1979 Rickenbacker 4001 rebuild - | P1 | P2 | P3

Page 3 of the build log
 
 
Dragged the old router sled out from the dusty corner it has sat in for the past 10 years as I have just found a neat new way to use it. This is the first jig I built when I began building guitars seriously. Simple yet very effective. I used to use it for leveling off body blanks.

This is an ideal method of thining a headstock and one i will use again. So much more precise than the horrible "Safe T Planer" i have used previously.
 
 

And there it is. At this point I begin my departure from the way the original was built. The angle is quite a bit steeper at almost 2 deg. This will give a bit more pressure on the nut and hopefully a nice solid tone. Instead of the lump thing that is under the nut on the older ricks i will use a slight volute. From here it will develop on its own as I carve away the bits that don't look bass like.

Next I will glue on the finger board. I will most likely fret it after the neck carve. the wings will go on when all the other stuff is done. That will be the final construction phase. After that it is polish and finish.

Except that I forgot that a veneer is going on the top face. That's the next job actually, now I think about it. I have some real nice figured maple veneer that will look spot on.
 
 
Ok so I didn't do the headstock veneer yet. Probably would have been the smarter way to go. I want to see this project coming together as quickly as possible. The fingerboard glue down is always a bit of a milestone for me so I done it today to finish the weeks work on a strong note.
 
 

Skipped some steps here. Fret markers in both side and fingerboard which has been levelled and polished. Next the frets were cut and pressed in. Once they were down I levelled crowned and polished them.

The project is moving into the final stages of construction now. Next step is the all important neck carve which i will have mostly done by tomorrow night.

The end is now in sight with just the wings to be attached and veneer glued to the headstock. Getting the wings in postion and glued down will be a short but very exacting job. Luckily for me I built some shaped clamping cauls for this job earlier in the build.
 

 
 

Neck carve stage 1. Still a couple or 3 mm too thick but getting close to the finished dimensions. The basic shapes are beginnning to emerge. I ripped it out with the band saw and spidle sander to start it off. from there it was about establishing a rounded back profile [nearly there] and a level plane up the center of the back wich is pretty much there as well.

The volute will shrink down a little from here. It will strengthen the area around the truss rod adjustment access port. this is a well known breaking point for many necks. seeing as I have plenty of material available I may as well make it as strong as it can be.
 
 
 

The carve is getting close to truth now. Stage 2 is with the curves established and at the sanding tolerance which will take it down to final dimensions. It is a refining game from here. A matter of finding the flats and bumps and slowly getting it to feel and look right.

At this point it has become itself and all thoughts of plans and numbers are out the window. My eyes search for the perfect profile at every point. Very occasionally I check the thickness from the finger board to the back just to ensure I am still outside final dimension. A few points of a mil is fine as long as it is on my side.

As a neck it is starting to feel good and it will be finished soon. Once I get up to 200 grit it will be time to get out the wings and get them glued into place. At that point I can finess the butt and make final adjustmenst where needed. Looks like the veneer face for the headstock will be the last bit.
 
 
One more leveling swipe and a clean up of the carve with 120 grit and the profiles look pretty smooth. I will leave it at that and clean up any lumps and bumps I find in it over the next day or so. Amazing what a fresh set of eyeballs will see.
 
 

Holy crap it is starting to look like a bass. Next job is to get the wings mated up to the center beam. they seem square to the edges but not in a straight line from end to end. Will true those up then glue on the top bout first. Next day the bottom bout will go on. Headstock veneer after that,

There is one niggly little job that needs to be done and I really need to apply the brain matter to just how that will be done. The butt sits about 3mm proud of the wings and it will need to be shaped to follow the curve of the wings. In the 70's when this one was first built the wings and beam would be glued together as a blank and cut with a bandsaw and pin routed to a template. These days of course the rics are cut with lasers and computer driven cutting machines. Humans don't do any work on them until the guitar is pretty much omplete.
 
 
 

The build is pretty much over at this point. First time I have done a neck through and this is an exciting moment. Veneer on the heastock, a little finnessing of the cavities and then on to the sand and finish phase. Once the wood work is done and before final sanding I need to put the hardware in place and see how it all lines up.

There wont be much more on this build log except for pics of the finished beast. It has been a long build and a big thanks to jerry the owner for his patience and faith in my ability to get this done.

 
 

Ok it is the time of truth. It is out of clamps and the surfaces of the wings and center beam have been planed to match. The butt has been shaped to the curve of the wings and looks perfect.

Main thing is we now have a bass that is not far from completion and it looks great to my eyes at least.
 
 
Finally got the headstock veneered. The figure will get stronger and more 3d as it gets polished out.
 
 
 
Now to sort out the cavity for the horrible Rickenbacker bridge. I checked the back pickup cavity and happily the cover plate is plenty big enough.
 
 
 
 
 

Cutting the tuner holes. You can see the tuner just peeping over the top of the ferrule. It is not down firm on the face of the headstock as this is just a fit test. I don't want push the feruule all the way home until final fit up.

The last job is done and at this point the buid is over. Next comes sanding, finishing assembling and setup. Been a long build and like all of them lessons have been learned.