Restoring a '76 Rickenbacker 4001

[Grainger]

Hi there,

Quick introduction; My name is Edo, I'm a 19 year old guy from the Netherlands.

Bass is my hobby, I like modding basses just for the fun of it. Like thisInvalid Link Removed and my Invalid Link Removed

Obsessed with the Rickenbacker since I saw Death from Above 1979 with Jesse F. Keeler on its 4001.
I absolutely loved the yellowed white in combination with the black pickguard/hardware. I played one of a fellow dutch forummember and I was blown away. I'm in need of a Ric!

Needless to say, as soon as some money got available I was searching for one. Some dutch bassguitarforummer had a WH BT 4003 for sale, within a week I picked it up and I've never been disapppointed with the bass

Then [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] came by. Shocked by horror and opportunity at the same time I watched the bidding and started bidding in the last 15 minutes. I won. Until the bass arrived I've literally dreamed of restoring it!

So it came in today and I've decided to share the whole process with this forum.

I was psyched, checking the trackingnumber every 15 minutes on my cellphone, I couldn't wait. Today after coming back from working in someone's garden (thank you rain) a truck stopped in front of my house. I knew it was on its way due to my tracking checking mania.

A grumpy little delivery man drops it of making my heart race an unknown pace.

Ripped of the box, and found a shaggy case. Never knew that was in the deal, but obviously it was easier to pack and send this way. I opened up and saw a soft blond glow coming from the MapleGlo. I was starstruck, the beauty, the class, the horror. Who in its right mind mangled this beauty into this Frankenstein?

Plugged it in to see if anything was working. This wasn't the case. As I screwed off the pickguard it became clear why. Loose wiring, blown solderings, you name it.
Inside was still an original volumepot with the original knob and the original pickupswitch. Definetly using that one later 8)

Here's the body, an ugly P/J setup dumped inside this body with a DIY pickguard from plywood. The monstrosity. Do note the silly bridgeground...

Screwdriver and I'm on my way! Beauty is unfolding itself

The head has a little crack underneath a tuner. It's underneath a thick layer of lacquer so my best guess it came out of the shop this way and is nothing to worry about

Fretboard is nicely lacquered, eventhough there are some stringbending traces. Will be done again as my wish is to fret it again.

Crack in the binding near the first fret.

Body was stuffed with green foam, for what need? I don't know...

The body was chaved down for a BadAss bridge, the most hidious scar on the whole Ric

Can someone tell me how deep the mutebar cavity is? I need to drill this out again...

This looks nasty, needs some cleaning :mrgreen:

Tunerscrew is missing, needs replacing

A perfect back, no signs of bucklerash or loosening bodywings! By the markings in the case I could fairly guess it has been in it for years...

Neck is straight as an arrow!

Light stringscratches

Daniel?

The extra drilled pickguard wholes. Annoys me, but I have to learn to life with it.

A quick mock-up with bridge and pickups. And yes, there's a wiring harness from an old '73 4001, hail eBay.

About to order the pickguard, knobs and screws. After which it can be assembled again. Fretless. For now, just wanna jam on the Yeasayer basslines. They delivered some fretless GAS

So how am I doing for a 19 year old :twisted:

 

[Jim Campbell]

Hi there,

Quick introduction; My name is Edo, I'm a 19 year old guy from the Netherlands.

Bass is my hobby, I like modding basses just for the fun of it. Like thisInvalid Link Removed and my Invalid Link Removed

Obsessed with the Rickenbacker since I saw Death from Above 1979 with Jesse F. Keeler on its 4001.
I absolutely loved the yellowed white in combination with the black pickguard/hardware. I played one of a fellow dutch forummember and I was blown away. I'm in need of a Ric!

Needless to say, as soon as some money got available I was searching for one. Some dutch bassguitarforummer had a WH BT 4003 for sale, within a week I picked it up and I've never been disapppointed with the bass

Then [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] came by. Shocked by horror and opportunity at the same time I watched the bidding and started bidding in the last 15 minutes. I won. Until the bass arrived I've literally dreamed of restoring it!

So it came in today and I've decided to share the whole process with this forum.

