The Rickenbarner - my first fully scratch-build!

[RaniBrandt]

I'm doing this build for the TDPRI build challenge, but I thought I'd put it here, too, for those of you who don't forum-hop. I've done a few builds now, but this will be the first one in which I'm building the neck from scratch. On top of that, this will be a neck-through, which I'm a little nervous about, but it's a build I've been wanting to do for a while. I had originally planned to do an all-white Snowglo-type thing, but I was inspired by the new 4003Ws and the chestnut haul I got from my dad, so I switched up the plans a bit. I've actually had most of the hardware sitting in a box for over a year now. Hopefully the wait will be worth it!

Okay, on to the build itself. Let's start with some wood shots:

From left, the first four pieces are reclaimed wormy chestnut from a 100+year old barn in Arkansas. This is the same wood as the Mustang bass I built last year. These pieces will make up the body wings.

The next two boards are hard rock maple and black walnut, which will make the neck. The last one is more maple for the fingerboard. I've also got some walnut dowels on the way for the fret markers.

A closer look at the neck woods, showing the natural "chambering" of the body wood.

Another view of the neck boards.

The tracing I'll be using for the body.

And this is what I hope it will look like in the end!

 

[cesar89]

Hope you can nail that build! ill be following you.

 

[goodkingzog]

Definitely subbed!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Schweeeeet! Doing the same thing over here:
The Hossenfeffer Bass Build | TalkBass.com
You'll be able to ding yours without the pathetic whimpering I'm likely to engage in the first time I whack mine. Are you using stock bridge and pups per the photoshop mockup?

 

[mapleglo]

I love me some Ric builds. Sub'd!

 

[RaniBrandt]

I've got an OEM stock bridge, Classic Amplification bridge pickup, Kent Armstrong toaster pickup, and Grover tuners. I'm going to wire it up with just a mono jack.

 

[mellowinman]

I can't wait to see this.

 

[RaniBrandt]

Schweeeeet! Doing the same thing over here:
The Hossenfeffer Bass Build | TalkBass.com
You'll be able to ding yours without the pathetic whimpering I'm likely to engage in the first time I whack mine. Are you using stock bridge and pups per the photoshop mockup?

Oh, and thanks for the link! I'll be referring to your build for reference, for sure!

 

[Robert Canfield]

Oh, and thanks for the link! I'll be referring to your build for reference, for sure!

If you want your Ric built to factory specs, Gil is your man. Also, check out Mapleglo's thread: Leafenbacker | TalkBass.com

 

[RaniBrandt]

Yeah, I've seen and enjoyed both of them. I just didn't remember some of the helpful tips in there, now that I'm going back over them. I'm also watching Mapleglo's current 4001 Mashup thread.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Mapleglo is my hero! The Leafenbacker is a work of art. If I make it through this one alive, I'm gonna try a 4003w for my son, might as well now that I have all the templates. Haven't been able to touch mine in two months due to various annoying commitments. Building a Ric clone is your opportunity to fix all the inherent flaws.

 

[daveman50]

...Building a Ric clone is your opportunity to fix all the inherent flaws.

Like crooked pickups?
but seriously,folks.... The only real flaw in the design, IMO, is the bridge assembly, and the Hipshot "replacement" is not so great either.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The huge neck pup route is a dreadful design flaw, seriously weakens the whole through-neck assembly, and there is no reason for it. After 40 years of doing this, they finally fixed it (or so I've read) on the new 4003s. There's a whole thread going on wherein I blather on and pontificate on this subject, as it is my pet-peeve with Rics. No need for Ron to ape that particular detail!
Ric 5 - Looked for a long time, finally found one | Page 3 | TalkBass.com

 

[Ryan Holmes]

Gonna keep my eye on this lol

Decided to take the challenge of building a bass myself should be funny to see what comes out of it apart from me almost killing myself from the stress

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Gonna keep my eye on this lol

Decided to take the challenge of building a bass myself should be funny to see what comes out of it apart from me almost killing myself from the stress

Ha! Another lamb to the Slaughter.....

