RickenfaKer 1974 Ibanez

[tino]

Ive been trying to pass this bugger off for a long long long long time,its a great bass BUT....its boring looking as hell...
Reason YEP just 1.I hate the lack of colour it just looks so bleedin drab
Im thinking a 3Cburst might look pretty cool with matching headstock,with a tortoise shell guard,maybe a defrett tooo
maybe even change out the pups,the neck pups pretty cool but t'other is just so so....any ideas...?????

[Clarky]

Any pics of the bass, Tony, so We can all chime in with suggestions?

[tino]

[quote name='Clarky' post='960247' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:02 AM']Any pics of the bass, Tony, so We can all chime in with suggestions?[/quote]
Yep Sorry

here it is in all its drabnessiness

FEEL FREE TO BE RADICAL

Dan had his eye on your jazz and had his P gone on ebay was about to make you a very sensible offer but allas hes stuck with it,hopefully his Heritage will go and we will be in touch...

[Clarky]

I have always liked the sunburst ('fireglo') finish best on Ricks - that maple is a bit bland looking, agreed. But a re- fin will be pretty pricey compared to the value of the bass - Sims would charge about £400. Why not flog it for what you can get ( or trade) and get a bass you want? Probably end up costing you less in the long run

Edited September 18, 2010 by Clarky

[tino]

[quote name='Clarky' post='960274' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:26 AM']I have always liked the sunburst ('fireglo') finish best on Ricks - that maple is a bit bland looking, agreed. But a re- fin will be pretty pricey compared to the value of the bass - Sims would charge about £400. Why not flog it for what you can get ( or trade) and get a bass you want? Probably end up costing you less in the long run[/quote]
I am OK with the bass itself ....just looks so drab....the refin I would do myself other than the defret....just wondering how far I could go obtaining used parts from here & there.....so really looking for ideas

[Mr. Foxen]

Bit fo a rare and interesting item, I'd rather you didn't mess with it, because I want it. I'll swap/part ex for my stripped one, which needs a refinish anyway.

[Clarky]

[quote name='tino' post='960282' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:36 AM']I am OK with the bass itself ....just looks so drab....the refin I would do myself other than the defret....just wondering how far I could go obtaining used parts from here & there.....so really looking for ideas [/quote]
In which case I would just do a 'fireglo' re-fin. The classiest finish for a 4000 series IMHO. I wouldn't change the pick guard or defret.

[4-string-thing]

Give it to Wayne for a couple of weeks and see how it comes back?

[Mr. Foxen]

Making it look like a real Rickenbacker is even more boring. I reckon you can carefully just strip the front, and then stain it teal or something, then refinish over that, because the binding gives a suitable border.

[umph]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='960286' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:39 AM']Bit fo a rare and interesting item, I'd rather you didn't mess with it, because I want it. I'll swap/part ex for my stripped one, which needs a refinish anyway.[/quote]

+1 it's always a shame to do something like this to a rare item

[Bassassin]

Permission to speak freely.

Tino - with all due respect, the reason you haven't sold it yet is because it's been too expensive. The way things are at the moment (recession etc) the best you can expect to get for it is £400 - £450 - even pre-recession, Ibby 2388B/DXes like yours were getting £450 - £500, and not really any more than that.

DON'T REFINISH IT!!! You have to understand these are now collectable vintage instruments and [i]anything[/i] you do to it to change it or modify it will devalue it. Refinish it, de-fret it (for pity's sake - NO!!!!!) or do anything irreversible to it, and you'd be lucky to get more than £250 for it.

If you want to sell it, leave it stock, be patient and don't be greedy. You'll find a buyer eventually.

Jon.

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='960297' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:59 AM']Permission to speak freely.

Tino - with all due respect, the reason you haven't sold it yet is because it's been too expensive. The way things are at the moment (recession etc) the best you can expect to get for it is £400 - £450 - even pre-recession, Ibby 2388B/DXes like yours were getting £450 - £500, and not really any more than that.

DON'T REFINISH IT!!! You have to understand these are now collectable vintage instruments and [i]anything[/i] you do to it to change it or modify it will devalue it. Refinish it, de-fret it (for pity's sake - NO!!!!!) or do anything irreversible to it, and you'd be lucky to get more than £250 for it.

If you want to sell it, leave it stock, be patient and don't be greedy. You'll find a buyer eventually.

