The Legoheads

[indent=1][quote]Its certainly better made than my own version, although I love it to death, it doesnt have the attention to detail that yours has, for the simple reason I don't have the skills to match my ideal methods of creating it, wheras you clearly have. [/quote][/indent] [indent=1]Don't mistake shear persitance and luck to be a sign of skill I am an engineer by trade so some element of OCD and technical knowledge have ceratinly helped. Plus, when someone tells me I can't do something, that I don't have the skills or knowledge, it only makes me wanna give a two-fingered salute and prove them wrong... even when that someone is me.[/indent] [indent=1]I have seen your guitar before and taken inspiration from it... hardly lame. Like you, influenced by the Stone Roses, it was almost certainly Mani that introduced me to the 4005 and I've fought with the idea of a Jackson Pollack style JS finish. I knew I'd never get away with a bare wood finish as there are many small flaws, both natural and man-made.[/indent] [indent=1]I just hope now that The Roses are resurrected that they make it to the US. A big bunch of my old mates and bandies were at Heaton Park the other weekend... jammy w*****s...!!![/indent]

If Mr Hall was to re-introduce the 4005 and take my hard-earned cash in exchange for one, I'd be more than happy to make the exchange as I have done for several of his other current production models. For one reason or another, RIC have chosen not to do this and that is their prerogative. It's also my prerogative to produce a far from exacting homage to this bass. I'm not sure at what point it becomes a "copy" or the precise legalities of making this single example, with which I intend to be buried; but if only to make my own soul a little richer, I have to build and play this guitar. And should it come down to it, I'll claim it as a restoration project based around an original fretboard

And that's pretty much up-to-date apart from a bit of sanding and refining. I'm waiting for a few more parts to arrive as well as the tool for routing the binding channel. I need to level out the neck tenon to the level of the mortice, glue the neck joint and then glue the rear panel in place. At some point I'm going to have to deface the front of the body with a sodding great hole for the pots. I also need to start work on the steel tailpiece and cut the scratchplate. Hopefully, I can make some time this weekend to push on...

Then, first time I've used a spokeshave since woodwork lessons around in 1983. My biggest worry here was going to deep and hitting the truss rod channels. Even though you know you're 5mm away the paranoia kicks in. As a result, the neck is probably around 2mm thicker than a genuine RIC neck.

This is where it almost came unstuck. I was attempting to angle the head back a little before profiling and made a right pig's ear of it. Luckily, I'd opted for quite a shallow angle so I got a second bite of the cherry and attacked it from the rear wih a slightly greater angle. It's not perfect but good enough...

The spare neck boards came in really handy to provide a jig base for the truss rod routing. I used a pair of Hot Rods for the truss rods. I toyed with the idea of making them myself but thought better of it...

After "thicknessing" the neck, I started routing the tenon part of the neck joint. The webs are to maintain a good routing surface until the very last minute. Ithen used some dado strips as a jig for the routing of the neck taper. Unfortunately, I forgot to route the truss rod channels at this time and removed the material from the side of the neck before I realised.

While I awaited delivery of my thickness planer, I routed out the remaining body cavities...

Time to start work on the neck. I bought a massive chunk of hard maple, enough to make 4 necks as I didn't think I'd get the first one right. The offset in the longitudinal cut is deliberate as I don't intend adding "wings" to the headstock; I intend to do the whole thing out of a single piece of wood.

First mock-up with the newly arrived hardware and the "Foxton" fretboard. I also cut the sound hole... and I think it's a bit too long. I may have to back-fill later on if it looks too dodgy. And finally, the design for the "Mickenbacker" tailpiece...

Time to round off the front of the body. I've come to like the WB version of the 4005 over recent years but the rounded front was my first love so I had to go with it...

Next step was to hollow out the tail on the front side. This isn't strictly accurate to the RIC design and the "valley walls" here are far steeper than the original. In addition, the slope from tail to brige has a gentle curve whereas the RIC has a more linear gradient.

Now that was about all I did until recently. My next step was routing out the basic chambers and neck mortice...

I started this project in 2006 after realizing the only way I was going to own a 4005 was if I was to build one myself. The hardest thing about building a 4005 is that it's hard to even get to see one in the flesh and so all the measurements had to be estimated based on photographs and using the scale length as a reference measurement. I took measurement from many different photos, worked out an average, threw in a fudge factor and that was my starting point. I ordered a single solid sycamore blank just big enough for the body and figured I'd saw a thin board from the back, create the hollow cavities and then reapply the board. I scoured ebay and a number of other sources for genguine RIC hardware that I could use or adapt for the 4005. I even scored a genuine RIC fretboard that apparently came off of one of Bruce Foxton's old basses. I bought this from a guy in the US who had bought it from a guy in the UK claiming to be one of The Jam's guitar techs back in the day. Who knows... but a good story anyway. Unfortunately, I was gigging a lot back then and was desperate for a RIC bass (I already had a 360) and so I bought a 4003 from a guy down the road. After that, my project sort of fell by the wayside and a couple of years later I sold up and moved to the US. One day, a mate was poking around in my basement and discovered the body blank languishing in a corner. After relaying the story I I decided that maybe it was time to resurrect the project. At least this time I'd built up a half-decent workshop so no more sawing wood on a Balck & Decker Workmate in the garden. This was couple of months back and since then I've made a lot of progress. In fact, at the time of writing, it's really about finishing of the wood, painting and fitting the hardware. Photos to follow...

Back in 2006 I decided to start work on a 4005 copy. I scoured ebay for parts I could use and even managed to pick up a genuine RIC fretboard that apparently came off of one of Bruce Foxton's old 4001 basses. I didn't get too far and sold most of the hardware I'd accumulated when I sold up and move to the US. 6 years later and half a world away I found the body blank in the basement and restarted to project. You can view the progress here... [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/rickenbacker-4005-copy-283322/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/rickenbacker-4005-copy-283322/[/url] as you can see, it's getting close to completion and really just needs a bit of finishing and painting.

I got a call yesterday from the Carling Academy in Oxford requesting that we support The Complete Stone Roses on 8th November. I very nearly pi55ed my pants. Anyway, on the remote chance that anyone fancies watching the most excellent Complete Stone Roses along with a little local band by the name of The Legoheads, then let me know and I'll add you to the guest list for reduced price entry... £6 instead of the usual £10... [url="http://www.myspace.com/thelegoheads"]http://www.myspace.com/thelegoheads[/url]