Rickenbacker copy

[Raisinbrain]

Hi,

Another addition to the herd. Although this one is rougher than most.

Its a bolt-on and I'm pretty sure its Korean. The finish is identical to my Korean El Degas Les Paul and the neck plate does not say "Made in Japan".






The action was really high so I shimmed the neck with a dime but have yet to put on new strings. The biggest challenge looks to be the lacquer finish that a previous owner has applied to the rosewood fretboard. Yuck. Anyone have any ideas how I can most easily remove the lacquer without ruining the neck or binding?

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure I could sell this one without too much trouble. It was posted on Kijiji Sunday night by a pawnshop. I was there at 9 a.m. Monday and the guy behind the counter asks me if my name is Jeff (which it is) and I'm really curious how he knows my name. Then he asks me if my last name is Marshall (which it isn't). It was just coincidence that someone else named Jeff texted him as soon as the store opened asking him to hold the bass until he got there. Not surprisingly, the price negotiation did not go well.

It is also worth mentioning that I remembered reading a post on this forum recently regarding another El Degas Rickenbacker copy that someone was considering buying. One of the responses was that they should buy it since the odds of ever even seeing another one were pretty slim. I couldn't agree more.

[charles]

Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure the lacquered fretboard is original. Every one of the Ric 4000 copies I've seen has had it.

Nice bass. I'm not sure on the country of manufacture. I actually would have guessed MIJ but I would have been purely speculating. You could be right on it being MIK.

You should get some Ric-style knobs on it, post-haste! I always cringe when I see speed knobs on something like this... just my opinion .

I'd be very interested to see a photo of how they've done the bolt-on neck joint.

[Raisinbrain]

As you wish...

BTW, I think I forgot to mention the pancake body. Just like my Les Paul.

And not to cause you aggrivation, but I like the speed knobs. Coincidentally my p-bass has them too.

The images in my message preview come out wonky, but if I download them they look just fine. Let me know how you make out.

Cheers,

Jef

[charles]

The images look crazy in the post (probably due to their size), but I right-clicked them and selected "View image" and viewed them just fine.

They really should have just done a neck-through - they went through all the trouble of making that long neck tenon for the bolt-on anyway! They were a third of the way there.

Thanks for sharing!

[Raisinbrain]

The images should be fine now. Hard to believe that I was an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop. Photoshop 5.

Thanks for the info on the lacquered neck Charles. I've never been this close to a real Rickenbacker. You have just saved me untold hours of grueling chemical labour.

[charles]

Images are much better now.

I'd hate to strip a lacquered fretboard! I guess if there was a refret happening at the same time it would be better.
Apparently Ric has been lacquering their fretboards since around 1958-1960 (according to some Rick forums I found through some googling).

[Barry]

Looks like a decent copy Raisinbrain.
Real Ricks of all kinds are difficult to get, and even the copies are in demand it seems, and you obviously had luck on your side with this one. But I agree with Charles...lose them speed knobs!!