Ricky Build

[Steve Cooke]

A little more about the hardware - These tuners are from StewMac and are the same as a certain brand that starts with a "G" that I've ordered before [for more $] - just without the name stamped. Very nice for the price, and works with my budget / generic parts theme.

Flush mount mono jack and chrome dome knobs for the jazz wiring.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Try them on for size before drilling. I tried to use standard Fender style cloverleafs on my Ric builds, and they looked kinda Jug-Eared. The Ric labeled Schallers (which I bit the bullet on) have a shorter tuner ear shaft than Fender style that looks right proportionally, but they are $90! The Hipshot HB-5’s are the short shaft too..... or tell me to shut up and use what you already have!
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[Steve Cooke]

Try them on for size before drilling. I tried to use standard Fender style cloverleafs on my Ric builds, and they looked kinda Jug-Eared. The Ric labeled Schallers (which I bit the bullet on) have a shorter tuner ear shaft than Fender style that looks right proportionally, but they are $90! The Hipshot HB-5’s are the short shaft too..... or tell me to shut up and use what you already have!
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That's a really good point - i didn't realize shaft lengths were different. I'll do a mock up of the ones i have and post a pic for opinions. The peg holes were already drilled at the factory, so this will be interesting..

 

[Gilmourisgod]

All the Aliexpress Chickenbackers have standard Fender sized cloverleafs, that's pretty much what they are going to look like, but try it out in person. I actually bought the same Stewmac tuners and tried them out and was kinda... meh, but that doesn't mean they won't look fine on your bass. My OCD on my builds definitely cost me some money I probabaly didn't need to spend.

US $363.0 |Rickenback custom 4003 fireglo 4 strings bass guitar black ricken bass double output injacks mono & stereo|Guitar| | - AliExpress

 

[Steve Cooke]

All the Aliexpress Chickenbackers have standard Fender sized cloverleafs, that's pretty much what they are going to look like, but try it out in person. I actually bought the same Stewmac tuners and tried them out and was kinda... meh, but that doesn't mean they won't look fine on your bass. My OCD on my builds definitely cost me some money I probabaly didn't need to spend.

US $363.0 |Rickenback custom 4003 fireglo 4 strings bass guitar black ricken bass double output injacks mono & stereo|Guitar| | - AliExpress

Yep i see what you mean after i looked up your pics again. These are pretty big stick way out there... And the streamline look to me does look better. Probably stick with them for budget purposes, but at least they are funny to look at! But this exactly what i need - ideas + advice about things that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Those actually look pretty good! The tuner shaft holes are in a little farther than a stock Ric, so you don't have the ears hanging way out from the headstock. I slavishly copied Ric tuner spacing on the HF II, and you can see they are right on the edge of the headstock. Never mind, those look great as-is, and didn't cost $90. Win!

 

[Steve Cooke]

Those actually look pretty good! The tuner shaft holes are in a little farther than a stock Ric, so you don't have the ears hanging way out from the headstock. I slavishly copied Ric tuner spacing on the HF II, and you can see they are right on the edge of the headstock. Never mind, those look great as-is, and didn't cost $90. Win!

View attachment 3750691

OK i see the difference now. Yeah i'll stick with these but good looking out! PS: i cant get over how nice your volute looks, and the way the headstock binding tapers back into the neck is sick. Inspiring...

 

[Steve Cooke]

Got the cavity pretty much done. I bought a 3 pc template set for this. I tried other ways on other projects, but the 3 pc matched set really makes it easy.

Note the wood filler towards the bottom. The router got away pretty good right there and had to fill it in and re-route it... Will be covered up with conductive paint.

 

[Steve Cooke]

So i'm probably going to try the cheap-o toaster pickups first, but i'm thinking about potting them first because another set im using on another project are microphonic. Assuming i don't overcook them, any opinions on potting to prevent microphonics, or better to not mess with them unless a problem develops?

 

[Steve Cooke]

Still dialing in a few things like neck relief and saddle + pickup height, but its mostly done. As always i could have spent more time and gotten it better, and its far from perfect, but i'm OK with it.

