it and I wouldn't want to do that, so I'll probably just build one.

pilotjones · #11 08-10-2009, 04:49 PM

You can keep an eye out for one here:
http://www.the-music-connection.com/riccol.htm

pilotjones · #12 08-10-2009, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Wow, almost pre-empted Novax!

This is from 1617.

Darkstrike · #13 08-10-2009, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

This is from 1617.

Geez! Didn't think Novax was that old!

xKennyx · #14 08-10-2009, 06:30 PM

That's insane. Also, I'm looking at what kind of pickups I want in this thing. I play a lot of heavy distortion stuff (pretty sure I have a link in my signature for my band) and right now I'm using EMG pickups. Thinking, however, because I play mostly rhythm, of going with an Invader in the neck and an EMG in the bridge. Or do I have my neck/bridge switched around?