I completely forgot the Rickenbacker and start to enjoy to play it. The dealer encouraged said "you make a business with this bass". Yes, I thought, the first to make a business it was him. I didn't say I was a rock star but a professional, that is, playing covers every night to make the people dance. I could not present my self with that piece in hands, all the band had good instruments and sure they would say things like "where have you got that thing, couldn't you buy a new bass?". But that voice was unbeatable.
"And how much it would be this business?" I asked. He said a price and I replied "look that this thing would need some work on it". Well, in effect the bass was all there, it required to remake the white bridge on the neck and the lack on the back of the neck would need a refresh, in some part it was gone and with a intensive use I could get my hand hurt. The body was scratched, mat and dirty. Would be not a problem for playing it. The problem would be with my band.
After a while we agreed for a price, making a guess, at that time was something like $120.

I took it to a Master (there where few very good in my town), he told me soon "we will never touch the headstock, it is the sign of a Master", of course he was experienced about that.
"Ok, let's repair the neck bridge and refresh the back of the neck, and since I hate this color remove it and spray it with the transparent lack you will use for the neck." It costs me $30 but it comes out beautiful. You can see it.

Hey don't look at my bass in that strange way. Well, yes, at that time it was fashion to wear a big belt which used to leave the sign on the instrument, and there it is. For scratches lovers. The dark mark on the neck was left by the prior owner, probably he was sweating very much.

I tell you, the guys in the band after a gig told me "sounds good that bass". What a satisfaction.
Sometimes other musician come and say "the bass has a very leading sound", I used to reply "perhaps I am a bit louder, my amp is a big one", "no" they say "you are not too loud, but the voice of the bass is leading over the other instruments".
Some musician owning a new Jazz Bass had the wish to have a try with my bass and their amp. Just unplug their bass, plug mine and start playing then they turn back to the amp. Hey, nobody has touched your amp. "Mine is a Fender too, why doesn't sound the same?" they say. Some of them end it up changing the bass.

Since that time has never been touched except for the frets. It was originally fretted, but you know, if you play every night after some year the frets are flat and it doesn't make too much sense a fretless bass with flat frets. It is not very playable and it is also noising. So I changed frets once.

Why to put again other frets? Let's have it fretless. So I took it to a Norwegian Master which used to be also a good jazz player with his fretless Rickenbacker (something is recurring) and did it. Of course it was not much of a job.

As fretless I have had only few jams with friends and I haven't had really much practice of playing a fretless, just enough to have some fun with friends.