Rickenbacker 325 Bass 3 (3/3) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Rickenbacker 325 Bass 3 (3/3)

Well, it's that time of year again, time to renew the web hosting. And for those of you that don't know, that has become a lot more expensive than it used to be. Fifty dollars a year is now several hundred. Not to mention the price of domain names has gone up ten-fold.

And I just found out that the nice folks at PayPal disabled all my Support buttons, and I never got a notice (although that may be my fault.) In any case, it is all working again now, so if you would like to make a small donation to help defray these costs, it would be greatly appreciated.

More Plastic Problems

After a few years, this is what the white pickguard turned into. While the discoloration certainly looks like a light shadow, this was exposed only to indirect room light, not direct sunlight. I guess for some plastics, any light at all will do this. This is another piece that I am certain I sourced direct from China. Fortunately, this is a simple part to replicate, and after my previous failures with RetroBright, I didn't bother.

This is a giant piece of white plastic that I got for free from Home Depot. I've had it for several years, and it shows no sign of yellowing, so I think it is safe to use. The biggest problem is cutting a small piece off the big one to start with. This plastic is a little bit prone to cracking if you are rough with it, but nothing like clear.

The loose blue covering promised to be a problem, so I peeled it off and replaced it with masking tape. The rest was easy, using the old parts are templates.

The trussrod cover is also a bit yellowed, but that is more a matter of the polyurethane over the decal than the plastic. I'll live with it. This is the third pickguard I've replaced lately, all for the same reason: inferior material from China.