ShortScale.org

I should have pics this weekend of a 63 Jazzmaster, an 81 BC Rich Mockingbird, and a stereo Rickenbacker 360/12 that I have been working on. The Rick took an evening to dismantle, days to research, weeks to fix, months to paint, years to get back to, and then the hardest part was stringing it!

But it looks good. The headstock had split and been fixed as the seam between the maple and mahogany. I couldn't find a single wiring diagram, so I bought a harness. Even with it in my face I had a hard time drawing a diagram.

Sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing all three of those.

DGNR8 wrote:an 81 BC Rich Mockingbird,

A USA 'R' logo model?

mixtape wrote:Sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing all three of those.

Same here.

It's an R headstock, but from the first run of MIJ. It actually looks like THIS under the black paint on the headstock.
I figured it was almost as good as USA sans the active electronics. And the black nitro can be easily removed. It's finished in amber, so it has a sort of wholesome quality to it. I could have painted it red like this one but it's a steep drop into too much hairspray.

Very nice. I had the chance to get an early MIJ very similar but foolishly passed on it. Someone had refin'd it sonic blue so it went cheap as well.

Here they are. Sorry it took so long. You'll have to poke around on my Flickr site.

1959 Fender Musicmaster
1963 Fender Jazzmaster
1963 Gretsch Jet
1977 Rickenbacker 360
1982 BC Rich MIJ

I'll write details tomorrow. The only ones that are finished are the Ric and JM, but the rest are very close. See it just for those. I cannot take a bad picture of that Rickenbacker. I never want to string it again, but it plays beautifully, and is stunning.

that ric is delicious! FFFFFUUUUU-

what did you do with the JM in the end? full refin or just the headstock?

Everything looks perfect.
They all look completely original with years of natural wear. You've got the eye for detail.
Nice work.

Thanks. All I did to the JM was wetsand it, and it looks pretty decent. I can't get my camera to focus on close-ups, so I may use my phone for those shots. The paint under the guard looks right, but there was white paint on the thimbles, so it has to be a refin. I painted over the headstock after the decal so it wouldn't scratch off. I tried tinting it, but I was in the bright sun and didn't see how dark I had gotten it. Since I am keeping this one, it doesn't really matter. I love how it plays. It seems just barely longer than a shortscale, but is so smooth.

The Gretsch Jet had a break and repair method neck. That's the chance you take with mahogany necks. I assumed I would be painting it Dakota and black, but when I saw how clean the wood was, I thought I would give translucent a shot. The secret weapon with both the Jet and BC Rich is a can of StewMac tobacco brown. I feathered it in the light areas, and went heavy over the neck repair. It's an old luthier trick. The dark area isn't out of place, and the light areas catch the light like you wouldn't believe. Because of the bad neck I got a tidy deal on it.

What you can't quite make out in the early shots is the gloppy brush-on poly it was sporting. This is actually great news. I read Curtis Novak say that he uses poly like Fullerplast, as an undercoat. So I sanded it down, but not to wood. The back was as shiny as the countertop in an Apple store. The poly acts as sealer, and like a clear primer. A bit much for the total finish, but as an undercoat is very luxe. I had already wetsanded it once, but decided to heavy up on the top clear one more time. Parts of it were glassy, while a few areas were still porous. I like seeing the grain, but not randomly. It will look absolutely wet when finished. I already have most of the parts I need. A Jet is like a chambered Les Paul. On this one, the sides and back are factory new. But the 50 y.o. mahogany smells like grandma's piano.

More details to follow.

The 360 is an interesting story. It had split the glue seam in the headstock between the maple and mahogany. The fix was already made and solid, so all I had to do was cosmetic. Luckily Dakota matched the paint. Also the wiring was missing, and I couldn't find a wiring diagram, so I bought a new harness. Once I got it wired, I found out the bridge pickup was very faint, so I bought a replacement pickup. The few pots in the case were square and blue Boo-urns.

From what I can tell, Ric owners seem more concerned about something working than being vintage correct--like race cars, not show cars. A Ferrari is a Ferrari, no matter what kind of tires are on it. A shoebox Ford may be worth more if stock.

The few red 360s I have been able to find were from the 90s--and the tuner areas are filled in solid. This is an open. It also has a 1977 stereo jack on it. As hard as it is to get a tailpiece, I find it very unlikely that a jack plate would travel. The finish looks great, but there are some minor finish crack. Fender/Gibson owners like crazing, but less so for Rick. It looks to me like an original old finish. And the double line Klusons almost look 60s.

The case looks 35. It has been doing its job. Not smoky, but worn.