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1979 Rickenbacker 4001 - Think I Bought a Refin
- Thread starter Kingofrock43
- Start date
Standard Ric white binding is .060" thick, sometimes scraped a little thinner. If it was refinned, they might have gotten a little lazy on the binding scrape. Could be it's white over black binding as others mentioned, though I've never seen one in person. In the Interest of Science, you could try scraping it to see how much white binding has been painted over…..or not. Just play it. I don't think Ric players are as fanatical about original paint as the Fender crowd. Personally I'd rather own a well refinned 4001 than a beat up one with original finish, I like em' pretty. I had a buddy in high school who owned a 4001 Mapleglo he spray painted black with Rattlecan, he went right over the binding, a real hack job. I'll bet that one's been refinned too!
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@farace posted a pic of the B/W binding in post #17
I think it was an option back then ($)
AFAIK, the color coat would have been applied over the binding, then scraped to expose only the binding,
then built up with clear coats, flat sanded, then buffed on the pedestal.
I've tried my hand at scraping binding, and it is NOT easy. Definitely an acquired skill and the people who do it for Ric (and Gibson) are very good. I think it shows up briefly in one of the Ric factory Tour videos on YT, but this is the best tutorial I've seen on the process. He makes it looks easy.... but it isn't. I bought one of the flat steel scraper blades he uses, but found a standard utility knife blade works just as well.
He's wrong about one thing though: It IS possible to mask a nearly perfect binding line with vinyl tape using this stuff, 3M "Indigo" Vinyl tape, 1/8" width:
It leaves a super crisp, clean line that's as good as scraping IMO. This is what it looked like on my Jetglo build right after removing the tape, only a few hairlie thin bleed-throughs that were easily scraped.
He's wrong about one thing though: It IS possible to mask a nearly perfect binding line with vinyl tape using this stuff, 3M "Indigo" Vinyl tape, 1/8" width:
It leaves a super crisp, clean line that's as good as scraping IMO. This is what it looked like on my Jetglo build right after removing the tape, only a few hairlie thin bleed-throughs that were easily scraped.
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All's well that ends well I guess. Picked up a black pickguard and trussrod cover and am now going to rule all with my Deth Bass of Doom From Hell!
Run it! None More Black for the Win! This will CRUSH as a metal bass.
Translation; "Look Squire, we're tired of your rock star, nitpicking, anal ego demands that you expect us to do for free. So f*** off with your green M&M's bull****".
I believe it's a 4001BT (black trim), I do not believe it's a refin, if anything a pretty rare bass. Here's some photos I found on google
Well hot dang!!! Thank you Eric for finding that. Here's the link in case anyone is interested: Rickenbacker 4001 BT Jetglo
The link says there were a few of these that came out in the late 70s, so it checks out w my serial number.
Now, mine came with white pickguard and truss cover, and I assume those are original. I'm still wondering about the Maple-glo-looking wear spot on the back, and will go into the Ric forums to see if I can find out more.
Looking a little closer now it seems like maybe the back wore naturally and someone tried to paint over the wear with an acrylic paint or something.
That's weird to me too. Were they all built like that with the dark line down the back, regardless of finished color? That's what's throwing me off
The shedua stripe was a standard feature on the 4001 from 1972 until the end of production of the model.
Ok, so I took this in to my local shop for a set up and they said they had to scrape away some of the wood by the truss rods. I removed it today to take pics (going to list for sale) and this is what I found. This has to be a refin of a mapleglo, right?
Also took an exact and scraped off a little paint below the bridge by the strap lock. Not seeing any evidence of the standard binding. I'm back to being befuddled…
Included a pic of the cavity with what I'm assuming is original tape w 4001 and other scribbles. Can anyone decipher?
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It looks like it says 4001 BT, as @Erik Stokley mentioned above.
You scraped through where the binding stops.
Only the body wings have binding, the end of the neck beam does not;
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Yeah, I tried to be inconspicuous and scrape off where the binding ends at the neck beam. Not seeing any evidence of the 'regular' white binding.
The white binding is on the inside, next to the body, behind the outermost black binding that you scraped thru.
I sure hope they are a shop that understands pre-'85 hairpin truss rods. The neck can be severely damaged if someone treats them like normal compression rods.
Here's the 'before I started scraping' pic. Started scraping down from the E side. I expected to see the traditional white binding but nothing. I feel I was starting to dig a little deep into the body so idk…
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