Newbie taking on the RCA-4 challenge

Hi Guys,

I have been watching the posts and getting inspiration from this forum while waiting for my kit to arrive.
When I ordered it end of August, I thought the backorder would be fine since i'm not in a hurry (which I think is the right mindset looking at other builds, it will just take however long it takes) but i'm now hitching to get started. I really hope the extra wait for the Ash body will be worth it.

I'm generally not good at building stuff and never really worked with wood, so this could get very interesting. Just hoping I won't make too much of a mess out of it, and really looking forward to learn heaps in the process. Patience and proper research would be key here, along with some support from this group:D

So, RCA, Rick looking bass. Finish-wise I've just ordered the Wudtone Surfer Girl, which i find stunning with silver accents. Big change from all my purchased basses which have always been black or dark tinted but I want this one to be a fun and bubbly thing - so that tint would work perfectly. Not sure about how to go about it but I would like to incorporate some glitter (yes, really!:cool:) into the binding - we'll see about that. Apart from that, being a first build, I think keeping it simple and stock standard is probably wise, and I can attempt get fancy on future builds.

More to come when the kit arrives!
In the meantime, i'm off to practicing my sanding....

Cheers!

Welcome Julo.

As a bit of noob myself, the best advice I have seen is:
Slowly slowy, stop, look and think about it.

When you are at a crossroads - ask. The guys here are very helpful and will take the time to help you get it done and get it right.
(Sometimes I think they can be too helpful :) )

I'll leave it to one of the gurus to talk about sanding...

Most of all, have fun with it.

Welcome Julo and good to see another RC coming together. Can't wait for it. As Rabbitz said - take your time and ask. I hadn't done any woodwork since age of 15 ( 24 years ago) and I managed to get a nice piece of my RC-4 with the help of everyone here.

Good luck with your build!

Welcome along Julozoy great start in terms of starting a build diary and an RC bass. Still to get to mine :).

Main recommendations are:
* Take your time - rushed builds can end in tears. If you get the sense that something's not right - take photos - put it on the forum, have a cup of something - generally someone helpful will be along pretty quick;
* Do a mock build as soon as you get the kit - while the QA / QC is generally pretty good, there have been the odd occasions that a tuner has been missed out, etc. Last thing you want is to get to putting everything together and find you're short a tuner...;
* And as Rabbitz has said - ask questions - another thing that can save a lot of heartache...
If you haven't read it yet, the how to guide (http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1895) is essential reading!
Brendan

welcome Julo, enjoy the build and lots of help here

Welcome Julozoy! Which part of Epping are you in? I used to live over on the Carlingford side, and I had relatives who lived on the Eastern side of the railway when I was growing up. Now I'm just up the road in Thornleigh.

Hope you enjoy the ride!

welcome Julozoy, great kit the RC's and I think it's worth waiting for the ash version.
As others have said start a build diary and do a mock build and ask lots of questions. The forum is here to help you get the best build possible

Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice. Definitely will take my time and start with a mock build, check and double check everything is right, etc... while having fun with it.
I can see that the new stock has arrived now, so just a matter of days...

@Fretworn, I'm on the Carlingford side, close to Midson.

Alright, the Kit is here! Took a bit to arrive as Australia Post for some reason felt that it should visit Brisbane after a brief stint in Sydney before coming back... Anyway.

So, following the advice on the forum I thoroughly checked it and all looks good. All parts are here and appear correct, no glue spots or other nasties. I was concerned about what looks like a machining / screw mark on the front but then realised and 1- it would be covered by the bridge and 2- all other pictures I have see have the same, even on PB's website so it probably is normal.

I did a quick mock putting all parts roughly where they are supposed to be. Looks exciting. Love the wood grain, particularly on the to part which luckily won't be covered by the pick guard.

I do have one concern / question with the neck. Is it supposed to be pushed back all the way into the cavity? It fits quite nicely but the the start of the fretboard appears to be too low and the pickup / pick guard don't seem to fit properly if setup this way. Looking at other builds of the same model though, the last fret seem to be in line with the top part of the body (per the last picture) which would suggest that the neck is not pushed all the way but it doesn't seem quite right.
Is this normal? if so should the neck be all the way in (per pic 2) or pushed up a bit (per pic 4). Sorry if it is a silly question - I did say I was a total newb :o - but if someone could share their views that would be a great help!

Cheers,
Jul

Glad your kit arrived! I think one way you could check the neck position is by measuring from the nut to the 12th fret, and then to the bridge. The 12th fret should be the halfway point.

