Rickenbacker copy build Cumpleat
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:38 pm
For a long time I've wanted a shortscale rickenbacker bass, and since they are a rare find, and ridiculously expensive, I decided to enlist the help of HolyCATS to build one. We're doing a set, quarter-sawn maple neck, birdseye fretboard, and a rock maple body with 2 cherrywood runners. It's a 30" scale bass, and I believe will have 22 frets... we brought it down a bit from the original 25 frets we slotted for, because it was looking a little excessive. I bought most of the supplies for this bass in the fall, before I was able to dedicate a bulk of my time to pickup winding and repair, so I originally bought an EMG pickup, but I'm thinking about coming up with something custom. Here is the guitar with the hardware laying on top. I'm going to keep the finish natural/mapleglo.
UPDATE
We've been working away at this project, along with a few others at a moderate pace, but are getting into a big push here to have this bass and a tear drop guitar done by early may.
Since the last update:
-Fretboard has been radiused to 9.5
-Ebony dots have been inlayed in the fretboard
-headstock wings have been glued in
-Wings have been glued onto the body
-Newer hardware has been ordered
-A vintage rickenbacker bass pickup has been rewound for possible use
And pics
UPDATE
here is a mock up (the bridge will be different, but I thought I'd throw this on for the picture) - ready for paint
Complete!
B.C. Richenbacker
I love the way this bass turned out. It is actually going to get a few more coats of clear, but I'm heading out on the road with the REDETTES at the end of this week, and I wanted to be able to take it with me. The neckthrough design, and the high mass, brass bridge add a lot of sustain to the thumpy characteristics of the shortscale bass design, and it sounds really nice. Better than how it sounds, is how it plays - the neck is really smooth and the Low F on the E string is placed very similarly to where it would be on a strat, so there isn't a huge stretch to hit the low notes, and access is easy all the way up the fretboard. Holycats did some awesome work.
► Show Spoiler
UPDATE
We've been working away at this project, along with a few others at a moderate pace, but are getting into a big push here to have this bass and a tear drop guitar done by early may.
Since the last update:
-Fretboard has been radiused to 9.5
-Ebony dots have been inlayed in the fretboard
-headstock wings have been glued in
-Wings have been glued onto the body
-Newer hardware has been ordered
-A vintage rickenbacker bass pickup has been rewound for possible use
And pics
► Show Spoiler
here is a mock up (the bridge will be different, but I thought I'd throw this on for the picture) - ready for paint
► Show Spoiler
B.C. Richenbacker
I love the way this bass turned out. It is actually going to get a few more coats of clear, but I'm heading out on the road with the REDETTES at the end of this week, and I wanted to be able to take it with me. The neckthrough design, and the high mass, brass bridge add a lot of sustain to the thumpy characteristics of the shortscale bass design, and it sounds really nice. Better than how it sounds, is how it plays - the neck is really smooth and the Low F on the E string is placed very similarly to where it would be on a strat, so there isn't a huge stretch to hit the low notes, and access is easy all the way up the fretboard. Holycats did some awesome work.
► Show Spoiler