Jon.[/quote]
Jon

I understand fully...I actually like the bass as a bass I CANNOT stand the finish....every time I look at it I wanna kick it.....it just looks sad I think the things gonna stay with me for if I wanted rid of it that much I would have let it go for the 450s I was offered several times....and now the hipshots on the intonation and string height (lack of)are greatly improved
anyway heres a pic or 2 for MrFoxen of the original bridge....sorry no mute but I will throw in a duster

Edited September 18, 2010 by tino

[Bassassin]

If you intend keeping it then of course it doesn't make much difference what you do to it - except that these are rare as Pope-poo and there ain't too many in as good original nick as yours!

These were also available in fireglo & black, so it's possible you could find someone who'd do a swap for the same bass in a more appealing colour - although that's a bit of a long shot because there ain't too many of them left.

If you do go for a refin, what about something a bit more unusual, maybe like a transparent blueburst:



Have to say I think that's gorgeous - in fact it was seeing an early 70s 4001 in a similar finish (being played by Gerry Cunningham of Angel Witch, fact fans!) back in 1982 that was a formative influence on my lifelong Rick-fetish. As well as Geddy Lee & Lemmy, of course.

J.

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='960391' date='Sep 18 2010, 02:05 PM']If you intend keeping it then of course it doesn't make much difference what you do to it - except that these are rare as Pope-poo and there ain't too many in as good original nick as yours!

These were also available in fireglo & black, so it's possible you could find someone who'd do a swap for the same bass in a more appealing colour - although that's a bit of a long shot because there ain't too many of them left.

If you do go for a refin, what about something a bit more unusual, maybe like a transparent blueburst:



Have to say I think that's gorgeous - in fact it was seeing an early 70s 4001 in a similar finish (being played by Gerry Cunningham of Angel Witch, fact fans!) back in 1982 that was a formative influence on my lifelong Rick-fetish. As well as Geddy Lee & Lemmy, of course.

J.[/quote]
Jon

How long have you been a mind reader....My wife said earlier Why dont you have the"blue wash like on your Archtop" I thought hang on I have blue what about a Green???
I am now waiting on my mate Paul to see if he will do it at reasonable cost.
The blues a sister of these 2

Jon the bridge pup is sort of nothing great could you recommend anything to replace it????

Edited September 18, 2010 by tino

[Lozz196]

If yr after a quality refinish, I recently had a black P-bass refinished in arctic white (nitro) by TJC Guitars in Stevenage, Herts,for £150.

Link to the site:

www.tjcguitars.com

Quality job, and Terry was very good to deal with.

Think tho, that Bruce Foxton of The Jam started out with the same colour scheme on his first Rickenfaker, which I believe was an Ibanez. Maybe, if you still want to sell it, research this, and if correct, could be a selling point to a Bruce/Jam fan?

[Bassassin]

Green? Careful or you could end up with a Snotglo, like this one:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=56466"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=56466[/url]



Your bridge pup's one of the little chrome types with two rows of pole pieces, isn't it? These are actually single-coils, despite having all those poles, and as far as I can make out, early ones were a bit weak. Quite odd because I have one of these in my bitsa Faker, it reads 11.5k and is really powerful - actually sounds more like a real Rick than either of my other 2. I think they beefed these up on later versions, same with the mudbucker style units.

Anyway I have seen 2388Bs with real Rick pups squeezed into the surrounds so presumably they fit, or can be made to fit. While that's not necessarily the cheapest option, it does suggest Seymour Duncan Rick-type pickups should fit also, and that would be a bit more affordable. You can also get cheap toaster-copy humbuckers:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-Humbucker-bridge-pickup-Toaster-Alnico-9-6k-/200518438805"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-Humbucker-bridg...k-/200518438805[/url]

Obviously intended for guitars - but then so was the original Rick bass toaster. If that would fit your surround it might be worth a pop for £20-odd just to see what it sounds like. Looks quite cool too.

J.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='tino' post='960349' date='Sep 18 2010, 01:08 PM']anyway heres a pic or 2 for MrFoxen of the original bridge....sorry no mute but I will throw in a duster [/quote]

Cool, looks same as the ones I have, so guessing is the same part across loads of fakers. Fancy a body swap?

[Stacker]

Go Seam Foam Green, mate, or turquoise. Get some pickguards and surrounds from Pickguardian and put in some real RIC pups!! I had an Ib like that as a kid and that front pup was as weak as sin!