Description
A complete stripdown was the first thing that had to be done and a few notable things occured on what should be a relatively staight forward job. The upper strap button wouldnt come out as it had suffered a severe clout at some time and was bent at 45degrees in the middle .The second thing was that the lower pickguard was stuck to the body with “Human Glue” (Better than Epoxy) so as she was going to have new ones it didn’t matter that what was left of the oxidised gold paint came off and stuck to the body. Once she was completely naked, her neck was glued and clamped for three days. The original finish was sanded and filled then given two coats of black nitrocellulose followed by 4 coats of clear nitro lacquer. After being left to harden for two weeks she was sanded buffed and polished to a mirror shine, deserving of a classic Rickenbacker.
All the pickups and fittings were stripped and cleaned, the open circuit center pickup was repaired and new RickySounds pickguards made to match the original TRC which wasn’t in too bad a condition.
Finally she was put back together replacing every tarnished screw, fitted with straplock strap pins, set up and now she plays very nicely with a greatly improved action.