Pickguard

[Bass1bass2]

I just got a Rickenbacker 4003 s / 5 and wanted to remove the pickguard will the internal connections be visible if so do I have any other alternatives

 

[KeithAlanK]

The neck pickup mounts to the pickguard, as do the controls. There are routed out cavities in the body under/around them, so you really need some sort of pickguard to cover up wiring and hold everything, unless you want to spend a lot of money having a pro luthier fill it all in with matching wood, rout the front for just the pickup, rout the rear for controls, move the output jack to the edge, refinish the whole body without jacking up the neck, etc. Bad idea.
You could make or have made a pickguard using the same woods so it kind of blends in, or better yet make a pickguard thats done in the "photo flame" style (fake flame maple tops on cheap guitars) where a photo print of the wood (taken of the back of your bass I imagine) is laminated to the pickguard and then matte clear coated for durability.

I agree it would look better as a bare wood model, but not a simple thing to do at all.

Hope this helps--good luck.

 

[Nikkitta]

The neck pickup mounts to the pickguard, as do the controls. There are routed out cavities in the body under/around them, so you really need some sort of pickguard to cover up wiring and hold everything, unless you want to spend a lot of money having a pro luthier fill it all in with matching wood, rout the front for just the pickup, rout the rear for controls, move the output jack to the edge, refinish the whole body without jacking up the neck, etc. Bad idea.
You could make or have made a pickguard using the same woods so it kind of blends in, or better yet make a pickguard thats done in the "photo flame" style (fake flame maple tops on cheap guitars) where a photo print of the wood (taken of the back of your bass I imagine) is laminated to the pickguard and then matte clear coated for durability.

I agree it would look better as a bare wood model, but not a simple thing to do at all.

Hope this helps--good luck.

+1
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[Dexterzol]

What the other guys said, plus I don't know what alternatives there are if it's the look you hate Don't the fivers have those triangular pickups?

Then again... maybe those DON'T mount to the pickguard... but removing it to check is your own risk, and I'm pretty sure there's still gonna be a nasty rout beneath

 

[Bass1bass2]

The neck pickup mounts to the pickguard, as do the controls. There are routed out cavities in the body under/around them, so you really need some sort of pickguard to cover up wiring and hold everything, unless you want to spend a lot of money having a pro luthier fill it all in with matching wood, rout the front for just the pickup, rout the rear for controls, move the output jack to the edge, refinish the whole body without jacking up the neck, etc. Bad idea.
You could make or have made a pickguard using the same woods so it kind of blends in, or better yet make a pickguard thats done in the "photo flame" style (fake flame maple tops on cheap guitars) where a photo print of the wood (taken of the back of your bass I imagine) is laminated to the pickguard and then matte clear coated for durability.

I agree it would look better as a bare wood model, but not a simple thing to do at all.

Hope this helps--good luck.

Thanks for your help,,,,,, I kinda thought it was going to end up like that but I had to check cuz you never know

 

[Bass1bass2]

Thanks for your help my friend I kinda thought that was going to be the issue but I had to ask cuz you never know

 

[KeithAlanK]

For the record, I think that bass would look 100% better the way you want it.
I think the right person--a good photographer that's also got a few other skills--could do the photo-wood thing for well under $100. Materials would only cost about $25.

 

[Bass1bass2]

Good to know thanks