Here are some better pics of the body. The control cover looks very high in these pics. I laser cut it from 3mm acrylic. Might have to do something about it..... otherwise pleased!
Attachment 15427
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Printable View
Here are some better pics of the body. The control cover looks very high in these pics. I laser cut it from 3mm acrylic. Might have to do something about it..... otherwise pleased!
Attachment 15427
Attachment 15428
Attachment 15429
GOM contender for sure. A beautiful build.
cheers,
Gav.
Looks amazing. I love the contrast between the classic retro lines of the Rick, the natural timber and the ultra modern look of the black hardware/acrylic/pickup covers. You must be stoked that you came back and gave it another crack.
Thank you for the kind words fellas! Yes I'm very happy, and it is really starting to play in as the relief in the neck settles. A few more things to finish off, truss rod cover in black also as a little bit more polishing as well as messing around with the setup. Looking forward to trying it through the Ampeg!
The headstock decal has arrived... marvellous!
Attachment 15574
Very nice decal! Is there enough room on the headstock for that many letters?? Can't wait to see it in place.
cheers,
Gav.
No more letters than 'Rickenbacker', so it should do.
Badge on. Looks ok but could use another coat of clear...
Attachment 15581
Ok at setup stage. Have approx 0.7mm under the first fret when fretted at 3rd for the e and a, but 1mm for d and g. I'm thinking I need to lower just those two, I guess by lowering the slots a little. I'm loathe to remove the nut right now and file down as I think I'll mess up the other two.
Neck relief 0.2mm at 8 and 9 fret.
String heights a little high on the d and g, will need to make a small mod on the bridge to get them lower.
Otherwise plays nice! Has a lovely thin fast neck.
Setup done, at least the first round. Tomorrow night I'll stretch its legs through the Ampeg and see how it rolls.
Headstock decal on now truss rod adjusted
Attachment 15655
Sweet looking headstock. Well done.
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing how it sounds with a band!
It is done! Possibly a small argument to go with the bass side of the 5th fret, but otherwise ready to rock!
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A great save from the bin very nice!
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I lot of work gone into that finish, well done Andy
This thread has inspired me to continue working on my Gold Strat build.
Awesome save, this is now a lovely bass, very well done sir
Look at that shine!
Yep, the RC4 Bass has a real nice shine to it, I have to admit that I have been very impressed with the standard of finishes of the builds of my fellow forum members, they all look awesome.
Hmm, might be time to have another look at this build. I finished this at a kinda funny time, I'd just taken the guitarist position in a band and have been playing guitar not bass continually since. So it really hasn't seen any use, and I had a look at it the other day and noticed that I will have some more work to do.
Things to think about...
Plastic nut too high and too cheap. Ordered a brass one online.
The bridge is too high. Two options here, replace the bridge with something lower or rout the front of the body a couple mm with the corresponding heartache to the finish. The lower bridge option I'm not sure about, a stock precision style one would be a little lower but I don't think I'd like the look. Even that might not be low enough to give the correct range of adjustment.
The headstock stain is a bit iffy, when I scraped off the original finish I didn't sand the headstock clean before staining it and thus shows through.
The truss rod plate finish is marked, I sanded the plate before applying the decal and this shows the scratches through the clear. I have a second decal.
The clear on the front of the guitar has tiny pits in it. Didn't worry me when I finished it as it was so rough I was happy with the save I made, but hanging next to my 93 Stingray it doesn't look right. The back black stained parts are pretty much perfect, I'm confident with some more clear coat and polishing I could make it right.
So, there's a list! The thing I'm most nervous about is the routing, especially as I like the Jarrah stain. Still thinking about these fixes, but might make a start sometime in the next week or two when the nut arrives.
Hi Andy, I have bought 2 of those bridges, a fiver and 4 banger, only to find the saddles at lowest height sit higher than most F styles and reckon that is where a lot of the high action problem is coming from. Not sure I would risk routing as it would need to be very precise to help counter sink the whole bridge base plate which looks to be a couple of mm thick. I am in a similar predicament on my EX-5 and look like re-installing original kit bridge as it has more up & down saddle height adjustment available. Plenty of really, really expensive ones out there that might do the job but not prepared to spend over $100 bucks for minimal gain, if any at all. I have used one of the better quality ones as a replacement on my J Bass and only similar one in black is a Gotoh for $75.
