Rampant Rickenbuggery!

[wizbat]

Go for it!!
Go see mr S, I,m sure glad I did!!!.

[TDM]

My eyes might be playing tricks on me (I haven't had any proper sleep over the past 48 hours) but are those two completely identical basses you have there?

Nice basses you have there. I especially like the contoured faux binding around the edges

Edited March 29, 2009 by thedonutman

[wizbat]

Well spotted my good man!
When I asked jon to build them I said that as much as is possible I wanted them to be an identical pair so for example jon selected one piece of wood for the left side of the neck that was cut in half to make two left sides and so on, when it came to the quilted maple tops jon showed me a piece that he,d been holding onto for some time that had very straight grain thru it so that when it was cut the quilt was virtually identical.
The fingerboards were again cut from the same piece as are the rosewood headstock wings and centre strip.
The cream around edges is where the solid color stops and it does look like binding as it comes around the contours of the body, I chose cream or actually old english white as I wanted them to be a bit of a tribute to my bass hero Chris Squire and Wizard made the pickups as close to the original ric specs as they could.
Oh yeah and the strings were made in the piano string stylee for extra 'Twang!!'.
I,ve compared them against my ric 4003 and there is very little difference in sound on the E A D G strings,they have that loverly ric growl but the lower strings are just amazing, imagine a ric with a low B and F# and there you go!.
They have dual truss rods and four carbon fibre rods in each neck for extra stabilty with my own headstock design so that all the strings run straight thru the nut unlike the original ric design, the sustain is ridiculous :-) .

[Buzz]

Why two identical basses though? It would make perfect sense if one was fretless and t'other fretted, but seems unusual to get two identical basses made.

[wizbat]

Well I,ve always thought 'whats the point of have one dream bass built' I have a habit of breaking strings (builders hands) and if at a gig I need to change basses, I don,t like the idea of having to use a different 'backup' bass then have to fiddle with the amp eq etc to get going again.
Now I just pick up number 2 and carry on, it also means I can keep one at the rehearsal studio and have one at home for practice as I sometimes go to practice on a motorcycle.
See the 'who rides a bike thread'

[wizbat]

Plans are 'in the pipeline' for a fretless version....
I,m thinking translucent blue with flamed maple wings.

[Buzz]

Ah, I see, logical choice then! They do look lovely though.

[Geddys nose]

1972 John Birch great Bass, the Magnum pickups are hand signed by the now Deceased JB but they sound amazing.Great Live Bass with a really nice 60's Jazz type neck.The controls are Volume/Tone for each pickup,Master volume,Series/Par knob and Pickup Toggle... Si

[attachment=23199:P1030230.JPG]

[attachment=23198:P1030218.JPG]

[wizbat]

That,s nice man!
john birch was a great man and produced some fantastic work.
Nice to see some of it on here.

[Bassassin]

Great to see that - not too many JBs around (despite the fact they still make 'em) and would love to add one to my hoard one of these days...

Always wondered what all those knobs were for!

J.

Edited April 4, 2009 by Bassassin

[Dood]

[quote name='wizbat' post='439806' date='Mar 19 2009, 11:07 PM']I,m still stunned at being an endorsee,, I love the basses, jons a star and I,m walking round with a silly grin all the time!!.
I don,t want to give away the cost in case the taxman is watching tho suffice to say I did get a discount for buying in bulk!! [/quote]

Hey Paul!! Thanks for your PM, good to chat! - Well! What a beautiful pair of basses! Welcome to the Shuker family! - I think I'm still smilin' too!

I really can not think of a single reason why I'd be going with anyone else to build my basses. I am so chuffed with both my 7 and 6 string Shukers.

I guess you'll need to post in the Shuker mega thread too eh! ;o) - Fantastic basses there. I've enjoyed reading up about them.

[quote name='wizbat' post='440019' date='Mar 20 2009, 10:19 AM']They are strung F# B E A D G so it,s quite easy to adjust from the five string basses I,ve been using til now.
They have a wonderful Growl on the lower strings.[/quote]

I love having that F# string and found no real issues with getting used to 'going lower' either.. and as you say, it sounds great!

[wizbat]

[quote name='dood' post='462734' date='Apr 15 2009, 09:35 AM']Hey Paul!! Thanks for your PM, good to chat! - Well! What a beautiful pair of basses! Welcome to the Shuker family! - I think I'm still smilin' too!

I really can not think of a single reason why I'd be going with anyone else to build my basses. I am so chuffed with both my 7 and 6 string Shukers.

