NBD - 1979 Rickenbacker 4001 - Fixer Upper

[jayceofbass]

I happened to walk into the 12th Fret guitar shop yesterday while I was killing some time before a pickup gig in the the east end of Toronto and was shocked to find a beat down, messed up, rode hard, put away wet, Jetglo, lefty '79 Ric 4001 hanging on the wall, but hidden in a corner. Talking to a buddy who works there, I learned it had been there since December 2013 on consignment! I've been in there a dozen times since then and somehow never saw it. I played it for quite a bit and found the neck was one of the more comfortable Ric necks I've ever laid my hands on and was virtually dead straight. HOWEVER, this bass was definitely owned by an old school punk rocker. Lot's of paint missing, - including on almost half the back - bridge lifting, electronics rattling and semi functional, pickguard cracked into several pieces, tuners sticking and - most importantly - needs new frets. The asking price was $1650 CAD and suffice it to say, I didn't deem it worth that at all. I hung it back up on the wall and headed to my gig. Thinking to myself that I would have to post it in the "Southpaw Spotted" section of the forum for others to see.

This morning I was telling my wife about it over coffee and she asked why I didn't make a low ball offer. I did a double take and asked her if she was serious. It seemed she was. She even suggested that we head over there again today to check it out again. I'm not sure what had come over her. Not only was she suggesting I possibly buy yet another bass but she was offering to go with me across town in heavy snow to investigate further. Not one to look gift horse in the mouth, I headed outside to shovel the car out.

I played it for about another half hour and did a quick rundown of what I would have t do to get it back into "player" shape. Talked to my buddy again and said if he guy would come down to $1000 CAD - and not a penny more - I would take it. Thinking of course that the guy wasn't too serious about selling it and would likely turn it down. I overheard the shop manager talking to the bass's owner on the phone and telling him, "Look dude, it's been here for over a year and this is the first offer you've even got. The guy who wants it knows his shit and it's going to be a project to get it into good shape again. I suggest you take the bird in the hand." Well, that worked. The guy accepted the offer. Now I had to buy it. I had to pay the Ontario sales tax which made the bass a grand total of $1130 CAD. (That's almost exactly $900 USD for you American fellas, or €790 for my European pals.)

Given that the "vintage/collectible" ship has sailed on this particular bass, I think the plan is going to be. New Ric pre-wired wiring harness and output jacks. Probably Joe Barden Ric replacement pickups and a treble bezel. Hipshot Ric replacement bridge and tuners. New pickguard. (Also see if Ric will sell/swap me for a proper lefty neck plate.) And, of course, new frets. If I'm really lucky, it will become a real player bass that will be worth about what I've put into it. Still, I think I got what I paid for. I know it ain't pretty but I likes me some good relic'ing and this bass got it the real way.













By the way...... It turns out my wife wanted some new boots from a boutique not far from the 12th Fret......

[bhunt1]

That's a great score - amazing you found something like that in a local shop. Congrats!

[rdavidson]

Pics of the boots?

[Matt R.]

Man, great score!

[Basshappi]

Great score indeed, congrats!
The wood looks to have a nice grain to it. Since you're going to have it diasembled for all the repairs anyway you could strip it all the way down and turn it into a nice Mapleglo fairly easily.

[jayceofbass]

Pics of the boots?

I'll see what I can do..... she's out at brunch with her friends and wearing them right now.

Further on the bass, I've now completely dismantled it. If I had any reservations about affecting the "original" state of the bass, those are now gone. There was so much caked on, sweaty, nastiness under the pickguard and pickups that there was major corrosion. The wiring looks to be original but, that only counts if it actually works properly. I actually found a cocoon of some sort underneath the tailpiece. Raunchy. I've ordered a pre-wired lefty wiring harness from a reputable seller and a set of Joe Barden R4000 pickups. That should put the electronics into the 21st century. Just researching a proper pickguard now. If anyone has any tips on where I can find one of those let me know.

Bridge and tuners are definitely getting replaced with appropriate Hipshot stuff now. I've also contacted Ric about exchanging the truss rod cover for a lefty one. Not sure how that is done exactly but it's the least of the issues. Also, every single screw, bolt and nut on this thing needs replacing. There were actually four different kinds of screws holding the jackplate on. (All of them corroded.) This is turning into one of those "Bass From The Grave" columns that they do in Bass Guitar magazine. Ha.

I did think about stripping the paint but at the end of the day, I like a good beat down look. Once it's in good playing shape the juxtaposition between great paying/sounding and beat up look will be right up my alley.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.

[rdavidson]

That wear on the back is unbelievable (and awesomely natural looking - what great wear)! I wonder what the person was wearing?! Punk rocker? Maybe it was a ripped sandpaper t-shirt!

[jayceofbass]

That wear on the back is unbelievable (and awesomely natural looking - what great wear)! I wonder what the person was wearing?! Punk rocker? Maybe it was a ripped sandpaper t-shirt!

