Rickenbacker bass case foot repairs

Bigguy2017 · June 30, 2018

My Rick bass case, the standard factory black ABS one has the pretty common impacted/broken foot problem. I'd been meaning to fix it for months and finally did the necessary.

After much investigation I decided Araldite epoxy and a patch wouldn't work (the case being ABS - a styrene plastic) but various MEK pipe-weld solutions would.

Also the cement I use for archery, for fixing fletches to arrows, being MEK based would work with ABS.

I found a foot repair kit on eBay from Rickysounds

https://ebay.co.uk/itm/Foot-Repair-Kit-For-Rickenbacker-Standard-Cases-Set-Of-4/292375721240?hash=item4412f37518:g:lo0AAOSwvApaOCk0

After a couple of hours toil the end result is excellent, and at £20 a lot cheaper than a new case and it keeps the originalilty.

So if you have this problem and fancy a bit of DIY I'd recommend the repair kit - adhesive is optional but it's a better job with I think.

Here's my DIY guide to the repair...

Rickenbacker case broken foot fix
==========================
You will need the following items...

Rickysounds case foot repair kit consisiting of;
4 x large ABS repair pieces (for lower half of case, inner and outer)
4 x smaller ABS repair pieces (for case lid, inner and outer)
4 x rubber feet
4 x longer allen bolts (for repair pieces and foot)
8 x shorter allen bolts (for repair pieces)
12 x penny washers
12 x spring washers
12 x flanged nuts

8mm nut spinner
3mm allen key
5mm drill
decorater's scraper
medium pliers

Saunders NPV arrow mate cement (optional)
MEK pipe weld adhesive (optional)
nitrile rubber glove/s (optional)
240 grit wet and dry abrasive paper (optional)
1/2" paint brush (optional)
cloth (optional)

*** DO THIS IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA ***
*** WEAR RUBBER GLOVES WHEN USING MEK AND AVOID BREATHING IN THE FUMES ***
*** WARNING - MEK AND MPV ADHESIVE ARE FLAMMABLE ***
============================
Segregate the various pieces and fittings and understand where they are to go...
From the outside the order is;

rubber foot
outer repair piece (larger on case lower half, smaller on case upper/lid)
adhesive (optional)
case wall
adhesive (optional)
inner repair piece
penny washer
spring washer
flanged nut

1. carefully release and pry out polystyrene case lining with scraper
2. remove existing metal cone feet by compressing retaining lugs with pliers and pulling free
3. from outside, drill out existing foot mounting hole with 5mm drill
4. roughen outer repair piece with emery and paint repair piece and similar area of case with MEK
5. apply NPV cement to repair piece
6. using one of the four longer allen bolts, fix outer repair piece in place using centre 5mm hole
7. align repair piece square to case edge, and drill other two 5mm holes
8. insert two shorter allen bolts in new holes

move to the case's inside...

9. apply NPV cement to inner repair piece and locate in place on the three allen bolts
10. on each allen bolt put a penny washer, spring washer and a flanged nut.
11. tighten nuts with 8mm nut spinner, using 3mm allen key to stop bolts spinning.
tighten some more as the repair pieces settle into place.
12. remove any excess adhesive using some MEK on a cloth

13. repeat with the other end of the case

14. move the the other half of the case and repeat the above...

15. replace the polystyrene case lining pieces
16. All done...

Keep the repaired case, open, in a well ventilated area for the next 24 hours to allow adhesives to harden and fumes to disperse.