prowla

Well, it seems to work OK. I reassembled the tone pot (I'd pushed so hard that the bottom half had separated, but it was just a matter of putting it back and bending the 4 tabs back where they should be) and filed the gunk/glue/whatever off the shaft so the knob would fit. Whilst I'd got it opened I spotted that the bridge earth wasn't connected, so I soldered that on too. I plugged it in briefly to check it out and it makes sounds. That's £100 well spent...

Well, I put strings on it and it seems OK. I also put a pair of straplock buttons on it; one hole was padded out with masking tape, so I had to put matchsticks & wood glue in. I think I broke a pot too, putting a knob on with a bit too much "enthusiasm", so I'll be need to get my soldering iron out. Ho-hum... I'll try using a bit of heat to strip off the finish; I've got another guitar where someone used elbow grease to strip it and left a load of gouges there.

I acquired this bass project today; it's a MIM Precision with a Badass II bridge. The neck seems fine, the pickguard is a replacement, the tuners are maybe a bit loose, it's got no strings on it, and I'm hoping the pickups are OK. However, the body is in a bit of a sad state; it looks like it's been used as a baseball bat. The question is: is the body repairable or should I just ditch it and get another? If I go down the repair route, I guess I'll need to strip the finish... Funnily enough, only last week I thought to myself it'd be good to pick up a beater and fit a 5-string conversion bridge I have to; and then this came up...

There are a couple of people on the FB fakers group who make rather good fakers to order.

I thought of that, but the BDDI is pretty much exactly right, plus I wanted the option of two completely independent channels.

Well, one of my best pedals is my SansAmp BDDI. Some time back I decided to make my pedalboard two-output and I spent ages trying out different OD/pre pedals for the 2nd channel. I finally found the right pedal to fit in there! I had the answer all the time!

I wouldn't pay that much for a used 4003. Check the ebay listings for competed items and sort by price. Anybody who pays £1000 for a faker is a mug.

Some people value them over £500, so they're not exactly inexpensive. You can buy a real Ric for £1k.

RRP £615, damaged price £449 - TBH, I'd spend the extra £150!

opportunidade do Basil...

Looks like they slipped a decimal place there.

A MIC reissue - looks nice.

Status Graphite (wooden neck ones), as is the Groove on the right.

I took a couple of Warwicks to the last Bass Bash, but the folks with Spectors glared at me!

You could do nut to bridge, but the bridge or intonation could be out, so the 12th fret is half-way (hence the harmonic there) and so is more precise.

My problem with the Ric 5-string is that I took a different turn to go that route...

Greco are probably the top of the tree. Or there’s a queue of lefties waiting for one to come up.

The cost of trying out a Ric is zero - but it and if you don’t gel with it then sell it.

Nice.

You can look at the back where the neck joins the body and see if there are any signs of cracking/separation there. But the easiest way is if the action is ok then it’s alright.

Nut to 12th fret and double it.

It's probably a 33.25" scale length too, like a real Ric; the bolt-on ones tended to be 34".

For me, Rics are really playable, so each to their own.

What @Bassassin said. My first thought was an Ibby with the mudbucker neck pickup, but on closer inspection that wouldn't have had the bodged cutout in the pickguard. As to why someone did that to the pickups, I don't know; it looks barmy to me! The neck joint must be weak there, so it might need filling and re-cutting. The changes are reversible and stock Ric parts will fit, in addition to vintage Japanese and current Retrovibe replacements. This is my (Japanese) CMI, which I would say likely came off the same production line. The slightly translucent pickguard shows more on mine, against the jetglo body.