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NFPD. New Faker Project Day


Paul S
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Rickenbacker basses were an itch I increasingly wanted to scratch but an expensive commodity to just take a punt on.  However a couple of years ago I chanced upon an early 70s MIJ Faker that was 'really' good and made me realise that I do, in fact, like them quite a lot.  Trouble was, the Faker weighed just south of 11lbs - far to much for me to ever stand a chance of wearing for a whole gig so with heavy heart I moved it on to Nik @silverfoxnik who is now enjoying it's clankiness.

 

So I tried a Ric-style bass and liked it.  But even the lightest of proper Rics are still just too heavy for me.  And, tbh, a bit on the dear side of what I want to pay.  I did some research and it seems the Retrovibe Renegade bass is extremely lightweight and a decent enough modding platform to create a half-decent Faker.  So I put out a plea on the Wanted ads to see if anyone had a spare.  And Davie @kodiakblair came to the rescue!  Plus he beat his parts draw and what fell out was a brace of decent Ric style pickups - a Retrovibe toaster and a Guyker RKH-IV N - and a chrome bezel for the bridge pickup.  All of which are now residing here.

 

The bass is currently sporting a single Musicman type pickup in the bridge position.  There is routing in the body under the pickguard for the neck pickup and, unbelievably, the bezel for the bridge pickup is a straight drop in where the MM pup is.  Need to decide which pickup is going where - looks at the moment like the toaster wil be at the neck as it has a threaded hole suitable for height adjustment but both will need some fettling.  Think I'll opt for 4 Ric style control knobs plus the toggle switch and blank the existing pickguard holes.  If it looks too much like a bodge I may splash out on a new one, but let's see how it turns out first. 

 

The bridge is great, I actually prefer it to the enormous clunky Ric one so it won't ever be a completely accurate copy.  it has a maple neck with dot markers.  Another decision is whether to cover these with the Ricky triangles - if so I will need to make my own out of vinyl so that they are big enough to cover the existing dots.  I may get a sheet and see - possibly black, just to keep the striking colour scheme going, possibly some sort of mother of toilet seat if I can find such a thing.  If not, no matter, a lot of Rics just had dots.

 

I'll do some of it myself, hand over to my tech mate for the electrics and fettling that requires steadier hands than mine :)  It's been a little while since I undertook a bit of a mod and I am really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

 

 

 

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I’ll be interested to see how this pans out. 
 

Just out of interest, how heavy is too heavy? Both of my ‘72s, while admittedly extremely expensive nowadays, are probably under 9lbs. And the walnut 4003 and the 4004 basses are probably lighter still. 

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49 minutes ago, 4000 said:

I’ll be interested to see how this pans out. 
 

Just out of interest, how heavy is too heavy? Both of my ‘72s, while admittedly extremely expensive nowadays, are probably under 9lbs. And the walnut 4003 and the 4004 basses are probably lighter still. 

 

Sadly, these days anything heavier than 8.5lbs is too heavy.  I aim for 8lbs.  According to my luggage scales the Renegade currently weighs in at just under 7lbs, so plenty of wiggle room for the extra pickups/electrics/knobs et al.

 

Question - how does the neck pickup fit?

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Nice.

 

IIRC, a lot of people rated the Retrovibe Fakers, and it is a darn sight cheaper than the real thing.

 

Never got on with the Retrovibe pickups TBH, they were a bit "soul-less" to my ears, but again, a lot of people like them. Gemini pickups in North Wales do some really nice, handwound replacement pickups, but they're not cheap.

 

Had a few Rockinbetter's over the years, replacing a 4003 when I had to sell. But now have a couple of 4003's again, so the last Rockinbetter is in my son's possession. Although the body was thicker than a 4003, they were still a fair bit lighter, but the neck dimensions & feel were pure 4001/4003.

 

Enjoy your Retrovibe! 

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Well, all the bits have arrived and been handed over to the guy who does my bits and pieces and he is going to make a start on it next week.  Going to treat it to a new pickguard and 4 of these Ric-style jaunty, labelled knobs - treble/bass and volume/tone so I don't forget which one does what :)  Plus a fat toggle pickup selector switch.  It won't look exactly like a Ric and I don't suppose it will sound exactly like a Ric but near enough to keep me happy - plus it is going to cost me under £375 all in, which isn't exactly like a Ric, either.  I'm allowing myself to get a bit excited about this :D Pics will be posted when done.

 

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Got it back this morning.  I couldn't be happier!  :D

 

Looks amazing - Leighton Jennings made a fabulous job of the modding - and actually sounds great, too.  I thought at first it was a touch too mellow in the clank department but then changed the eq from my P bass setting to a slight push on the upper mids (I normally cut these) and a bit more treble and now have a passable Rick-type tone.  With all the new innards it works out at 3.4kg, which is a whisker under 7.5lbs.  A little neck dive, cured by a grippy strap.  Happy chap :) 

 

Big question - do I bother with some black triangle 'inlay' markers?  I invested a whole 99p in getting a sheet to make some but am now thinking it looks fab without.  Maybe I'll do it and see.  Someone who knows Ricks would know but I have a feeling the unbound bodies are more likely to have dot markers anyway?

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That was pretty much what I believed. Sadly my max usable weight has gone from around 9lbs to 8.5 tops over the last couple of years which filters out a large range. But, there again, there's plenty of good lightweight basses. 😊 

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9 hours ago, Paul S said:

Got it back this morning.  I couldn't be happier!  :D

 

Looks amazing - Leighton Jennings made a fabulous job of the modding - and actually sounds great, too.  I thought at first it was a touch too mellow in the clank department but then changed the eq from my P bass setting to a slight push on the upper mids (I normally cut these) and a bit more treble and now have a passable Rick-type tone.  With all the new innards it works out at 3.4kg, which is a whisker under 7.5lbs.  A little neck dive, cured by a grippy strap.  Happy chap :) 

 

Big question - do I bother with some black triangle 'inlay' markers?  I invested a whole 99p in getting a sheet to make some but am now thinking it looks fab without.  Maybe I'll do it and see.  Someone who knows Ricks would know but I have a feeling the unbound bodies are more likely to have dot markers anyway?

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Look at that! That's really something, nice one.

I'd vote for leaving the neck as it is, the bass has a classy understated thing going on right now. Black triangles would be a bit too much I reckon. 

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