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Topic: Fun With a Rickenbacker Ace |
Doug Freeman
From:
Los Angeles, CA
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 4:23 pm |
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Had been looking for a Rickenbacker Ace or Academy in hopes of using it on my gig rather than dragging my minty (and heavier) B6 around town. Bought Ben Elder's Ace last week and did some work on it. First off, that molded "handrest" pickup cover is for the birds, if you want any hope of getting your palm anywhere near the pickup. This one was cracked so I decided just to cut the damn thing off and flat sand it, making it essentially like the Academy, which had the exposed pickup. (I'm convinced, btw, that and the chrome plating on the horseshoe magnets are the only differences between the Ace and the Academy, whereas I've seen some hogwash saying one's a much better guitar than the other.) Filled in and re-cut the bridge height slots, which were all over the place. Epoxied a cracked tuner button. Made a back cover plate for the pickup and control cavities out of a piece of brown roofing sheet metal aluminum patch. Replaced the volume (250K) and tone (500K) pots and output jack. Finally, because this one had no peghead decal, I found a nice hula girl image, made a decal out of it and put it on there myself. Played it on the gig last night and it sounds great, very close to the B6. Here's some pics:
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 5:18 pm
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| Great job on that Doug! I like the magnets with paint on them, matching the rest of the guitar. Nice ! |
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Ron Simpson
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 20 Aug 2011 4:03 pm
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| I agree with Bill, that you did a great job. Is there much difference in sound between the B6, and the Ace/Academy? I've wondered if the one piece construction might sound better than the separate body and neck of the B6. |
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Doug Freeman
From:
Los Angeles, CA
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Posted 20 Aug 2011 8:37 pm
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| They're really pretty close in sound. As regards these two particular instruments I'd say the B6 is just a little richer and more hi-fi sounding, the Ace maybe a little drier and brighter. But not by much. For my purposes they're interchangeable so it's a successful experiment. Very happy with the Ace. |
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