al heeley Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Been itching to have another go at a Ric bass. Now here's the excuse i need - this is for Owen, our singer's son. He's called Baker (gedditt?!) It will be a natural blonde maple with white binding, rosewood fretboard. Initial plans: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Really pleased to have managed to find a Ric bridge in the UK at a good price. Here's the little trick with the inlay dots where you drill into a block of sycamore in this case, using a 7mm brass tube then cut little scetions off the end with a hacksaw to get brass/wood inlay dots for the fretboard. Also managed to get a Seymour Duncan ric-replacement bridge pickup and a Kent Armstring ric bass neck toaster for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Got me some wood http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/wood.jpg Found a very nice straight grained and beautifully blonde maple for the cap, and European walnut with a nice grain for the body. The neck is a Maple/Cherry/Maple sandwich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Here's the inevitable early mock-up shot. Note: Body wings are laminated but not trimmed to correct size yet, which is why the lower one looks so big and the bass looks off-centred. CF rods set into the neck, next the neck will be routed for the truss rod. Once that is fixed we can start cutting out all the wood on the underside and shaping the neck. Neck pup is Kent Armstrong Toaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Here the truss rod channel has been routed and the truss rod loose-fitted. Neck marked up ready for the start of shaping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaiger Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Great stuff! I love it! I'm in the early stages of building a 5 string Ricki shape. Any tips you can give? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Oooh, dig it! The colors of the woods are quite nice to look at. I was thinking about trying the dot trick that you did, thinking of places to get thin pipe last night, actually. Isn't 7mm diameter a bit large for side dots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 not side dots - these are the fretboard markers! More work on the body wings. Cut to shape and sanded smooth, ready for roting the channel for the binding. Maple and walnut go nicely together. Here's the top edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Here's the two body wings cut to final size and sanded. Next the edge channel will be routed for the binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Face dots... that would explain it Must've been a wee bit sleepy. I agree about maple and walnut, the two are so beautiful together! I hope I find a good shade of mahogany to go with it, when I finally get around to picking out a body blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Fretboard WIP - nice piece of stripey rosewood from David Dyke. Brass/wood plug inserts need sanding flush. then its fret slot cutting time. Oh joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Fretboard WIP - nice piece of stripey rosewood from David Dyke. Brass/wood plug inserts need sanding flush. then its fret slot cutting time. Oh joy. I like the look of the marker dots on the fret board. Classic. I think I need to do that for my next build...mind if I copy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 ah no! stop! its not a ric without a high gloss bubububinga fingerboard!!!! seriously looks nice tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Go for it Chuck - it was an idea leant to me. Sadly the standard rics out of the factory these days are now rosewood fretboards, they've abandoned bubinga, which i think was one of the hallmrks of the rics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Binding on the body Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Started work on carving the neck profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Some more shaping on the neck and headstock. [Rolf]Can you tell what it is yet?[/Rolf] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcissism Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Wow, this is turning out pretty sweet! I'm sure any ric owner would enjoy owing this! Especially since there's a chance of preventing the neck dive, and a better chance at proper intonation which rics are notorious for! I really want to see this when its finished! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted February 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Neck shaping is just about done, fretboard is glued on and the upper body wing is being epoxied to the core section at the moment. While that is curing I'm making a small template from a piece of MDF, for routing the under-bridge cavity into the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Looks great so far. What scale length is this build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Looks great so far. What scale length is this build? I thiiiiink 33" ?? I think I'll let Al field this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Standard Ric 4001/3 scale length is 33.25", = 845mm Trust them to be quirky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I'm quite excited. Wings are glued on to the core now and planed level. Here's a pic showing the walnut back. Starting to look like a bass now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Standard Ric 4001/3 scale length is 33.25", = 845mm Trust them to be quirky very cool you are keeping this to actual scale length - I think that scale length has a big part of the Rickenbacker sound. I love that "chris squire/geddy lee" sound from the 70's. can't wait to see this one (and hopefully hear it too)- keep up the good work. Has anyone ever noticed in the Melvyn Hiscock book he has the scale length listed for a ricky 4001 as 32 1/2" (i have second edition- perhaps this has been updated), that threw me for a while before rickenbacker posted their scale length- I thought perhaps the re-issues were just made with existing factory machining set ups- rather than going back to "true" scale length if Hiscock's book was correct (I figured a second edition would have had errors like that corrected)- curious- if anyone has the new Hiscock edition- scale lengths are shown in chapter 3- if it still has 32.5 I might just try to contact Hiscock to let him know. (**** retentive information seeker that I am- always hoping to have my facts straight when it comes to talking guitars with people). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 it has the fretting table on page 204 listed as rickenbacker and that is 32.5", and it says it on page 15 as you say. since the book is about making your own guitar design rather than exact copies i think melvyn can be forgiven if the info is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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