Unboxing...
Got my RC-4 kit from Pitbull...everything looks great. My first try at building one of these kits...
The things I am going to do to this bass.
Unboxing...
Got my RC-4 kit from Pitbull...everything looks great. My first try at building one of these kits...
The things I am going to do to this bass.
So, years and years ago, I was a proud Rickenbacker 4001 owner.
When I was in college (back in the early days of PCs) I worked at a place that built custom PCs. A friend of mine asked me if I would build him a computer, but he didn't have any money..but he knew I was a bass player and he DID have a bass he would be willing to trade. I had a box of spare parts and knew I could set him up for essentially free, so I said, "sure," sight unseen.
I built the computer, called him up, and he came over to try it out. He was thrilled. He packed the PC out to his car and brought the bass back in a brown hard case. He opened it up to reveal a Fireglo 4001 in perfect condition. "Is this alright? Will this cover it?" he asked.
I would like to say I was quick enough to say something like, "Oh...I don't know...can you throw in a set of strings?" But I wasn't...but I did get an awesome bass for a box full of spare computer parts, that is true.
Sadly, being a dirt poor college student, I ended up losing that bass a couple years later. Yup...pawned it for rent money. It was okay...turned out that while it was cool to own a Ric, there were some subtle things about it that didn't work for me. I loved the sound, but playing it...I would pick it up for a bit and then put it back down for one of my other basses. It just didn't suit me somehow. Over time, tho, I did come to miss it. I love the shape...if only I could get one made to suit my own peculiar tastes...
Well...I guess it turns out you can...
Last edited by geddyfan; 13-03-2017 at 10:27 PM.
Welcome Geddyfan.
Not quite 2112 yet but no need to Rush things (pun intended).
Keen to hear your plans for this build.
Cheers, Waz
Edit: Also had a 4001 before getting married and when 2nd child arrived and money was tight also reluctantly sold the best guitar I had ever owned.
About a year ago had enough spare coin to buy a 2008 Fireglow 4003 and it is even better than the 4001. Love the sound and super low action on these things.
Last edited by wazkelly; 12-03-2017 at 11:31 AM.
# 1 - EX-5 https://goo.gl/fQJMqh
# 2 - EX-1 https://goo.gl/KSY9W9
# 3 - Non PBG Tele https://goo.gl/W14G5g
# 4 - Non PBG J Bass https://goo.gl/FbBaFy
# 5 - TL-1AR GOTM Aug 2017 https://goo.gl/sUh14s
# 6 - MMB-4 Runner-up GOTM Oct 2018https://goo.gl/gvrPkp
# 7 - ES-1 Runner-up GOTM Aug 2018https://goo.gl/T9BEY8
So, there are a few things I want to do differently on my RC-4 build to start...
First...I hate the pick guard. I just do. So I've decided to add a quilted maple drop top.
This will require woodworking skills...haha
I also would like to contour the body to get rid of some of the sharp edges and make it more comfortable to play.
Actually...I've already started:
First thing first...to accommodate the 1/4" thick AAAA quilted maple top I bought for this, I needed to plane the whole body down by 1/4". Yee-ha! Never used a power hand planer before...This also got rid of the binding, which I used as a guide...
Then I did the tummy cut with a grinder...I watched a Youtube video on how to do this...I got just a little carried away towards the bottom, but I think it will be okay as I keep working it:
I also did a forearm contour:
And finally...I did the rear rout for the control cavity...free-hand...first time I ever used a router. Needs some clean-up, but not bad:
So much for day one of the project...
Mods looking good so far. Good thing that basswood is soft and easy to shape. Curious to know how the 1/4 inch quilt will cover the forearm sculpting?
Last edited by wazkelly; 12-03-2017 at 02:56 PM.
# 1 - EX-5 https://goo.gl/fQJMqh
# 2 - EX-1 https://goo.gl/KSY9W9
# 3 - Non PBG Tele https://goo.gl/W14G5g
# 4 - Non PBG J Bass https://goo.gl/FbBaFy
# 5 - TL-1AR GOTM Aug 2017 https://goo.gl/sUh14s
# 6 - MMB-4 Runner-up GOTM Oct 2018https://goo.gl/gvrPkp
# 7 - ES-1 Runner-up GOTM Aug 2018https://goo.gl/T9BEY8
All looks good so far. I presume that you are upgrading the pickups. If so, then I'd rout the bridge pickup out a bit as the PBG routing is for a slightly smaller non-standard JB pickup. It's the rout in the maple top that you'll see, so that's the one that needs to be the most accurate. You can give yourself a little (Geddy) leeway here by making the cavity underneath a little bigger.
That 1/4" maple top is probably going to need some pre-bending to make it fit the curve, so you're going to need some heat or steam to help you do that, plus a suitable former.
Well, the easiest looking suggestion I've seen is to make kerf cuts in the back of the cap with a router so it will bend easier...like this (below). This is what I'm going to try.Originally Posted by wazkelly
The thing that really sucks is that in order to do this and have nothing show, I have to set the neck first and work around it. So much for using a vacuum bag to glue the top down, and cleaning up the excess around the edges is going to be tricky. And then, of course, the neck will also make it tricky to do the new rout for the neck pickup, but I have a plan...
Last edited by geddyfan; 12-03-2017 at 11:47 PM.
As far as pickups go...well...I'm going to break from anything even remotely traditional and put Music Man-style bass pickups in. I have this sick part of me that wants to do a triple-pickup setup for true aggressive obnoxiousness, but cooler heads (my friends who play) are trying to talk me out of it..."Why three pickups?" They ask...
Because I can
Lots of scope for custom wiring with those. Probably wise to stick to two pickups, there's still loads of sonic variations on offer.
Yeah...I know I'm opening up a can of worms...but I like worms...
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