Burny RLC-65S Solidbody

Yes, folks, it's another Far Eastern solidbody that bears a remarkable resemblance to a Gibson Les Paul Custom. Judging by the headstock inlay, empty battery compartment and unusual control layout; I believe it to be a modified RLC-65S. 

My take on this guitar is that somewhere down the line, the neck-position sustainer pickup was replaced with a chrome-plated covered humbucker; and all related circuitry, controls and switches removed [master volume, master tone, sustainer volume and on/off mini-toggle switch]. 

The guitar was then rewired in the classic configuration of twin volume and tone controls; with the original holes being re-used. This would explain the empty battery compartment and haphazard control layout. 

This black beauty was made in Korea, according to the sticker on the back of the headstock. Among its most pertinent features are a solid wood "sandwich" body, set-neck construction, bound rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets, shielded control cavity, gold hardware, binding on the headstock [five-ply], front [seven-ply] and back [five-ply] of body; and a four-ply black pickguard. 

Work done on this Burny RLC-75S includes nut replacement, fretboard reconditioning, thorough clean and polish, electronics servicing, and setup with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys. With that, I humbly conclude this post. Thanks for visiting and do drop by again real soon. Meanwhile, stay home, stay safe; and a Happy New Year to everyone :)

BC Rich US Series Outlaw Solidbody

Here's a BC Rich US Series Outlaw that came in for an electronics overhaul and setup. It was bought used in 1999 and has definitely seen a lot of use since then. If you'd like to compare this guitar to a similar one in much better shape, do check out this Reverb listing.

The BC Rich Outlaw is basically a Strat-style solidbody featuring a maple neck, 12" radius maple fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, two humbuckers, three-way blade switch, two volumes and one tone; and Strat-style six-screw tremolo bridge.

There was lots wrong with this Outlaw when it came in. Plugged in, all you could hear was a loud hum. Yes, open circuit! Besides this, the frets were badly worn and the saddles frozen. Oh yes, someone had also reamed out the jack plate and installed a barrel jack. Further checking revealed rusted-out electronics and seriously miswired pickup leads. To put it bluntly, the guitar would not have worked even if the pots were Emerson Pros, the switch a CRL; and the jack a Switchcraft #11.

The whole control cavity was gutted and pickups removed for a thorough checkup. Each had four leads plus a braided ground. Both coils of both pickups were working, and so, after splicing some extra wire (the leads had been cut a tad too short by the previous tech) and a rewire; everything was fine and dandy.

The rusty pots were replaced with Alpha 500Ks, the switch with a generic PCB-type; and barrel jack with a Neutrik/Rean NYS229. And, as the oval jack plate had been attached to the body with humungous pan head screws; the oversized screw holes were plugged and redrilled to accept generic 1/2" pickguard screws.

As for the frozen saddles, they were removed and given a good soak in lube. After things had loosened up somewhat, the saddle height screws were unscrewed with the aid of nippers. Following this, new saddle height screws, as well as intonation screws/springs; were installed.

This Outlaw badly needed a full refret as the frets were worn down too low for a dressing. However, insufficient funds dictated that this would not come to pass. And so, after slapping on a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys, the guitar was tuned to pitch, the truss rod tightened a tad; and action/intonation done.

Well folks, that's about it for this post. Thanks for dropping by, I appreciate it very much. And though we're all facing challenging times, do have a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones :)

Acknowledgement
Fender®, Stratocaster®, Strat®, Telecaster®, Tele®, P Bass®, Precision Bass®, and the distinctive headstock designs of these guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

 

Vintage Aria 1820 Restoration: Part Two

Related Posts    

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

This is the second post in an ongoing series concerning the restoration of a vintage '70s Aria 1820 Short-Scale Bass. In this post we will look at hardware removal, tuner test-fitting; and also headstock finish repair.

We'll start off with the bridge, then. Everything was frozen in place, the twin saddles, the slotted height adjustment screws; as well as the intonation screws. To make matters worse, the heads of the six screws securing the bridge were so rusty that they had disintegrated; making removal with a screwdriver virtually impossible.

The only alternative was to drill off the screw heads using my drill press, remove the bridge, and then utilize a hollow punch drill bit to drill around the embedded screws. This would create isolated wooden "plugs" around each screw, which could then be pried out.

Everything went along as planned, and the embedded screws were successfully removed without too much fuss. Following this, the gaping holes were plugged with wooden dowels made from sawed-off sections of drumsticks. Oh yes, maple makes for a good plug, I tell you. These plugs were then trimmed flush with the surrounding wood.

The next task was removing the neck so I could i) work on the body separately, and ii) adjust the neck pitch. To my dismay, the neck mounting screws would not turn at all despite my using a T-wrench screwdriver. I tried and tried, but only succeeded in breaking the screwdriver.

Left with no choice, it was back to the drill press. The mounting screw heads were all drilled off; and the neck plate removed. Now I was left with headless rusty screws that were still refusing to budge. It seemed that they had rusted off inside the wood and were permanently stuck in both the neck pocket and heel.

Out came the hollow punch bits, and eventually the neck was separated from the body. The screws were still stubbornly embedded in the neck heel, so the hollow punch bits were once again used to create plugs around the screws; as had been done while removing the bridge mounting screws. 

Sure enough, these stubborn neck mounting screws were finally removed, leaving gaping circular holes that needed to be plugged. And plugged they were, with wooden dowels and wood glue. The oversized holes in the neck pocket were also plugged in a similar manner; and trimmed flush.

Meanwhile, I was also working on fitting new tuners as the stock ones were unusable. Every few turns, the gears would slip. Besides this, the tuner posts were awful "wobbly," for lack of a better word. They had to be replaced, no doubt about that. Unfortunately, generic Fender-style open gear tuners would be too large for this headstock, and protrude over the top if installed.

