1978 Rickenbacker 4001 Refinish

Step One 


Stripped off old laquer finish with very harsh chemicals and plenty of sanding. Also replaced dual truss rods in neck at this point.
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Step Two


Removed plastic white body binding and replaced with two layers of walnut vaneer. Actually a pretty cool look in itself. I went two layers as the material was thin. If possible go with one thicker layer and just sand down to correct thickness.
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Step Three


 Applied adhesive to surface of bass and to back of laminate sheet pre notched for fretboard. After this set, trimmed excess off with a knife and sanded level with sides.

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Step Four

Trimmed out the pick up, bridge and control cavities with a knife and mini drum sander. Note the poor job routing out the wiring channel! This is a factory job Way to go Rickenbacker

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Step Five

 
Rubbed Tongue Oil on all the exposed Walnut and Maple to seal woodgrain. This really deepened the woodgrain and could be left as is.....

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Step Six

 
...However I chose to make this look like a high end coffee table and applied several coats of polyurethane with light sanding between each coat..

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Finished??????

 
Not quite. The pickguard is a temporary I cut out of tub surround material. I plan on doing a pickguard and truss rod cover out of a birch or maple to keep with the woodgrain theme while keeping light on top of the darker walnut.