LeftyBassist.com

Hey everyone,

I picked this Ric up in April after Paulo pointed it out to me (thanks, Paulo!). The previous owner was unloading it for an attractive price after not quite completing a refret. I took the plunge and then brought it to Steve Morrill (http://stevemorrillguitarrepair.com/) to give it a good once over, finish off the uncompleted work, and do a setup. The good news is that this bass is 100% playable and adjustable. The new frets are fine and just needed crowning, and I had Steve replace the previous owner's black plastic nut with a visually better matched bone nut. Truss rods turn easily in both directions.

This is the best playing bass I've ever had the pleasure of using. The neck is a dream and it took a very low action with no buzzing. It has the best balance of tone across the strings of any bass I've ever played. But I'm letting it go because as awesome as the tone is, it's not really my tone. I also don't like the bright color (lame, I know). So I'm passing it on so I can put the funds towards the SB-2 I've been wanting forever.

Now the negatives:

* The fingerboard has been "comfortized" with a slight bevel at the top edges. I would never intentionally remove wood from such a fine instrument, but I actually like the result.

* There's a patch of finish missing from the neck. It's polished smooth doesn't really affect playability, but it's a good sized patch (4" long) on the top side of the neck when in playing position.

* The original bridge has been replaced with a Hipshot.

Will ship with the original silver hard-shell case.

Thanks for looking!

-tim

More pix:

OHSC:

Lovely Ric! Why did it need a refret?

Thanks!

The previous owner didn't say why he did the work that he did. Hard to imagine a one-year old bass _needing_ a refret, though.

Looks BEAUTIFUL Tim!
Steve always do great work and I bet this one came out great!
The price is absolutely a great deal.
GLWTS!

Man, that is a beautiful bass, Tim!

tim wrote:Now the negatives:

...

* The original bridge has been replaced with a Hipshot.

That is an upgrade!

paulo wrote:Looks BEAUTIFUL Tim!
Steve always do great work and I bet this one came out great!
The price is absolutely a great deal.
GLWTS!

Thanks, Paulo!

superheavydeathmetal wrote:Man, that is a beautiful bass, Tim!

Thanks!

superheavydeathmetal wrote:That is an upgrade!

I hope so! I just wanted to point out that it wasn't original.

awesome bass and a steal of a deal! Surprised it's still available.

tim wrote:Thanks!

The previous owner didn't say why he did the work that he did. Hard to imagine a one-year old bass _needing_ a refret, though.

Just took a closer look at that invoice. I noticed the fingerboard was leveled, hence the refret. I had this issue with 2 brand new Rics in the past 5 years. Once they got sorted out they were amazing basses though.

Also, I desperately wish I could afford this right now

Matt R. wrote:Just took a closer look at that invoice. I noticed the fingerboard was leveled, hence the refret. I had this issue with 2 brand new Rics in the past 5 years. Once they got sorted out they were amazing basses though.

I would like to hear more about the issue with the brand-new Rics that you are alluding to, just for my own edification.

But to be clear, I'm going to try to describe what Steve did. Steve did not level the fretboard in the sense that he pulled the frets and sanded it level (if that's what you mean). Rather, with the new frets already in place, he scraped the fretboard to smooth out the finish, which was left uneven by the previous owner (glossy in some spots, dull in others). Steve doesn't have ventilation in his shop, so he couldn't varnish the fretboard to its original gloss, unfortunately.

I will upload better pictures of the fretboard in a moment....

Oh, gotcha. The issue with mine was that the fingerboard itself needed planing, which of course also necessitated a refret and a refin of the board. One of the Rics I owned wasn't as severe, so a PLEK dress leveled everything out perfectly. But the other one had to be refretted, planed, etc.

Damn!

Here is a link to an Imgur album with pictures of the fretboard I took just now: http://imgur.com/a/kFztG

I also tried to get good pics of the beveling that I described.

On hold pending a possible deal.....

....and the deal is DONE! Thanks everyone for the interest.

Just here to express my congrats/envy.

Matt R. wrote:Just here to express my congrats/envy.

Just here to express my happiness
Tim even came by to drop it off, thanks a lot Tim!

paulo wrote:

Matt R. wrote:Just here to express my congrats/envy.

Just here to express my happiness
Tim even came by to drop it off, thanks a lot Tim!

The pleasure was all mine, man! I enjoyed checking out your collection, and my daughter appreciated the juice and cookies. We'll have to get together again.

tim wrote:

paulo wrote:

Matt R. wrote:Just here to express my congrats/envy.

Just here to express my happiness
Tim even came by to drop it off, thanks a lot Tim!

The pleasure was all mine, man! I enjoyed checking out your collection, and my daughter appreciated the juice and cookies. We'll have to get together again.

you guys are welcome back any time!