Hi, i am building the same bass at the moment, i have set the neck right into the cavity to give it more stability, the scratch plate can be trimmed /shaped to fit around the neck.
Paul

Hi, julo, glad to see another rca-4 in the forum, im building another ash kit and noticed this neck thing too.

I will pushed up a bit (pic 4) as you will see on the original RBs bass. Then i will refill the cavities for give a little more stability to the joint neck-body.

i'll be waiting for your work..
S!

As Swanny said check the scale length. You can use the stewmac fret position calculator to work out exactly the distance between the nut and the bridge. If you take a look at the other finished RC-4s here you can see that the right hand side of the neck meets the top of the body below the last fret rather than on it.

cheers,
Gav.

Let me show you the differents types of neck setting i've been find online. Taking reference a real RC-4 below from Paul, if you please and let me use as example of course..;)) and then real Ricks around.

Attachment 7477

Depending the type of bridge you want to install, scale measure, use or not the stock pickguard, and the feel you want to achieve (the more you pushed down to the bridge, the more stability unless you glue some reinforcement around the tenon) I personally like it a little pushed up to the headstock but always keep the eye between 20 fret and 21.

S!

Hi guys!
Thanks very much for the replies and insight. Good to see that 1) this is the case with other kits and not a defect in mine and 2) there are options based on personal preference and feel as long as the bridge is positioned correctly (thanks for the fret position calculator tip, I had no idea).

Sansa, i think i'll push it up a bit and not go all the way and then see about reinforcements. I have a long way before i get there anyway, as my kit was back in its packaging due to moving house and not having space for it. Now that i am settled i'm hopping to get into it this weekend.

Thanks again

Jul

From Sansan's pics the only authentic Ric is the Jetglo in the bottom right corner. Suggest searching for more images and it doesn't take long to pick the real deal from all the fakes. Here are some more photos to look at.
Attachment 7575Attachment 7576Attachment 7577Attachment 7578Attachment 7579
The Blue burst is a fake as the fretboard is too dark, the pickup cover too square, and neck pickup looks nothing like it should, bridge is all wrong, mono output socket, and if you look harder you will find many other indicators too.

HI, I took the pictures from authentic rickenbacker basses restorations, at least the two bare wood basses are reals, im not a expert in the RB different models, but at this time, i've noticed that theres no two are alike..

Ric's have a neck that runs the full length of the body with wings glued on. This is easiest to see when looking at the back of a mapleglo version or this fireglo.
Attachment 7583Attachment 7584Attachment 7585
That being said, most examples do seem to have some variation in where the frets line up with the body and best to measure nut to 12th fret and then same to bridge should be the same length. Official Ric website has scale at 84.5cm or 33.25" whereas Fender P & J long scale is 34".
Probably more important to get the scale length right rather than how the frets line up with the body otherwise it will be a nightmare to intonate and higher notes will be out of tune.

Thats correct waz... Most rick basses has 33.25'' scale and pB bass has 33.85'' (almost 20mm more) so taking reference of the bridge position based on pics could be nuts.
Taking the correct scale measure first, and then looking preferences could be the best option as i always try to replicate things as good as possible given that what the kit offers to us.

Good luck Sansan.

Yeah as another newbie I have just got my RCA - 4 kit.
There is another thing I am new to as well which is these kind of websites!
Same issue with where the neck sits in the socket in the body. If I put the neck right down in the socket the pick guard and pick up don't fit as they are. I don't really want to start hacking the pick guard so what I am thinking of doing is setting the neck to suit the pick guard and pickup and then cutting some wood packing pieces and gluing them in place around the heel of the neck - therefore filling the gaps. This is a bit like one solution I have seen somewhere on the community where a filler had been used.
I know that with "real" Rics the neck extends through the body so there will be a lot of rigidity from that and I am hoping that by using wood blocking pieces I can go some way to building mass and rigidity at where the neck joins the body.
I measured the distance from the back of the nut to the crown of the 12th fret and on my RCA it's 17 inches dead so that's going to give me a scale length of 34 inches (2 x 17) and I will obviously position the bridge to suit. I am going to stay with the Pit Bull bridge - if things go well I can always change it later.
Apart from that I am going to get a shielding kit from Allparts and still making my mind up about colour.
Cheers
Dave

Good to know it measures up to a standard 34" scale and still leaves room for positioning the bridge.