Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

12_strings wrote: The original R tailpiece is a crummy piece of pig metal. I sent it down to Pic of the Rics and got a newer, better R at my expense of course. I stuck that in the case and installed a stainless Winfield harp tailpiece. Easy to re-string and I won't have to worry about pig metal flying around my living room.

What's "pig metal"? These tailpieces are made of die cast zinc.

Dane's question prompted me to go to that fount of all knowledge (and misknowledge), Wikipedia, because I, too, had never heard of "pig metal". I had heard of "pot metal" and "pig iron"; here are some brief excerpts:

Pot metal—also known as monkey metal, white metal, or die-cast zinc—is a colloquial term that refers to alloys of low-melting point metals that manufacturers use to make fast, inexpensive castings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal

Pig iron is an intermediate product of the iron industry. Pig iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%,[1] along with silica and other constituents of dross, which makes it very brittle, and not useful directly as a material except for limited applications. Pig iron is made by smelting iron ore into a transportable ingot of impure high carbon-content iron in a blast furnace as an ingredient for further processing steps.[2] The traditional shape of the molds used for pig iron ingots was a branching structure formed in sand, with many individual ingots at right angles[3] to a central channel or runner, resembling a litter of piglets being suckled by a sow. When the metal had cooled and hardened, the smaller ingots (the pigs) were simply broken from the runner (the sow), hence the name pig iron.[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_iron

I think 12_strings meant "pot metal". That said, the etymology of "pig iron"

many individual ingots at right angles[3] to a central channel or runner, resembling a litter of piglets being suckled by a sow

is a fun visual!

My 610/12 had a black R tailpiece that broke. I moved a good R from a 360 when I sold the 610. Finally I ma getting around to repacking the broken R with a new one because I like the look of the R over the other tailpieces.

Two tailpieces exploded on my 370/12 RM,vintage 1989. The first exploded in 1998. The second sometime in the 2000s. Replaced it with a Winfield harp style tailpiece. Couldn't be more happier.

Pot metal is comprised of small metal particles mixed with wax or a plasticizer, which is then molded in the typical method to shape. It is then heated in an oven to cause the metal particles to sinter together, rather like making tiny bits of solder melt together.thanks for the post.

bcrick12 wrote:Mine exploded tonight. 1990 360-12 FG OS

Oh no. Pics of the damage? What happened?

fiveightandten wrote:Pics of the damage?

Here's a pic of my R that decided to divorce itself from its base. Happened last Novemeber after twenty years of being one happy family.
Fact or fiction? Believe it. It is real. It happens.

Great post!
Thanks for sharing

I only have one Ric, my 2010 270/12. Had it out the other night for a jam - so far, so good. Tailpiece intact.


I use D'Addario 11's and leave it in A/440, fwiw.

True Fact...… I found a 2002 Burgundyglo 370/12 with the dredded exploding tailpiece.

The Rickenbacker "R" tailpiece is iconic and I have two that have survived on my 330 and 360 thus far. I do, however, like the trapeze tailpiece for ease of stringing, especially on my 12 string.

My post above the pic of the exploding tailpiece is gone.
Here it is in all its depressing glory:

And here is my 360/12 waxed and shined with a new R tailpiece.
In all its wonderful glory:

Tom: The perfect illustration of why the "R" tailpiece, still rules! Thanks for the great photos. And, I love the New Style body shape.

admin wrote:Tom: The perfect illustration of why the "R" tailpiece, still rules! Thanks for the great photos. And, I love the New Style body shape.

Thanks. Believe it or not, that guitar is nearly 30 years old. A good cleaning and good waxing...Rics can look as great as the day they came off the assembly line.

And, yup, the R tailpiece is a must. When mine exploded I could have gone the trapeze route, but I didn't give it a second's thought. No way. The R is as iconic as a FireGlo finish to me.