My Rickenbacker Modification Project

[billiam5billion]

Your bass, YOUR bass, is stinkin' fantastic. That thing is rad and you did it yourself. You even managed to make an amazingly incendiary Talkbass thread that lots of people followed. You made that Ric yours and inspired conversation. TB'er of the month, I say.

 

[nattiep]

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.

Now I'm for what you did here but that comment screams of troll.

 

[Korladis]

Now I'm for what you did here but that comment screams of troll.

I agree. I think doing something just for the point of pissing people off is kind of a jackass move.

 

[Engine207]

Your bass, YOUR bass, is stinkin' fantastic. That thing is rad and you did it yourself. You even managed to make an amazingly incendiary Talkbass thread that lots of people followed. You made that Ric yours and inspired conversation. TB'er of the month, I say.

I'll say!! 7,325 hits in 39 hours? That's like a view every 20 seconds since the original post!

 

[billiam5billion]

Sensational! (you gotta say that to yourself in an old-timey newsman voise to get the full effect)

 

[Korladis]

Make a deal with you boy. You stop assuming you know me and calling me naive and I'll stop calling you boy.

xxoo

I consider this flaming. "Boy" is an insult. Who's assuming they know the other? Calling someone else something demeaning like "boy" seems to indicate some pretty whopping big assumptions.

 

[J Hud]

Sensational! (you gotta say that to yourself in an old-timey newsman voise to get the full effect)

Awesome!

 

[J Hud]

I'll say!! 7,325 hits in 39 hours? That's like a view every 20 seconds since the original post!

Hence my point about not feeling I was naive when I expressed surprise at the amount of controversy this has stirred up. Today, at 5:30 cst, there was a total of 311 comments on 3 different site's forums wherein this bass and the pros/cons of the modifications were being pomdered, praised, condemned, etc..

Naive? Seriously? No. Period. Who wold have predicted this volume of "feedback". Not I and not you BO............

I digress.

 

[J Hud]

Now I'm for what you did here but that comment screams of troll.

I was sort of kidding.

 

[J Hud]

The hits? Please. He's just complaining about the aesthetic, don't be so melodramatic, ya big baby.

"Hit", in the context I used it in was a Casey Kasem quote and was meant to imply another noteworthy thing/comment/obervation/event, etc...

See ---->
http://books.google.com/books?id=8qreFRzhjyIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=and+the+hits+just+keep+on+coming+casey&source=bl&ots=f6VEdeec0Q&sig=oI-lfktjCYKVSsvDj2E-OhD8IG8&hl=en&ei=JB56TOqWB8T6lwe9y7TrCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=and%20the%20hits%20just%20keep%20on%20coming%20casey&f=false

 

[J Hud]

I agree. I think doing something just for the point of pissing people off is kind of a jackass move.

Well, seeing as how you keep pissing me off (a fact which surely you're not so "naive" as to be unaware of) what does that imply?

Just messing with you bro!

Seriously though, I'm done with this particular tit for tat. You "win". I'm out and I'll keep my sarcasm to myself where you're concerned.

 

[DutchDude]

You're a brave man doing this..

Just kidding, I'm more used to the standard Ric-look, but your mod doesn't look half bad.
Can't wait to hear it, the sound must be pure awesomeness

 

[bassplayeroreo]

This is like the abortion issue of TB. Bass looks awesome! I think the Black-white combo makes it look awesome! Much more modern look.

 

[AltGrendel]

My only


only


issue is a minor one of ascetics.

I would have gone with a complementary color for the black pickup surround, like a bronze or a burnished gold color.

Other than that, as I've said before, I love the mods. I think it's great and hope you post sound clips some time.

 

[nuno.ka]

My only


only


issue is a minor one of ascetics.

ascetic: n. A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.

you must have meant:

aesthetics: n. 1. The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts.
2. In Kantian philosophy, the branch of metaphysics concerned with the laws of perception.

 

[RaginRog]

I put these on my site anyway, just in case you couldn't see them...

So, as I was saying, the trans red one is one of my favorite all time looks--mod or no mod and this is the only one I've ever seen.

That blue one is sweet!

 

[Spike-]

The fact that the 4003s is moderatly rare for Rickenbackers has been the starting point for alot of flak against this project, i'd be honestly intrested in knowing if people would still be saying the same things if it was a more common model.

I've seen some bad, and I mean bad mods, and I just can't understand why else this would be getting so much heat. The control layout is excellent, and looks both asthetically pleasing and also well suited to function, as opposed to just drilling into the old pickguard and putting some microswitches in.

Atleast OP sold the origional pickguard un-touched and hopefully someone who really needed it got it.

 

[RaginRog]

Just finished up the soldering and final fitting and now have this thing fully assembled. Here a few pics of it in all it's controversial glory.

Love, hate, lothe, admire, whatever. Fire away!


Link Removed

Dude, I think it looks awesome. Maybe a bit too many switches for my attention span, but I'd rock the hell out of it. I have a Ric, but I'm not a purist by any means. It's unique to you, and that's what I would take notice of if I saw you playing out at a gig.

A black guard will absolutely make it though!

 

[kcole4001]

The 'S' models are relatively rare because they didn't sell well enough to continue production after a few years.
There still is a niche market for them, but it's just that: a small percentage of the whole new and used Rick market.

It's not like it's a 1964 RM bass or something really rare.
The routing could be covered up by select stock RIC hardware, with the exception of the battery box, but that's on the back. The original 'guard is unmodified.

Not to mention that the guy has thought about this for several years, it's well planned out and carefully crafted, not just a spur of the moment weekend project resulting from boredom, soon to be regretted.

Sure, resale value is now reduced considerably, but I get the impression that's the last thing on the his mind.

If I was bent on pursuing this mod, I'd probably even change out the bridge. Put a black ABM or something on it.
The object is playability, and while I personally have very few issues with the stock unit, we can all agree, purists included, the stock RIC bridge is less than ideal.

 

[J Hud]

Good morning all. As promised, I've put a video up on youtube of the bass. Recorded this am. Just messing around on it and playing w/ different tones/settings.

At around 4min into the video (after a brief intermission) I dial in a tone I'm favoring right now.

Anyway, there you have it.

Love it, hate it, question it, loathe it, etc.. your call.

Me? I'm totally happy with it and am glad I took the risk. It sounds exactly like I want it to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XC0oCEH-vo