Doing Things Wrong

RIP Neil Peart

I was so into Rush when I was a teenager. Not one of those people who followed them around, but I saw them several times in the eighties. That's why I have this thing:

1978 Rickenbacker 4001 'BurgundyGlo'

It's still in very good shape, especially for its age - neck straight, double truss rods fine, front unblemished. The zinc bridge blistered-up and the nickel tuners turned black, so I replaced them all with real Ric parts. I also added a Ric 330k switching pot to give it the 4003 sound, wired upside-down from the usual way on a 4003, and full electronics shielding. The all-red 'BurgundyGlo' finish is rather rare, most red ones are bursts.

Here's Rush at the top of their game
Widely regarded as the greatest pizza deliveryman of all time

Yesterday I hunted around for stuff. The trusty local hobby shop is all out of everything but balsa, and it didn't sound like they were getting anything else in, ever ! So I went down the road a piece to the high-end builder's supply / lumberyard (Dykes) to see what they had. And I turned up this nice piece of 5/4" x 6" maple. 5/4" is actually 1", the same way 1" is actually 3/4", and 6" is actually 5-1/2". I looked at a couple of pieces, and took three feet off the nicest one for about $18.

Printed from luthierylabs.com