I was psyched, checking the trackingnumber every 15 minutes on my cellphone, I couldn't wait. Today after coming back from working in someone's garden (thank you rain) a truck stopped in front of my house. I knew it was on its way due to my tracking checking mania.

A grumpy little delivery man drops it of making my heart race an unknown pace.

Ripped of the box, and found a shaggy case. Never knew that was in the deal, but obviously it was easier to pack and send this way. I opened up and saw a soft blond glow coming from the MapleGlo. I was starstruck, the beauty, the class, the horror. Who in its right mind mangled this beauty into this Frankenstein?

Plugged it in to see if anything was working. This wasn't the case. As I screwed off the pickguard it became clear why. Loose wiring, blown solderings, you name it.
Inside was still an original volumepot with the original knob and the original pickupswitch. Definetly using that one later 8)

Here's the body, an ugly P/J setup dumped inside this body with a DIY pickguard from plywood. The monstrosity. Do note the silly bridgeground...

Screwdriver and I'm on my way! Beauty is unfolding itself

The head has a little crack underneath a tuner. It's underneath a thick layer of lacquer so my best guess it came out of the shop this way and is nothing to worry about

Fretboard is nicely lacquered, eventhough there are some stringbending traces. Will be done again as my wish is to fret it again.

Crack in the binding near the first fret.

Body was stuffed with green foam, for what need? I don't know...

The body was chaved down for a BadAss bridge, the most hidious scar on the whole Ric

Can someone tell me how deep the mutebar cavity is? I need to drill this out again...

This looks nasty, needs some cleaning :mrgreen:

Tunerscrew is missing, needs replacing

A perfect back, no signs of bucklerash or loosening bodywings! By the markings in the case I could fairly guess it has been in it for years...

Neck is straight as an arrow!

Light stringscratches

Daniel?

The extra drilled pickguard wholes. Annoys me, but I have to learn to life with it.

A quick mock-up with bridge and pickups. And yes, there's a wiring harness from an old '73 4001, hail eBay.

About to order the pickguard, knobs and screws. After which it can be assembled again. Fretless. For now, just wanna jam on the Yeasayer basslines. They delivered some fretless GAS

So how am I doing for a 19 year old :twisted:

at least the parts are there.....best advice.....slow and easy....take the time to do each step right....nineteen means you'll have decades to play this.....

 

[Grainger]

I'm not really rushing it, I'm just psyched to get this thing back the way it was.

Patience is the key, I know

 

[A-Step-Towards]

that looks great , its actually not in that bad of shape , it should turn out awesome.

 

[Grainger]

that looks great , its actually not in that bad of shape , it should turn out awesome.

You're right about that, the only thing that's a bit troublesome is refretting and keeping the binding intact.

That, and the extra screwholes which are hidious.

Apart from that, it's in great shape. Maybe even better than my white '88 4003...

 

[Stealth]

I'd say this is a great chance to fix that bass back to specs - please keep us posted and let us know what parts you'll use to restore it to glory.

 

[Grainger]

Hi Stealth, I will make pictures and a little blog on how I'm working this through.

I've just ordered some parts. Pickguard, both black and white to satisfy my curiousity. With that some genuine Ric knobs. Both the knobs aswell as the pickguards ordered from SoundMeOut in Britain.

I've also ordered screws, for this one as well as for my white '88 4003. These dimensions are impossible to find here in the Netherlands.

So, that's another 100 pounds down the pipe for this baby Thank god for student loans

 

[mobis.fr]

i was thinking about bidding on your rick too...

but instead i bought this one:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Jim Campbell]

You're right about that, the only thing that's a bit troublesome is refretting and keeping the binding intact.

That, and the extra screwholes which are hidious.

Apart from that, it's in great shape. Maybe even better than my white '88 4003...

i'm wondering about that rout near the fingerboard.....is that a potential weak spot on a neck thru design

 

[LGT]

I would just be glad that that B@sterd didn't do any routing. Still sucks though. I hope that you have success with your restoration.

 

[Grainger]

@ Mobis, is that such a tasty BurgundyGlo?

