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

rat's nest

One of the fun things about building electric guitars is wiring them up. Factory wiring tends to be simple, minimizing the amount of fussy handwork required. Many manufacturers keep strictly to 'classic' designs, seldom if ever changing anything. These designs are generally simplistic, often crude or even stupid, and sometimes outright flawed. There is no need for you to do this. I don't. Here are some of the things I have done over the years. I don't claim to have invented any of this, although some of these schematics I have never seen anywhere else, and had to derive them myself.