If you are tempted to drop in a Riccy look-a-like Real Parts sells them for $99 but currently out of stock. Couple of recent RC4 builds using that style show that routing is required but with a bigger baseplate many mistakes can be hidden. They only come in silver/chrome.
At the Nut, fret at 2nd and the 3rd frets to see how much gap above string at 1st fret and if more than business card thickness things need to be lowered at the nut end too. Brass is very hard if you need to file or sand it down to lower the action and takes forever which tends to make bone look like the better alternative.
Thanks Waz! Yes you could be right re the saddle heights on this bridge. Looking around I can't see much I like the look of as an alternative though. I think a standard fender one would not look right, even in black. If I did rout out I'd use my plunge router after cutting the edge with a sharp file. You are right, it only needs a couple mm lowering. I have seen a couple of rc4 kits that have needed the bridge lowering. Still thinking about this!
Not too worried about filing down the brass, I have a good bench grinder sander setup which should do the job. Interested if I think might give a nice bright sound.
I have a brass nut in my rosewood fret board tele and definitely much brighter, particularly on open strings.
Not every bass player wants to add the brighter twang that comes with brass fittings and can be a bit hard to dial out if unnecessary or not appropriate for genre being played.
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Agreed, I'm using an SVT rig which has plenty of bottom end. The pickups are also very grungy so it's a bit of an experiment, albeit a cheap one!Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
Did someone say brass? I have brass if anyone needs it 😂
If Brass = Money happy for any donations Frankie!
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Routing a couple mm sounds pretty daunting, but I think it's very doable.
I'm no expert, but here's how I'd tackle it: make a template out of MDF or something similar so you limit the travel of the router within the area you want to cut. I'd also try scoring the edge of the routed area and mask it with painters tape to avoid chipping the finish.
Your bass looks great. I really like the colour of your finish along with the black hardware. Good luck!
No, I meant brass literally....I have a bunch of 2.5” square blocks of brass. potentially many, many brass nut blanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
Well I'll try the one I have on order out, if I like it I know where to go to get some more!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Thanks TRV, that sounds like exactly the way I'll do it! Got to build up some more bravery first! I'm kinda feeling flush after routing the teleblaster headstock, didn't think that would work and it came out ok. I love the idea of the mdf blank to help with controlling the cut.Quote:
Originally Posted by trv
Ok, work has started on this... a brass nut has been fitted, and I have routed the bridge down about 2.5mm and managed to do it without wrecking the finish which was a surprise!
I have also given the front a flow coat of clear to fill the pores too, a successful afternoon!
Attachment 28339
Attachment 28340
Back together, happy with the bridge recess, seems to be the perfect depth.
Happy with the shine too!
Attachment 28352
How did you go with setting up the bridge and intonation?
I have installed same bridge on my EX5 and need to find time to get around to setting it up properly. Always something else happening and never enough time.
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No complaints for the price. The problem is when you get the intonation right the lock screw can move the bridge position as you tighten it. Compensate for that and it is all good when buttoned up. The action is easy to adjust end the whole bridge is nice and heavy as you know.Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
Well I have started using the RCA4 recently as I picked up a gig as a bass player covering for someone. First thing I noticed after a few rehearsals was the tuning machines were hopeless. I guess this is no surprise, the tolerances have to be very small and the metal nice and hard for them not to slip I guess.
So to fix this I ordered a set of Wilkinson 2+2 black machine heads to match. When they arrived I had a big problem... the headstock is way too small to accomodate them! As I couldn't play the guitar as it was I attacked the machine heads with a hacksaw and a file... there is just enough space to get them on if you do this! It ain't pretty, but it is functional. Luckily you don't really notice it as the neck is black too...
The tuning problems have disappeared!
Attachment 28668
Attachment 28669
Not much real estate to work with on those RC4 headstocks.
Good work around. Nobody would have known what was required to make them fit.
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