 

[Ryan Holmes]

Ha! Another lamb to the Slaughter.....

haha you're right there gonna take my time and read a lot... an awful lot... haha got my plans done already, just waiting to order the wood on my payday lol and then main build will be started

 

[RaniBrandt]

Just a warning that this build will be a bit slow going at first, but once June is over I should be able to be in the garage for longer stretches. In the meantime, here is a photo of most of the goodies:

Clockwise from left:

1. The pickguard is Allparts, IIRC.
2. You'll notice a single jackplate, as I intend to make this a Mono-only bass. I've had Rics in the past and never really bothered with the stereo option, anyway.
3. Various screws.
4. Five-screw RIC bridge, to which I might add the late-80s extra two screws, to avoid the dreaded tail lift.
5. Fender medium fret wire.
6. Grover tuners.
7. Kent Armstrong toaster pickup.
8. White plastic nut. However, I have some marbled brown/cream buffalo horn blanks on the way, so one of those might replace this.
9. RIC bridge pickup assembly.
10. Classic Amplification bridge pickup.
11. White control knobs. I also have some black ones (not shown). I won't know which I like best until the mockup stage, I guess.
12. RIC wiring harness. Second jack to be removed. Again, black or white switch knob TBD.

Not pictured (because I forgot to throw them in the shot):
1. Two dual-action truss rods from Best Bass Gear.
2. Walnut dowels from a model boat shop called Ages of Sail.
3. The truss rod cover, which doesn't exist yet, as I will have to fashion it myself.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that cheers, jeers, comments, and suggestions are all welcome!

That's it for now!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Looks like you have this well in hand! Only one comment, why the two trussrods? I always thought that was overkill for a 4 string bass, but maybe it really does combat neck twist. I ended up using one double action TR and two CF rods thinking it would allow for a thinner neck, but it doesn't really. The amount of wood left below the trussrod seems to be the limiting factor. I've never seen an engineering comparison between the two, but Ric is the only manufacturer I can think of who uses 2 for a four string.

Were you able to get the bridge pup trim ring as a separate item? I wanted to use classic amplification pups, but at the time Ric was only selling bridge pup and trim ring as a complete assembly, so I went for that.

A TBer named Aceonbass makes clear blank Ric TRC's for backpainting your own logo. I bought one off him, nicely made.

 

[xaxxat]

Love the TDPRI builds. I steal everything I can from the guys over there.

 

[RaniBrandt]

Looks like you have this well in hand! Only one comment, why the two trussrods? I always thought that was overkill for a 4 string bass, but maybe it really does combat neck twist. I ended up using one double action TR and two CF rods thinking it would allow for a thinner neck, but it doesn't really. The amount of wood left below the trussrod seems to be the limiting factor. I've never seen an engineering comparison between the two, but Ric is the only manufacturer I can think of who uses 2 for a four string.

Were you able to get the bridge pup trim ring as a separate item? I wanted to use classic amplification pups, but at the time Ric was only selling bridge pup and trim ring as a complete assembly, so I went for that.

A TBer named Aceonbass makes clear blank Ric TRC's for backpainting your own logo. I bought one off him, nicely made.

Mostly I got two truss rods, because they do two. However, I'm not married to it yet. I used to have a Univox Rickenfaker that only had one, and it had held up for over thirty years with one truss rod and no CF rods as far as I know. As for neck thickness, I'm thinking of going against the norm and doing a soft-V profile (my favorite), so that may make the neck thickness less of a problem, especially if I only use one truss rod.

I got the treble pickup ring at Pick of the Ricks back in 2013 (I told you this build has been brewing for a while!), but it seems that the assembly without the pickup itself is no longer available there or anywhere, besides eBay. Good thing I jumped on it when I did!

Good to know about the TRC, although I'll probably pick up a sheet of lexan and do it myself.

Thanks Gilmourisgod, for all the help! I hope my build looks as nice as yours in a couple of months!