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My Rickenbacker Modification Project

#261
J-Hud has the bass the way it will work for him. Who are we to judge that it isn't "right?"

I own two Ricks, both 4001s. One is a '76 in autumnglo. The other is a '77 that I bought in pieces off eBay and refinished. Both have stock pickups, pots, etc. (I had to purchase repro knobs for the '77 though). The '76 is complete stock. The '77 I put a Hipshot bridge on it. I was considering a Badass II a la Geddy, but came across the Hipshot. It works, and it's much better than the stock Rick bridge (which, IMHO, sucks).

J-Hud modified his Rick so it would work for him. I did the same (with the bridge). If others don't like it, fine. They're not playing it. He is and I am respectively.

I have a '73 Jazz Bass, with black blocks. I have a Badass II bridge, two Seymour Duncan pickups, and a J-Retro pre installed on it, as well as new Schaller replacement tuners on it. I have all the original parts (as well as the original case - I did have to have it refretted, though). My guess is Fender purists might look down their noses at me for making mods. But I made them because:

a. I hate Fender bridges.
b. The original pickups were damaged.
c. The tuners rattled (the ears were loose).
d. I wanted more mids, and the stock electronics didn't deliver that.
e. I wanted stacked humbucking J-Bass pickups, hence the Seymours.

All of this made it more playable to me. As a result, it would be the bass I'd absolutely have to have on a desert island.

Now, would have I done what J-Hud did with his Rick? Most likely not. I'm just glad he got this instrument configured to his needs (like I did with my Jazz). In the end, that's all that matters, opinions be damned. Rock on, J-Hud, and enjoy that modded Rick to your heart's content.

Alan
 
#263
Skluurg said:
Why that gaudy pick guard type material on the bridge pup? It overlaps onto the pick guard, which begs to be black.
Click to expand...

The only thing my pickguard is begging for is for me to have never bothered posting all this in the first place.

The "gaudy pick guard type material"? Man, it should go without saying, but sure, I'll play along.

Obviously the existing route was nowhere near appropriate to accomidate the Bart MM pup so that route had to be modified. In doing so, I opted to go ahead and move the route closer to the bridge in hopes of capturing more midrange punch.

The route I added was an extention of the original. I opted to use the remaining un-utilized portion of the original route to create a cubby to place the pre-amp in.

I had a METAL (not pickguard material) cover made that was modeled after the bridge pup surround footprint of a 4001 C64. This pc was needed to cover the route & pre-amp up.

Without the cover, it looks like this -
Link Removed
 
#265
J Hud said:
The only thing my pickguard is begging for is for me to have never bothered posting all this in the first place.

The "gaudy pick guard type material"? Man, it should go without saying, but sure, I'll play along.

Obviously the existing route was nowhere near appropriate to accomidate the Bart MM pup so that route had to be modified. In doing so, I opted to go ahead and move the route closer to the bridge in hopes of capturing more midrange punch.

The route I added was an extention of the original. I opted to use the remaining un-utilized portion of the original route to create a cubby to place the pre-amp in.

I had a METAL (not pickguard material) cover made that was modeled after the bridge pup surround footprint of a 4001 C64. This pc was needed to cover the route & pre-amp up.

Without the cover, it looks like this -
Link Removed
Click to expand...

I was just going to post a "read the thread before you post" comment. :D
 
#266
abngourmet said:
J-Hud has the bass the way it will work for him. Who are we to judge that it isn't "right?"

I own two Ricks, both 4001s. One is a '76 in autumnglo. The other is a '77 that I bought in pieces off eBay and refinished. Both have stock pickups, pots, etc. (I had to purchase repro knobs for the '77 though). The '76 is complete stock. The '77 I put a Hipshot bridge on it. I was considering a Badass II a la Geddy, but came across the Hipshot. It works, and it's much better than the stock Rick bridge (which, IMHO, sucks).

J-Hud modified his Rick so it would work for him. I did the same (with the bridge). If others don't like it, fine. They're not playing it. He is and I am respectively.

I have a '73 Jazz Bass, with black blocks. I have a Badass II bridge, two Seymour Duncan pickups, and a J-Retro pre installed on it, as well as new Schaller replacement tuners on it. I have all the original parts (as well as the original case - I did have to have it refretted, though). My guess is Fender purists might look down their noses at me for making mods. But I made them because:

a. I hate Fender bridges.
b. The original pickups were damaged.
c. The tuners rattled (the ears were loose).
d. I wanted more mids, and the stock electronics didn't deliver that.
e. I wanted stacked humbucking J-Bass pickups, hence the Seymours.

