'86 rickenbacker resore help!

[Splatterthrash]

I recently came into a Rick bass, but.. a previous owner put active emg p and j pickups in it. No routing for battery. How difficult would it be to get it back to stock? Have a picture, but don't know how to upload with my phone.

[bassgod0dmw]

Was it routed for these pickups at all? If no, if would be as difficult as sourcing all of the parts and assembling it.

[Splatterthrash]

There we go. Here she is.

[Splatterthrash]

I don't believe so. I think it may be a shadow. The shark inlays aren't right. Someone added them.

[Coolhandjjl]

Originally Posted by Splatterthrash

I don't believe so. I think it may be a shadow. The shark inlays aren't right. Someone added them.

Older Ric did not have full width inlays. There is a Rickenbacker Club here with lots of knowledgeable members.

You can get a new pickguard with a cutout for a proper Ric pickup from Pickguardian Custom Pickguards

If you order a custom one there, send in the original guard to use for a template. It will be a guaranteed fit as these things often had subtle changes throughout the decades, so hard to tell if ordering a new one from RIC will have that 'perfect fit' regarding screw holes, etc.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/ and many RIC dealers stock the neck and bridge pickups.

[AtomicPunk]

The horror....was it spray painted? I dont see binding so don't know if it was a Shadow at one time. The markers look like one of the few things that IS right about that bass. Pickup surround, pickups bridge and neck, pickguard, probably a new harness...

[KramerBassFan]

Doesn't look all that bad to me.

[Splatterthrash]

No, they are in there. They don't span the whole fretboard width, and round off at the tip.

[Splatterthrash]

Doesn't appear to be spray painted. Are the SD replacements any good? In the description it says it won't fit in the bridge position or something?

[Coolhandjjl]

Originally Posted by Splatterthrash

No, they are in there. They don't span the whole fretboard width, and round off at the tip.

Older inlays were a 'poured in' slurry of who know what, some sort of epoxy and mother of pearl perhaps? New ones are a sheet and the fretboard is cut for them to be laid in.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by AtomicPunk

The horror....was it spray painted? I dont see binding so don't know if it was a Shadow at one time. The markers look like one of the few things that IS right about that bass. Pickup surround, pickups bridge and neck, pickguard, probably a new harness...

A shadow would have dots ... not triangles.

[Ric5]

That bass would look cool with a black pickguard.

With a new pickguard and new pickups and a new wiring harness it would be back to stock. Unless there are more things that don't show up in the photo.

If you live in Colorado then bring it by my workshop and I can fix it for you.

[Ric5]

Here's a shadow

1986 Rickenbacker 4003 Shadow Bass

[Splatterthrash]

I understand the black dots, the inlays look like they were added on. It has black binding and the s/n dates to 1986, so that was just a thought. I will post more pics when I get home from work. Forgive me, I know nothing of electronics and all that, but what kind of pots/caps/whatever will I be needing?

[Ric5]

A 1986 4003 would have 250k ohm volume pots and 500k ohm tone pots.

You can get parts here -->> +The Rickenbacker Page Parts

Scroll down and there are some pre-wired assemblies that you can buy.

[Splatterthrash]

I agree on the black pg. It's an old broken up mirror one now, looks kinda cool, too. Thanks for the offer, but sadly, I'm in KC.

[Splatterthrash]

Great! That's exactly what I needed to know!

[Ric5]

A real Rickenbacker shadow will have checkered binding.

[AtomicPunk]

Originally Posted by Ric5

A shadow would have dots ... not triangles.

Did I not say that I didn't think it was a Shadow?