Of course i was hoping for that moment when you first plug it in and it sounds just like you hoped in all of your wildest dreams - that amazing sound you only hear a couple times in your life, but keep chasing endlessly....But instead it was a just....OK. After a complete rewire of the harness, 2 different sets of pickups, and 3 sets of strings, hours of fiddling with all of my cheap crap pedals its sounding good. I don't claim it sounds just like a Rick [how could it?] but it has a nice almost too trebly sound and a nice growl when digging in. Works for me...

 

[Dark Horse]

Nice work Steve !!! Turned out great !

 

[ctmullins]

Nicely executed! And that pickup design lends itself to experimentation rather well. How does it sound unplugged?

 

[Steve Cooke]

Nicely executed! And that pickup design lends itself to experimentation rather well. How does it sound unplugged?

Thanks! Unplugged sounds good and bright. Strings are new elixir nickles. Its funny when i first turn on my headphone practice set up, it sounds good. Like - Yup, there it is... The more i play the more it sounds like im missing something. Like some certain essential frequencies are going away. Not kidding its probably be my hearing...
But aside from my never ending search for "that" sound on a budget, the bass seems to sound good. I will probably need to put up a pic of the wiring to see if i did it right. Maybe i have something out of phaze or something. Like i mentioned , i'm way behind on pickups + wiring.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Jumpin' Jehosephat, that looks badass! I really dig the "accidental" cutout behind the bridge. If you hadn't mentioned it was an inspired fix, I'd like it just as much. The Grover tuners look great, the shaft length is just right. I've seen people put Fender tuners on their Ric builds, and it looks just plain Jug-Eared Wrong.

I'm a Tonewood Agnostic, so I think a lot of the Ric tone resides in those Hi-Gain single coil pups. The tradeoff is hum, of course, but put a set of them on almost anything, and it's going to sound a lot like a Ric. Live with it for a while, I'm guessing you won't bother to mess with the pups again, but some Hi-Gains or the drop-in replacements by Classic Amplification would get that sounding more or less exactly like a typical Ric.

Like the rest of us, you see every microscopic flaw on your own build, but we dont! That came out REALLY good, be proud of it. Hell, I'd wrassle ya for it.

 

[Steve Cooke]

Jumpin' Jehosephat, that looks badass! I really dig the "accidental" cutout behind the bridge. If you hadn't mentioned it was an inspired fix, I'd like it just as much. The Grover tuners look great, the shaft length is just right. I've seen people put Fender tuners on their Ric builds, and it looks just plain Jug-Eared Wrong.

I'm a Tonewood Agnostic, so I think a lot of the Ric tone resides in those Hi-Gain single coil pups. The tradeoff is hum, of course, but put a set of them on almost anything, and it's going to sound a lot like a Ric. Live with it for a while, I'm guessing you won't bother to mess with the pups again, but some Hi-Gains or the drop-in replacements by Classic Amplification would get that sounding more or less exactly like a typical Ric.

Like the rest of us, you see every microscopic flaw on your own build, but we dont! That came out REALLY good, be proud of it. Hell, I'd wrassle ya for it.

LOL thanks man - and thanks for yours and everyone's encouragement and kind words!

 

[Beej]

Stunning outcome! Really nice work. I hear you on the "meh" feeling, it happens every now and then. Have you tried raising the pickups closer to the strings?

 

[Steve Cooke]

Stunning outcome! Really nice work. I hear you on the "meh" feeling, it happens every now and then. Have you tried raising the pickups closer to the strings?

Thanks! I tried raising and lowering. I feel like they are pretty "hot" and sound better when they are on the lower side. Like when they are high they almost clip or something that i cant describe. Lowering the volumes helped but i thought maybe i was missing brightness in the tone.

I ended up using 500k pots only because i had them, and these are humbuckers but not wired for humbucking [if said that right] so i am beginning to wonder if im mixing parts that i shouldn't...

 

[ctmullins]

The “500kOhm for humbuckers, 250kOhm for single coils” rule is a generalization, and one that I feel has done more harm than good.

It should be stated “500kOhm for more treble”. That’s it. That’s all you need to pay attention to.

 

[Steve Cooke]

The “500kOhm for humbuckers, 250kOhm for single coils” rule is a generalization, and one that I feel has done more harm than good.

It should be stated “500kOhm for more treble”. That’s it. That’s all you need to pay attention to.

Thats cool - and makes more sense when put that way. I guess for what i'm trying to do 500kOhm is the better choice because I'd rather dial treble back than not have enough.