Rickenbacker style help

[BeatleBacker]

Hello everyone, well im new here, so forgive me if this has been talked about before

im a lefthanded guitar player, and my life is the beatles, i could buy a real rickenbacker but why pay £2000 odd when i wont be giging with it.

ive seen many cheap copies but they just dont make them lefthanded, unless i want the indie copies but i hate the headstock

ive always wanted to make my own guitar just to mess about on, i would love to be able to make a rickenbacker style bass.

i know rickenbacker have so many rules about copying there guitars so i know it will be hard to do, im after any sort of template to use to get the right size and shape if possible.

can anyone help?

[mickie08]

have you ever built a guitar before and are you an experienced carpenter.

Building a ric as your first guitar build would be the equivalent of my 6 year old putting away her crayons and painting the sistine chapel. If you want it to actually sound like a ric then you have to build it like ric does. Sourcing the parts will be hard as well. I am not 100% sure, but I thought they were neck through (which again willbe a big challenge as a first build).

I would ust be concerned that it is going to be a VERY long and hard process and not necessarily that cheap. In the end there is no guarnatee of the quality, sound, and playability when youa re done. If you have cash available and keep your eyes open, you should be able to find a used on eventually for a grand or so (maybe 12-1300). I see them (leftys) in that price range several times a year. that said, whatever floats your boat... And goo dluck with it if you decide to take on the project.

[mickie08]

have you ever built a guitar before and are you an experienced carpenter.

Building a ric as your first guitar build would be the equivalent of my 6 year old putting away her crayons and painting the sistine chapel. If you want it to actually sound like a ric then you have to build it like ric does. Sourcing the parts will be hard as well. I am not 100% sure, but I thought they were neck through (which again willbe a big challenge as a first build).

I would ust be concerned that it is going to be a VERY long and hard process and not necessarily that cheap. In the end there is no guarnatee of the quality, sound, and playability when youa re done. If you have cash available and keep your eyes open, you should be able to find a used on eventually for a grand or so (maybe 12-1300). I see them (leftys) in that price range several times a year. that said, whatever floats your boat... And goo dluck with it if you decide to take on the project.

[Zack]

I posted this thread about a tour of the rickenbacker factory a while back. It might give you some ideas as how they're created.

Although I'd love to see this project in action, I have to back what mickie said. It wouldn't be worthwhile to start up without any knowledge or practice. Even with the knowledge things can always go wrong, so be sure you want to invest in building this guitar. Aesthetic and scale problems will arise and I wish you luck in finding the parts you need for relatively cheap.

[BeatleBacker]

of course im not going to go over the top and make a 100% copy.
its just for a fun little project, ive got my own skills and plenty of people i know with the right tools and knowledge to help me
i wont use proper rickenbacker parts, just cheap lookalikes or something different

i might even just buy body/neck parts that look similar and just modify them

this might be a bit hard but is there anyone on here with a rickenbacker 4001/4003 bass that they could just draw around the body and head stock and scan it for me?

i would be really greatful, this is a guitar i love to bits and have always wanted one
i had the chance to buy a lefthand 1972 rickenbacker 4001 with hard case for around £700 last year, but at the time my girlfriend would have killed me

[stewart]

there's a chap on here called rayjaysonic who has a lefty one. perhaps if you pm him and ask him nicely he'll do you the honours?

here he is- http://www.shortscale.org/forum/profile ... ile&u=1584

[lorez]

my first ever guitar when I was 14 was a hondo ricky bass, i'm certain they did left handed ones. I wish I still had it to be honest it was a pretty cool guitar

[Rayjaysonic]

I'm on it!!! Will try and get it sorted tomorrow. An ambitious project like this deserves some support. Be very interested to see how you get on.

[Rayjaysonic]

4003 Head Stock

4003 Body 1

4003 Body 2

4003 Body 3

4003 Body 4

These links will give you an A4 trace in sections. Print full size on A4 and tape them together. Give us a shout if you have any problems.

[BeatleBacker]

thanks for that, thats ace.
and yeah will do

[BeatleBacker]

i think i found this photo somewhere on the forum, does anyone have anymore photos? its interests me