Rickenbacker Bass Copy Project

brandon. · Post by **brandon.** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:47 am

So I decided to take a shot at building a rick bass copy...
I bought a poplar body blank and found a store that had another rick copy and traced out the body shape.

My plan is to give it a fender neck pocket, or something along those lines...
I'd love to get one of those paddle eden headstock necks and cut out a rickenbacker style headstock, but i'd be completely happy to just have a squier jazz neck on there too.

The problem that I foresee is that regular rickenbacker basses are either set neck or neck-throughs, so I'm wondering what the best way to do a neck pocket is? I'd like it to not look too "wonky".

So yeah, here's the start of it, more pictures to come...

matocaster · Post by **matocaster** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:43 am

Right on man! Keep us posted, with pics! I love seeing this stuff come together

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:15 am

I have a copy with a bolt on neck I'll try and get some photos for you

brandon. · Post by **brandon.** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:24 am

that would be really helpful actually, thanks!

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:28 am

Not sure how to post images but...

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:28 am

this work?

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:29 am

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:29 am

and also

brandon. · Post by **brandon.** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:35 pm

thats really cool, I didnt realize the pickup was mounted above the tongue extension of the neck...
those pictures are really cool though, I didnt even come close to turning up anything that detailed on the interweb.

I'm going to have to go about it a different way though, I'm just looking to have a standard fender neck...
thanks for taking the time to take that apart for me though, I appreciate it

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:42 pm

no probs it was already apart ;0)

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:54 pm

That looks sweet, I'd love a knock-off Ricky that actually looked the part.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:05 am

Brandon, is that pattern lined up straight? Maybe the grain angle makes it look off. The neck jut looks bent.

That Ric copy is an odd design. I guess for the real Ric, it's all one piece of wood. The way that neck bolts on, I would worry about that thin piece in back snapping off.

brandon. · Post by **brandon.** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:39 pm

yeah, its only at that angle because of the way I cut out the paper template, if you look close you can see the actual straight neckline.

I think what I'm going to have to do is just cut out the body from that template and then route a regular fender bass neck pocket in the body...

the end result will probably look a bit weird though, with the heel of the neck going deeper into the body than the usual rick NECK-STOP-BODY-START look. That's okay though, I can deal with that, I mostly just like the body shape and pickguard, everything else will probably be totally different.

I found this picture from a google search of a custom 8 string bass, you can see how the neck pocket looks like a fender neck pocket and it doesnt look that odd.

Re: the bolt on neck copy
yeah, I'd be scared of that snapping off too, doesn't seem like enough wood to hold the tension

Thanks for your concern!

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:40 pm

That thin bit in the back has survived 30 odd years of spanking so far ;0)

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:45 pm

That thin bit in the back has survived 30 odd years of spanking so far ;0)

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:47 pm

That must be 60 years now then.

m0n0mania · Post by **m0n0mania** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:33 pm

opps left me delay on

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:39 pm

And hell, in that case, I would paint the Fender neck to match, or at least the headstock.