All of this made it more playable to me. As a result, it would be the bass I'd absolutely have to have on a desert island.

Now, would have I done what J-Hud did with his Rick? Most likely not. I'm just glad he got this instrument configured to his needs (like I did with my Jazz). In the end, that's all that matters, opinions be damned. Rock on, J-Hud, and enjoy that modded Rick to your heart's content.

Alan
Click to expand...

:hyper: Right on man!
 
#268
1dgbass said:
Wow!!!

I have alot of respect for you man. You look like you really know what you're doing.
I'm afriad just to change the strings. I personally only like to play my basses. Did someone teach you how to work on basses? or did you teach yourself?
Major props.

Douglas
Click to expand...

Thanks for the props man. I've done mods like this to other basses & guitars but nothing this extreme. I just took my time and made sure I had worked through all the details on paper prior to each step.

I'm pretty handy, have a well stocked shop & I have some experience with woodworking so I wasn't afraid to attempt this on my own.

I really enjoyed the work and will be looking for another project to tackle. Based on the "popularity" of this one, I'll probably seek out another pristine & "sort of rare" Ric to "destroy" and then post it all on here. It seems to have the same effect as throwing chum into the waters off the southern coast of Australia....
 
#271
J Hud said:
The only thing my pickguard is begging for is for me to have never bothered posting all this in the first place.

The "gaudy pick guard type material"? Man, it should go without saying, but sure, I'll play along.

Obviously the existing route was nowhere near appropriate to accomidate the Bart MM pup so that route had to be modified. In doing so, I opted to go ahead and move the route closer to the bridge in hopes of capturing more midrange punch.

The route I added was an extention of the original. I opted to use the remaining un-utilized portion of the original route to create a cubby to place the pre-amp in.

I had a METAL (not pickguard material) cover made that was modeled after the bridge pup surround footprint of a 4001 C64. This pc was needed to cover the route & pre-amp up.

Without the cover, it looks like this -
Link Removed
Click to expand...

I truly apologize for all the time I took out of your day by answering my question, and missing a detail in the first few pages of the thread.
 
#272
J Hud said:
Based on the "popularity" of this one, I'll probably seek out another pristine & "sort of rare" Ric to "destroy" and then post it all on here.
Click to expand...

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#274
J Hud said:
No harm, no foul brother! Although, since you appear to be in an apologetic mood, you can apologize for calling it gaudy.

Kidding!

No worries. :bassist:
Click to expand...

Well, assuming it was a cosmetic, it's different. But has a necessary piece I don't see how it could be any better. But please note the only thing I have said an ill word about was about aesthetics, not the mod in general or whatever. Because really, who cares if there's one less stock Ric in the world?
 
#275
Loving the mods. Nice to see some cool Ric mods going on! :)

It's surprising that people are getting bent out of shape about this. Last time I check 1989 wasn't vintage. Sure it's a "S" model, but regardless, does anyone else remember Rics going for a couple hundred bucks? I remember kicking myself when I bought my '07 Ric for what I did when I remembered the price being MUCH cheaper.

Seriously, any hate is not necessary. I payed more than I should have for my Ric, you might have too. Truth be told, they used to go for what a MIM Fender is going for. No one bi****s about anyone modding one of those....

Rock on dude! It's nice to see someone customize something that suits them better. :)
 
#277
At this point, I'd say that more people are crying and decrying the few folks who got upset over it and the ones that were upset may not have even been categorized as "purists".

It's interesting to see the hatred going both ways when we don't know the ones that disagree if they are all those "purists" or just someone commenting... which is both groups right to do so.

Looking at it from a categorical viewpoint both camps seem to have bad eggs and J Hud could be considered one of them... although since it's his bass and people direct lines of fire directly at him I think he gets a pass on this.

So, J Hud = good egg defending himself and everyone else in this thread is practically a jackhole other than a few civil comments and even a couple of complaints that brought about valid discussion.

The folks at the RRF and Ric site aren't "the bad guys" anymore than the pro-crowd here are "good guys". It's just one big circle jerk that seems to just perpetuate on and on and on.

It's funny, really.



Unfortunately, the sadness kills the funny. :(
 

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