Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[Highlander]

If they would only stay blue!

Presume they are prone to fade...?

(and fretless too... )

[Dave W]

Presume they are prone to fade...?

(and fretless too... )

Yes, it's only six years old and already green. The original color is a powder blue. It was first a custom color made for Jim Reeves and his Blue Boys. An image search will show you how green some of them have become.

[Highlander]

My mums favourite singer, bar none...

I knew most of his material before I had picked up any instrument...

[ilan]

S/8 in Red (reverse trim - chrome/white guard).

[chromium]

S/8 in Red (reverse trim - chrome/white guard).

Just a friendly heads-up to anyone on the Internets looking at that red 4003s/8 serial C68789... that bass had a massive bow in the neck that the current seller didn't disclose.  Someone on Ebay bought it for $2770 on 10/25, and apparently has returned it (didn't look like a shill, and the seller left the buyer feedback).  Now the same seller states the neck is "warp free".

Fretting at the 20th left roughly 5/8" between the strings and fingerboard when I played it in October.  Even if they did manage to work the bow out, I'd be concerned about it recurring.  Prior to my experience with it, the bass had been thru Elderly, possibly Mike Parks (according to a post at RR), and now this place Gold Pawn (who I confirmed has a tech come in for setups).  If it is in fact problem-free, well then I'd expect it to hold a setup much better that that!

I could only speculate that this might be one of the specimens that requires truss rod swaps, or has a "soft timber" issue...  In either case, its probably fixable with some work - but buyer beware!

[ilan]

Thanks for clarifying that.

[leftybass]

Horseshoe's mounting plate looks backwards.

[gearHed289]

Horseshoe's mounting plate looks backwards.

It is. If you flip a horseshoe trim ring around, the holes from the stock one match up, so you don't have to drill. Personally, I don't like the way it looks. I had put a horseshoe on my S/8 and the change in tone was so minor I decided it wasn't worth the extra weight, and having the shoes hanging over the strings. Back to stock (minus the cover).

[ilan]

A very nice 1972 S:

[ilan]

v63 in White! Like the very limited edition C64, but - thank God - without the upside-down headstock.

And the coolest serial number!

[Dave W]

Beauty! And no doubt when it was made. 

[chromium]

That's sharp!  I don't care much for the reverse headstock on them either - always liked the v63.

Speaking of.... can anyone here recommend a place that can build a v63 pickguard that is fairly true to original (material-wise)?  Just curious if anyone has personal experience with the products from places like Pickguardian, and how they compare to original.

[ilan]

Tony's material is identical to RIC's Plexiglas (unlike Fender and pretty much the rest of the guitar world, that use vinyl).

His repro Ric guards are indistinguishable from Ric factory guards (which aren't always consistent, the white can be opaque or slightly see-thru, in which case you can spray the back side white if you want), except that he doesn't stick a strip of masking tape under the knob holes like RIC does.

[SeanS]

Thing I could never understand was the guard was nowhere near right on these and the CS, it goes too near the edge of the body in the area of the Bridge Volume control.

[chromium]

Tony's material is identical to RIC's Plexiglas (unlike Fender and pretty much the rest of the guitar world, that use vinyl).

His repro Ric guards are indistinguishable from Ric factory guards (which aren't always consistent, the white can be opaque or slightly see-thru, in which case you can spray the back side white if you want), except that he doesn't stick a strip of masking tape under the knob holes like RIC does.

I ended up with a (actually, very nice) 4003s8 project on the cheap, and may or may not want to fit a replacement pg.  Doubt I can (should) leverage the 1/2" neck pickup spacing while attempting to reinforce it, and so a v63 makeover probably isn't realistic...  (did get a horsey for it, though).  I should probably be thinking more along the lines of a 4000s8   

At any rate, thanks!