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1976 Ricky without triangle fret markers normal?

#41
I agree everything looks legit other than the board. If the owner has had it since 1984, then the work must have been done early on, and IMHO makes it more likely that it still has the Ric truss rods. OP, do you see the original rods under the TR cover?

My one question is, how thick is the fretboard? Ric boards are very thick, so if this has a 3/8" thick board or so, it's one more feather in the cap of being a real ric with a replaced board. :thumbsup:
 
#42
I compared my buddy's 1976 with my 1978 and I would have to say I still think his is a real Ricky with a replaced fingerboard. Other than that and the brass nut the only minor difference I could detect was that the pick guard sits a bit closer to the input jack on the 1978. I guess we will find out for sure when Dave (at Dave's World of Fun Stuff) investigates a wee bit closer.
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#45
Rat Blitz said:
I compared my buddy's 1976 with my 1978 and I would have to say I still think his is a real Ricky with a replaced fingerboard. Other than that and the brass nut the only minor difference I could detect was that the pick guard sits a bit closer to the input jack on the 1978. I guess we will find out for sure when Dave (at Dave's World of Fun Stuff) investigates a wee bit closer.View attachment 4703390 View attachment 4703391 View attachment 4703392 View attachment 4703393 View attachment 4703395 View attachment 4703396 View attachment 4703398
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That is definitely real and the finger board looks like it's about the same thickness as the original fingerboard on the '78 Don't worry about tail lift unless the strings are higher than the bridge :laugh: which I have also seen a grand total of one time in my life. Sometimes tail lift happens as people raise the bridge too high and it pulls the end of the tailpiece up, I believe that is from tightening up the neck too much to try to make it too flat which brings it back to a lesser angle to the bass which require raising the bridge too much to compensate.

Are you going to have a clearance sale any time soon? :laugh:
 
#46
I'm literally asking this because I don't know. Did Ric ever do special orders or custom basses for famous people back in the day? In other words, could someone have ordered a Ric with dots instead of triangles? Or could someone with some cred in the music biz have gotten a custom made Ric?
 
#47
Tail lift is caused by a weak zinc alloy being used on older bridges, not any neck adjustment. If that were true you’d see it on a lot of other basses. The V2 solved this by taking the string tension out of the equation with a separate string anchor. I’ve never seen a thin bent steel Fender bridge lift, because it’s a material suited to the stress. Zinc works fine if it’s thick enough, line s Badass2 or any number of thick cast zinc bridges.
 
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#48
two fingers said:
I'm literally asking this because I don't know. Did Ric ever do special orders or custom basses for famous people back in the day? In other words, could someone have ordered a Ric with dots instead of triangles? Or could someone with some cred in the music biz have gotten a custom made Ric?
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@PaulBoyer could probably answer your question best.

The idea of a special order, custom, or other one-off build crossed my mind as well. RIC is a small company and, given enough incentive (meaning $$$) would probably do this. But I would expect this history to have followed the bass, and would increase its value substantially.

The 4002 had an ebony finger board with dot inlays... but it was 21 frets. But this bass could have been built with a 4002 fingerboard cut down and fretted to fit a 4001.
 
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#52
two fingers said:
I'm literally asking this because I don't know. Did Ric ever do special orders or custom basses for famous people back in the day? In other words, could someone have ordered a Ric with dots instead of triangles? Or could someone with some cred in the music biz have gotten a custom made Ric?
Click to expand...

Not that it really helps with the particular bass in question in this thread, but if nothing else, RIC built Geddy Lee his doubleneck 4080 as a custom bass. Which then briefly became a production model. So presumably they were entertaining custom build offers
 
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#53
two fingers said:
I'm literally asking this because I don't know. Did Ric ever do special orders or custom basses for famous people back in the day? In other words, could someone have ordered a Ric with dots instead of triangles? Or could someone with some cred in the music biz have gotten a custom made Ric?
Click to expand...
I've seen a few over the years.
 
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#54
There is a bit of an update on the bass. I took it to my good friend and luthier Dave (Daves World of Fun Stuff on YouTube).
Dave closely examined the insides and outsides of the bass.
When I picked it up Dave gave me his "expert" opinion.
He figures other than the brass nut this is an original factory Rick. He said if the fretboard had been replaced at one point (remember it's a 1976 and my friend purchased it in 1984) there would be some sign of lacquer displacement on the neck. It was too perfectly done not to have been done at the factory
There was some writing on body cavity "4001-M-W Lopez MA5DA". I'm not sure if there is any significance in that.
He said his buddy Skully (Geddy Lee guitar tech) also thought it was most likely factory original.
I would love to know for sure the true pedigree of this instrument but it's looking very likely to be some special order or one-off bass and not a fingerboard replacement.
Any more expert opinions out there?

 
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#55
I can replace a nut in 20 minutes I don't get the prior mystery and confusion on that.

the board would take me longer.

it's a really cool bass no matter the history
 
#57
Rat Blitz said:
There is a bit of an update on the bass. I took it to my good friend and luthier Dave (Daves World of Fun Stuff on YouTube).
Dave closely examined the insides and outsides of the bass.
When I picked it up Dave gave me his "expert" opinion.
He figures other than the brass nut this is an original factory Rick. He said if the fretboard had been replaced at one point (remember it's a 1976 and my friend purchased it in 1984) there would be some sign of lacquer displacement on the neck. It was too perfectly done not to have been done at the factory
There was some writing on body cavity "4001-M-W Lopez MA5DA". I'm not sure if there is any significance in that.
He said his buddy Skully (Geddy Lee guitar tech) also thought it was most likely factory original.
I would love to know for sure the true pedigree of this instrument but it's looking very likely to be some special order or one-off bass and not a fingerboard replacement.
Any more expert opinions out there?

Click to expand...

I’d say you just got your expert opinion.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-hall-30702689

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