Believe me, it looks even more natural in person. In the photos it looks like there might have been some sanding or something but that ain't the case. Having disassembled it, I can only imagine that the previous owner played in a lot of sweaty situations - possibly without a shirt on. Lot's of corrosion and what can only be described as - ahem - DNA laden matter. Definitely a belt buckle or some sort of leather jacket buckle involved...

[J-meister]

Really cool find, man! And indeed, right up you (bands) alley!

Is that a righty neck? Looks actually nicely balanced with the body this way around.

Maybe you can strengthen the original pickguard from the back, so it will retain it's sweaty cracks (haha).?
I really like the look of those 'rivers' going through the pickguard.

[AustinLeftyBass]

Wonder why it has a righty TRC.

[jayceofbass]

Wonder why it has a righty TRC.

Best I can figure is: a) He busted the original at some point during a period when Ric wasn't interested in doing anything lefty and this is all he could get from them, or b) he busted the original and just found one in a parts bin somewhere.

[jayceofbass]

Looks like everything is moving faster than expected on this. Barden pickups on the way, new pickguard and treble surround being made at Pickguardian now, Hipshot bridge and tuners on the way, my luthier buddy is picking it up on Wednesday to start the re-fret and the wiring harness - w/push/pull vintage/modern bridge tone - is being built in lefty configuration with standard knob rotation. (The way I like it.) The only fly in the ointment was hearing from Rickenbacker telling me they couldn't help me with a new lefty TRC even if I sent this one in. They will only replace like for like. Ah well, upside down Rickenbacker it is.

[Matt R.]

Looks-wise, I think it's beautiful as is.

[Basshappi]

Wonder why it has a righty TRC.

Rickenbacker used completely right handed necks including the TRC up until the 90's or so, not exactly sure when the went to a true lefthanded neck, but even when they did they still used righthanded fretboards for quite awhile. It is only relatively recently that they offered fully lefthanded necks.

If you look at 4001/3s from the 70's and 80's you will always see righthanded necks and TRCs. This was my main beef with Rickenbacker for a long time.

[AustinLeftyBass]

Wonder why it has a righty TRC.

Rickenbacker used completely right handed necks including the TRC up until the 90's or so, not exactly sure when the went to a true lefthanded neck, but even when they did they still used righthanded fretboards for quite awhile. It is only relatively recently that they offered fully lefthanded necks.

If you look at 4001/3s from the 70's and 80's you will always see righthanded necks and TRCs. This was my main beef with Rickenbacker for a long time.

I'm not referring to the neck, only the TRC. Well aware of the righty neck on lefty basses story, I've got 2 myself, but my '92 CS has a true lefty headstock so switch musta happened early 90s.

For instance:

[jayceofbass]

Wonder why it has a righty TRC.

Rickenbacker used completely right handed necks including the TRC up until the 90's or so, not exactly sure when the went to a true lefthanded neck, but even when they did they still used righthanded fretboards for quite awhile. It is only relatively recently that they offered fully lefthanded necks.

If you look at 4001/3s from the 70's and 80's you will always see righthanded necks and TRCs. This was my main beef with Rickenbacker for a long time.

Really? Are you sure? I previously owned a '77 4001 in Fireglo - with righy neck/headstock - that had a lefty TRC. (See photo - unfortunately the only pic I have of it without me in it) I guess it's possible the owner before me had changed.

[Basshappi]

Yes, the writing is rightside up but the TRC is a right handed TRC, it curves upward.
On a Righthanded ric (of all models) the TRC curves downward. The only exception is righthanded models made to imitate the features of famous lefty players and thus, ironically enough, use lefty necks with lefty TRCs with the writing right-side up.

Jayce, the jetglo Ric you are restoring has a true righthanded TRC, your Fireglo has a "lefthanded" TRC that is a righthanded plate with "lefthanded" logo.

[jayceofbass]

Yeah, that's where I was going with that. I was aware that the shape and curve of the plate was the same as on a right handed model. But, mine actually has the script upside down. That ain't right.... er..... I mean.... proper, for a left handed bass. I wasn't trying to get a left handed "shaped" one. Just - basically - lefty C64 style. I'll just live with it. After a couple of email exchanges it's clear to me that Ric ain't gonna bend on their policy. Which, I understand in a way.

[jayceofbass]

This is starting to get real. The refret on this is done. I should have it back in my hands by next Tuesday. Right now I'm just wiring up the new Joe Barden Pickups into the vintage/modern wiring harness on the new pickguard and pickguardian bridge pickup surround. The Hipshot bridge and tuners are already installed. (Luckily, because the headstock is reversed I was able to use a D-Tuner. Sometimes being a lefty works out.) I'll post pics and - hopefully - sound clips of this thing next week when it's all together. For now here's the new pickguard and stuff. Woot!

[AzWhoFan]

coming along nicely!! I'd be interested in finding out how the JB pups differ from the OEM Ric pups