I guess you'll need to post in the Shuker mega thread too eh! ;o) - Fantastic basses there. I've enjoyed reading up about them.



I love having that F# string and found no real issues with getting used to 'going lower' either.. and as you say, it sounds great![/quote]


Cheers Dan! I,m honoured to be part of the group. :-)

[Bassassin]

Three of a perfect pair?



Three? Meet The Frankenbugger... Having harvested the organs from this basket-case:



...assuming I'd need them for my then-rotted Matsumoku wall-hanger, the Mat parts mostly turned out to be salvageable so I ended up with a mixed bag of innards.

Fellow graverobber Hooky6stringbass had disinterred a slightly decomposed yet useable body/through neck which he was willing to part with, so perversions of science and nature took their course, and in the midst of a cataclysmic electrical storm, the Frankenbugger lurched, groaning off the slab:







So - Frankenbugger has the wiring harness, a real Rick neck position Hi-Gain & a somewhat reconditioned tailpiece, all from the Matsumoku; the Basket Case donated scratchplate, bridge, string mute & parts of the tuners, the JapCrap chrome bridge pup & various sundries came out of the spares box - and in the spirit of 19th century medical experimentation, what I didn't have, I had to make...

Interesting, this one, in that I don't have a clue what it is/was - Ian (Hooky6sb) thought it was a Shaftesbury but I'm not so sure - the unvarnished fretboard, real MOP inlays, the odd way the burst is sprayed, leaving it natural on some edges aren't things I've seen on a Shafty. This plays really nicely, could do with a little bit of fret dressing but is fine like it is, sounds great - more like a Rick than either of the others, thanks, surprisingly to the MIJ pup, a single-coil which sticks out 11k. It should get a gig on Saturday so we'll see how it plays sounds for real.

Anyway, I can hear bellowing & the rattling of chains coming from the basement - I wonder what it eats?

Jon.

[hookys6stringbass]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='480716' date='May 6 2009, 10:15 AM']Three of a perfect pair?



Three? Meet The Frankenbugger... Having harvested the organs from this basket-case:



...assuming I'd need them for my then-rotted Matsumoku wall-hanger, the Mat parts mostly turned out to be salvageable so I ended up with a mixed bag of innards.

Fellow graverobber Hooky6stringbass had disinterred a slightly decomposed yet useable body/through neck which he was willing to part with, so perversions of science and nature took their course, and in the midst of a cataclysmic electrical storm, the Frankenbugger lurched, groaning off the slab:







So - Frankenbugger has the wiring harness, a real Rick neck position Hi-Gain & a somewhat reconditioned tailpiece, all from the Matsumoku; the Basket Case donated scratchplate, bridge, string mute & parts of the tuners, the JapCrap chrome bridge pup & various sundries came out of the spares box - and in the spirit of 19th century medical experimentation, what I didn't have, I had to make...

Interesting, this one, in that I don't have a clue what it is/was - Ian (Hooky6sb) thought it was a Shaftesbury but I'm not so sure - the unvarnished fretboard, real MOP inlays, the odd way the burst is sprayed, leaving it natural on some edges aren't things I've seen on a Shafty. This plays really nicely, could do with a little bit of fret dressing but is fine like it is, sounds great - more like a Rick than either of the others, thanks, surprisingly to the MIJ pup, a single-coil which sticks out 11k. It should get a gig on Saturday so we'll see how it plays sounds for real.

Anyway, I can hear bellowing & the rattling of chains coming from the basement - I wonder what it eats?

Jon.[/quote]


Here's a link to my Rickenfaker facebook page.... [url="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=78514186083&ref=mf"]http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.p...6083&ref=mf[/url]


Wow Jon it's looking good! I've reasembled the Tokai with Ricky(like) bits and rewired it and it sounds bloody nice. Ive got to make a TRC and pick guard as the neck PUP is slightly out of line and sits alittle tooo low so I need to make the hole wider. Next I'm going to varnish the fretboard- Jon any tips, ie what type of varnish and can I applie it with out taking the frets out???

Bassassin Padawan.

[josh3184]

the burst rick is gorgeous bassassin!