@ Jim, I don't know if it already was there or not. I hope it could eventually support roundwounds. Seller told me it once had roundwounds, that soothes me a little...

Eventhough the neck is very, very thin. Thinnest in my whole array of 10 basses. Not even my Jazzes have these thin necks...

 

[Jim Campbell]

I would just be glad that that B@sterd didn't do any routing. Still sucks though. I hope that you have success with your restoration.

is that the original rout....seems to me the pre pups are farther forward than the original

 

[Grainger]

There are two types of pup locations, one is an inch away from the neck and the other is 1/2 away from the neck.

I'll be going for the 1 inch gap, since my '88 4003 has this and I like the sound.

 

[LGT]

is that the original rout....seems to me the pre pups are farther forward than the original

Oh... crap. well at least the pick guard will cover it up. I don't know what kind of idiot would trash a rick like that.

 

[Grainger]

Oh... crap. well at least the pick guard will cover it up. I don't know what kind of idiot would trash a rick like that.

Well, appareantly; some German guy. Not to be offensive

I actually feel honored to restore this piece of art!

 

[kornsystem69]

i'm wondering about that rout near the fingerboard.....is that a potential weak spot on a neck thru design

it is a weak spot, it's the reason Gibson SG's have problems around the neck joint (even tho the gibson is a mortise and tenon but same idea with very little wood left over after the neck pickup rout) If the pickguard will cover up the rout i would fill rout with a chalk fit block to help provide some support incase the bass ever takes a shot to the neck

 

[Lynwood James]

While this is sorta off topic, I figured I'd chime in. Jesse F. Keeler's '79 white-with-black-binding Ric is the best bass I've ever seen and I would kill to have one like it. Looks perfect. And it sounds so great when it shines through on the recordings (think the Romantic Rights EP).

I'm not that handy restoring basses (though I've soldered a couple) and I'm wondering, are you planning on getting the Ric-O-Sound? One of the coolest things about these basses in my opinion. If I had your confidence in doing work like this, I probably would have bought one of these basses by now. I could definitely get the money together if I really tried. Those double truss rods scare the crap out of me though.

+1 for Yeasayer too. Saw them in concert in late 2008 and the bassist sounded great live, had a really deep sound, thunderous but still defined.

 

[Jim Campbell]

it is a weak spot, it's the reason Gibson SG's have problems around the neck joint (even tho the gibson is a mortise and tenon but same idea with very little wood left over after the neck pickup rout) If the pickguard will cover up the rout i would fill rout with a chalk fit block to help provide some support incase the bass ever takes a shot to the neck

i saw another thread where the luthier went to great pains to fill in and even match up the grain on a rout.....can't recall who but it looked like nice workmanship,and may be worth a look for reference

 

[Grainger]

I'm considering filling the rest of that neck cavity with some wood, glued in sturdy to gain some more strenght. Indeed, in case the neck tends to live a life of its own.

Lynwood, I'm not such a hero myself. This is my first big project, nothing like making another Fendercopy with readymade parts. This involves some deep thinking.

And indeed, the white 4001 JFK plays is breathtaking. Mine is sort of the same. Only it's a 4003 and has black hardware. Jep, that's me in the blue shirt!

When setting up my bass I have no problem with trussrods. And you're not only one that's a bit scared of the dual rods. Gets me freaked out too. The thing is, Rics are pretty delicate when it comes to the trussrods, in my opinion.

Have you ever played a Ric before? If not, do so and start saving money. If you like a good low bass, Rics your choice!

 

[mobis.fr]

@ Mobis, is that such a tasty BurgundyGlo?
...
Eventhough the neck is very, very thin. Thinnest in my whole array of 10 basses. Not even my Jazzes have these thin necks...

yes burgundy. and my neck is also very thin, especially in the upper register

i restrung it today with some labellas 760fl i had lying around. sounds very nice, but it is not much of a singer... but still very nice sounding . you should consider it to leave it a fretless.

but unfotunately i might have to refinish the fretboard. the wood is showing at some areas - but the good thing is, that no roundwound strings were involved. its all normal wear from playing the last 30years with flats.