MrFingers

I mailed Tony from Pickguardian if he could help he. He said he could, but he didn't have an actual template for an (early) Ripper, but he gave it a shot, and it turned out it was 100% accurate and a perfect fit (there is NO gap between the guard en the pickups. In fact, the guard is so snug, that the pickups stay in place without screwing them into the body). This is a very early Ripper, and those early ones had a celluloid tortoise pickguard. Instead of the 4 layers that Fender used, Gibson used a single slab of tortoise, quite thick (5mm), but tortoise shrinks and warps over time, and those singleply guard are all severely damaged or cracked beyond repair, like the one [url="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/180/405130705_89e6fb1741_z.jpg?zz=1"]Nick Movshon[/url] has. This one came to Belgium with a shoddy painted piece of plexiglass as pickguard, made into shape with an axe and blowtorch). He could have made one in real celluloid, but this one is a plastic variant, which is identical in looks & swirls (even has the small rimples in the surface, like celluloid has), but without the chemical instability. Here are some pictures I took today, with the cover in place. It looks kinda reddish, but it depends on the lighting, from reddish to virtually black. And it sounds like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF9XVwUi1zI

And an update Sanding more sanding (notice the nice, deep contours) Yellow staining, (the lighting makes it a bit too harsh) Filling

August 1973 and August 1973 (serials are MH XX52 and MH XX63), assembled by the same guy back in the plant, based on the signature in the cavity and pickguard). The Jetglo is 100% original, the "mapleglo" is a stripped jetglo, waxed, with an 80ies 4003 tailpiece (extra screws against taillift) and a ReIssue horseshoe pickup... Both sound awesome, and the horseshoe really makes a difference! (there is also a 1999 Rickenbacker 370/12 MG here, but that's a bit off-topic I guess )

I thought the "domestic" CIJ/MIJ has the correct 44.5mm and the "export" has the 42.5 mm.

[quote name='FEND3R' timestamp='1339578567' post='1690726'] paper in oil cap. [/quote] It needed to be as correct as possible. If it were for me, I'd use a linear tonepot, and a PIO "Orange Drop" capacitor, but hey, it needs to be accurate, so

Repro wiring is done... Both logarithmic pots (so the tonepot is basically an on/off switch, but hey, that's how it was done back in those days), with a big ceramic capacitor... Stackpole pots are impossible to find, so we stuck with CTS...

The allparts neck is 42mm at the nut with a 9.5" radius (medium frets), and has a thicker C-shape. The "real" 62RI neck (vintage, CIJ and AVRI) is 44.5mm at the nut with a 7.25" radius (narrow vintage frets), and has a bit more shallow C-shape (I guess they are 0.10" apart in depth), so it's not just the nutwidth that's different... I have a neck from musikraft, they make the 1.75" nutwidth necks, with correct radius and stuff, and for a more than decent price (cheaper than warmoth), and it is truly vintage correct... You can read more on it [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176706-64ri-precision-bass-build/"]here[/url].

That jazz next to it is "the tits"... info about it? Anyway: 1974 Gibson L9-S "The Ripper", with aftermarket pickguardian celluloid pickguard (like the very first Rippers would have), and with an upgraded 6-way rotary switch (thus giving the standard switching + neck solo and parallel out of phase)...

If you can't contain yourself... But with clay dots and covers!

This one isn't that sticky, which is nice! Anyway, it's got it's name now. The only thing needed now is the stringtree (which I already have), but that will be mounted when the strings are in place)... I hereby declare the neck as FINISHED

You're laughing, but in fact, I got an SMS from the owner, and he said: "yeah, nitro, I'll probably just sand it down, I want the feel of your bass"... And I was like: BTW: this is the very first time I ever work with this kind of lacquer, let alone polish something... Turned out rather nice!

Glossy

Because I'm stuck now (waiting on lacquer to dry is as tense as [url=http://www.watching-grass-grow.com/]this[/url]), and because I wasn't 100% satisfied with the made-up warranty card based on a 1962 model, I was browsing "teh interwebz". I found an auction from 5 years ago from a guy who sold is 1964/65 P-bass, with an original hangtag/booklet. The pictures were 200x450px, so not good enough to read what was on them, but good enough to get the basic outline. Since those booklets are generic (it says the same in every version, just the layout differs) I got to work with 2 manuals I got laying here at home. An afternoon in paint.net, word and typing later, this was the result... (is there a therapy for people like me? )

No indeed... and what do guitarplayers know ... But still, it's "just" allparts, and I assume the guy didn't narrow the tremcavity...

Hmm... Nash... http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47291 ...

Today was a busy day at the office, so I didn't do much when I got home. I sprayed the final coat of untinted clear lacquer, and that's now degassing in the shed (don't worry, it's locked ), and I prepared my paintstick contraption. 2 concentric tubes, one which stays in the workmate, the other the actual paintstick. In the paintstick I'll drill 3 holes: 2 at the flattened end, for the body to hang on to, and one just before the thicker tube. There I'll ram a long nail through it, so I can use that as a handle to turn around the body. That will (hopefully) allow me to work faster (better?). [IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/d404d374.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/9926d461.jpg[/IMG]

Guess we all have to learn it the hard way anyway: Jerked some nitro today... Nitro is fun, it dries very quick (in half an hour you could handle it, as it is "dry" (but not cured), but it smells funky, and is just plain unheathy... Countersunk holes for the tuners, dowelled hole from the "template" (at the heel there's one as well, like it should) Just like the real thing! This is sketchy territory. For the sake of detail I did it, but just in pencil (for now), above the lacquer. It looks convincing from a feet away, but up close, you see it's a repro. This is in ink though

The bushings were just a tad too big/the holes just a tad too small: Collection of drills: Correct size + a plug which fits nicely in the already drilled hole: NICE Drilling on the benchdrill: Nice 'n snug: Trimmed, for an even better fit: Calculate the centre and wedged into place: Drilling: Done:

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1338668193' post='1677922'] Apart from the Fender V are there any other instruments they haven't re-released? The Fender Elite series...? [/quote] Coronado Series [url="http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3016978/p3_uu1f05nmu_so.jpg"]Starcaster Bass[/url] (okay, with 3 known examples that wasn't really a series, but yet...) Fender Telecaster II Bass (not the squier one, but a real classic series/American Vintage from Fender)

Nitro is EXTREMELY hard to find here in Europe (it is banned for health and safety issues), and it's impossible to ship canisters from the USA (where it is more "easily" available)... Anyway, I found a company in Holland who sells nitro. Kinda expensive, at 20€ (~30$) a can, but there isn't an alternative... [IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/fde91bb0.jpg[/IMG]

Filled the holes from the template with a piece of wood, like the original has...

For the total package, I made up an "early 1960's" warranty card... Just because I can (still need to tweak the F-things a bit)

[quote name='stelios82k' timestamp='1337360385' post='1658874'] Home made Precision Bass! [/quote] Get rid of the jazz-cover, and place a real, wide, P-pickup cover... anyway, here's mine: [IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/1f5dcd69.jpg[/IMG]

It sounds indeed like a Fender Bass VI, but you can get in the same vibe with a P-bass, strung with flatwounds, use a thick pick, and mute the strings with a piece of foam. I do it all the time. Qua amps: amps weren't really used in the studio, the bass just went "straight in the wall", maybe via a tube compressor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP4h39IxLDE Here you see a lipsynch from that song, and here a jazz-bass is used. Herbie Flowers, the British recording artist is known for it's tick-tack sound, and he uses a 1959 (yes, it's a prototype) jazz bass, strung with thick flatwounds, and a pick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Le8bH3Y8U