[wizbat]

That.s a nice selection you have there jon.
Ilove the black fittings on the sunburst.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='hookys6stringbass' post='481169' date='May 6 2009, 04:55 PM']Here's a link to my Rickenfaker facebook page.... [url="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=78514186083&ref=mf"]http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.p...6083&ref=mf[/url]


Wow Jon it's looking good! I've reasembled the Tokai with Ricky(like) bits and rewired it and it sounds bloody nice. Ive got to make a TRC and pick guard as the neck PUP is slightly out of line and sits alittle tooo low so I need to make the hole wider. Next I'm going to varnish the fretboard- Jon any tips, ie what type of varnish and can I applie it with out taking the frets out???

Bassassin Padawan.[/quote]

Yes you can varnish over the frets - many lacquered boards are done once the frets are fitted, just lightly wire-wool the tops of the frets back to the metal once it's done & dried. Going on my own basses, it seems about half & half whether the board's been lacquered before or after fretting.

As far as what to use - I wish I knew! I've re-touched a couple of boards that had flaky lacquer with cheapo Screwfix rattle-can stuff, but I don't know how hard-wearing that sort of thing would be as a finish for an unlacquered board. Logically the strings shouldn't be making much, if any contact with the board anyway, so it might be OK. I have a maple Jazz neck needing refinished and I might experiment with that.

I have a minor alignment problem with the Frankenbugger - it predates CNC routing & it looks like the template they used was ever so slightly too far south. Also the bridge could do with being maybe 5mm further back to get the intonation spot-on, however I'm on the lookout for a cheap Hipshot which should fix that.

J.

[Buzz]

Jon chap, the burst ric-a-like is tasty as.

[Bassassin]

Played it at rehearsal last night - it sounds evil!

J.

[Empire Road]

Hi there

I mistakenly asked this question elsewhere on the forum rather than here. I was cleaning my Ibanez Ric copy when the connector leads from the controls detached from the pick-up.
[attachment=25012:ibanezric3.jpg]
The wires seemed to be attached to just a single strand of copper wire on the pick-up. Is this the case? Is there a special way I need to re-connect them? Any guidance with this would be valuable as I am cack-handed with tools to say the least.
[attachment=25013:ibanezric5.jpg]
[attachment=25014:ibanez_ric1.jpg]

... and two more for good measure.
[attachment=25015:ibanez_ric2.jpg]
[attachment=25016:ibanezric4.jpg]

Thanks again for any advice.
Alan

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Empire Road' post='484482' date='May 10 2009, 06:55 PM']The wires seemed to be attached to just a single strand of copper wire on the pick-up. Is this the case? Is there a special way I need to re-connect them? Any guidance with this would be valuable as I am cack-handed with tools to say the least.[/quote]
Hi Alan - first of all, hi, very nice late-model Ibanez 2388B/DX you have there! Second, yes, the leads do connect to single strands on the pickup bobbin. To be honest a repair like this would, in my opinion, be best left to a professional - trying to solder such tiny connections runs a risk of frying the windings on the pickup. I've not personally needed any pickup repair work done, so I can't recommend anybody, so I'd say the best place to ask for advice might be the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=12"]Repairs & Technical Issues[/url] board.

Anyway, that's a very unusual modification your bass has, with the 2 neck-position hi-gains. It's a very tidy-looking mod, & I wonder if the body needed any extra routing to accept the extra pup. Was it like that when you got it?

Jon.

[Empire Road]

Hi Jon

Thanks for your well-informed reply. Now I know what it's called!

Yes, the bass is as I bought it, and the last owner said he had just changed the strings so this is the first time they have been off in a couple of years.

I'm not sure what you mean by the '2 neck position high gains'. I must admit the switching confuses me. Do you mean the large toggle switch or the tiny 3-way switch embedded in the finger rest? Left or right the tiny 3-way sounds the same, centre is off!

One other thing, you may be able to detect two small holes on the upper part of the body (under the elbow) - what might they have been used for?

I'll try the other thread for advice on the pick-up and see how I get on.

Thanks
Alan

[wizbat]

where abouts are you?
I,ve repaired pickups like this before and I,m happy to have a go if you can get it to me.

[wizbat]

The tiny toggle switch is probably for selecting the neck and centre pickups ( I,m guessing that it is a three position switch that gives neck, neck and centre and centre options) this is then wired to the main toggle to switch in the bridge pickup.
Thats how I would have it wired.
Never thought about having a middle pickup fitted......... I wonder how much Jon would scream if I suggested it to mine :-)

[Golchen]

I have never owned or player a Rickenbacker or a copy, but I just want to say that I love that bit in the title of this thread: 'Rampant Rickenbuggery!' - makes me laugh every time I see it come up again. It's such a daft phrase but it keeps coming to me throughout the day ...... maybe I need to get out more.