The only alternative was to install Ibanez-style tuners, which had a smaller housing. As luck would have it, the existing tuner post holes were way too small to accommodate the Ibanez-style tuner posts. Enlarging the holes with a reamer did the trick, and the tuners were test-fitted. Of course, the 16 old tuner mounting screw holes were not left just like that. They were plugged with bamboo dowels and super glue.

The issue of the damaged finish (lacquer, perhaps?) surrounding the black "Aria" lettering also needed to be addressed as it was cracking and flaking off; exposing the precious lettering to damage. As it stood, exposed portions of the lettering had already started to fade. The solution? Super glue, of course!

Super glue was applied thinly in successive layers to the lettering and surrounding lacquer, making sure that it seeped underneath the edges of the flakes and into the cracks. In time, this would help seal the cracks and secure the flakes to the headstock, thus preventing further deterioration. The process was terminated once the super glue buildup had exceeded the thickness of the existing lacquer; as it could now be sanded flush.

The super glue layer was carefully wet-sanded using successively finer grits of abrasives until it was level with the existing lacquer on the headstock face. Following this, the entire headstock face and back were scuff-sanded in preparation for the final step; sealing with Tru-Oil. The application of Tru-Oil served well in blending the super glue and existing lacquer into one adequately-smooth layer, which was then waxed with Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax and buffed by hand.

Of course, one can still see the patch of super glue upon close inspection. However, as the objective of the exercise was to repair the finish damage and protect the valuable "Aria" lettering; I believe we should be satisfied with the outcome. That's about it for this post, folks. There's lots more that needs to be done, and these will be covered in upcoming posts. Till I see you again, stay home, stay safe, keep on rocking; and God bless :)

 

Vintage Aria 1820 Restoration: Part One

Related Posts    

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Preamble
Aria has long been a well-loved name in guitars and basses. Today's post is the first of four featuring a Matsumoku-built Aria short-scale bass from the '70s, namely; the 1820. Although it's in rather poor shape, the pickups are still functioning. 

The maple/ash/maple "sandwich" body has delaminated along the edges, and someone tried to stick it back together using grey autobody filler (which didn't work). The body was then sprayed black, and it's flaking off; revealing the original sunburst underneath. 

Sadly, I forgot to take a pic of the bass before taking it apart. To make up for that oversight, the first pic in this post is one of a similar bass in much better condition; courtesy of Izzy's Vintage Guitars. It's for educational purposes only, so don't nobody sue me; please.

There is quite a lot of interesting information on the web about the 1820, as well as some fine pics for you to browse through at leisure. I've included links to relevant sites in the "Further Reading" section of this article. Do take the time to check them out, you won't be disappointed! 

Meanwhile, the next section highlights some specs related to the specific bass I'm working on. Note that these specs are based on my own observations, as well as information sourced from the aforementioned sites.

Specifications
Body: Maple/Ash/Maple "sandwich"
Finish: Three-tone sunburst
Body Length/Width/Depth: 44-1/2”/13-1/4”/1-3/8”
Neck: Three-piece maple
Fretboard: Rosewood/30-1/2” scale length/9-1/2" radius/20 frets
Pickups: Two/Chrome Covers
Controls: Three-way toggle selector/Volume/Tone
Bridge: Two-way adjustable
Hardware: Chrome
Pickguard: Four-ply W/B/W/B
Tuners: Enclosed
Neck Plate Information: Steel Adjustable Neck/Made in Japan/1029267

Special Mention
The pickups on this bass deserve special mention as they're quite unlike anything I've come across, contemporary or vintage. To begin with, they aren't attached to the body or covers in any way. They simply "sit" in their respective pickup cavities, cushioned by foam; and held in place by the chrome pickup covers. 

So, if you remove the covers; the pickups will fall out just like that. The pickups' polepieces protrude through round holes in the pickup covers, and I guess that helps keep them from moving about when the covers are closed. 

The covers themselves are not attached to the pickups (as mentioned before), but screwed into the pickguard and underlying wood. Long story short, you won't be able to adjust the height of these pickups as easily as you would a generic single-coil or humbucker. 

The polepieces can be screwed in or out, though; so I guess you can at least play around with that. Now, the best part: the pickups' magnets are not part of the pickups themselves. They just stick to the bottom of the coils via magnetism (of course) and can easily be removed. There are two magnets sticking to the bottom of each pickup. Interesting, isn't it? 

Plan of Action
This bass needs a major overhaul, for sure. Among the parts that will be replaced include the tuners, control cavity components, bridge, neck plate, screws; and strap buttons. I understand that ideally, the neck plate, bridge and tuners should be retained. 

They are in such bad and unusable shape, however; that it would be impractical to do so. I'll just clean them up as best I can and ask the owner to keep them as proof of this bass' vintage pedigree. 

Meanwhile, the body will be stripped down to bare wood, repaired and refinished, and the headstock face restored; with great care taken to preserve the "Aria" black lettering. That's what I've mapped out, but we'll see how it goes. Do stay tuned for further updates on this Aria 1820 Short-Scale Bass Restoration.

Further Reading
1. Vintage Aria 1820 1820T 1970's Sunburst MIJ Japan Shortscale Short Scale Offset Bass Guitar
2. Vintage 1970's Aria 1820 Electric Bass Guitar! Made in Japan, Great Player!
3. Matsumoku Aria FE**ER Bass Clones
4. Aria Diamonds 1820 Jazz 70's Vintage road worn arctic white
5. Aria 1820/1830 Bass Body 1968-1976 Unfinished
6. 1972 Aria Model 1820 Electric Bass