Hi Mark,
I recently bought a left-handed 370/12 in Nashville, and I have some questions I hope you can answer.
The guitar is an '89 model (G2), and it has the electronics of the RM limited edition, but the compressor is currently broken. I've tried replacing the battery, but the compressor just makes a whooshing sound that has some correlation to how hard I strum. Not very pleasing to the ear... My somewhat ignorant guess is that it's a dead capacitor somewhere.
I'm currently debating having it modded for standard 370/12 passive electronics, or having the compressor fixed. Do you have any opinions on which way I should go? I'm more interested in tone/playability than collectibility, and I seem to be losing sparkle on the passive switch settings (since the electronics all route through the same larger-than-normal board, active setting or no.)
I don't have a lot of experience with Ric's (this guitar is my first!), but the tone seems muted.
With the broken compressor engaged, the guitar also picks up radio noise like crazy!
Any input would be appreciated. Would the compressor sound really cool were it working?
Also, whoever set up the guitar in Nashville flipped the bridge around to accomodate left-handed string order (it had been set up lefty strung righty previously.) This makes setting the intonation nearly impossible since the adjusting screws back into the bridge pickup. Would it be smarter/possible to reverse each saddle individually inside the bridge itself?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Left-Handed 370/12 Questions
Moderator: jingle_jangle
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Mark
The RF is a real problem in these.The Rickenbacker website has the RM circuit on line ,at least J.Hall sent it too me at one time.The IC chip is not listed ,but you won't find that anyway.It's long out of production.
As to the cap being broken ,get the circuit and if you can test the thing then you should have no problem .
Personally I'd remove the compressor.It will be more trouble than it's worth.And while you are at it ...here is a mod that I do all the time .
Very few people use the Rick-O-sound jack,and they want to get the 'old sparkly/jangly tone...but not allthe time -so I give them a choice .
I remove the 2 jacks and replace them with 2 standard 1/4" Switchcraft jacks.The Rick-O-Sound jack hot lug will get a .0047mfd (or a 4700pf-same thing)cap soldered to the hot lug and run the other end of it over to the standard jack hot lug.Run the ground wire to connect the 2 jacks and then run a piece of shielded cable from the standard jack up to the controls.
What this will do is ;
the standard jack will give you FULL output/modern tone and the Rick-O-Sound jack will give you the vintage tone!
The best of both worlds and no headache .
The issue of the bridge is almost another posting unto itself by here's what I'd do...
So let me get this straight-the guitar ,which is a left handed guitar,was strung right handed and the bridge is flipped around with the saddle /intonation screws now facing the pickups?!?!
If that is the case then ...And you are a lefty wanting to play lefty?
...did the previous owner refile the saddle slots to accomodate there playing needs?
after I hear your reply I will proceed
As to the cap being broken ,get the circuit and if you can test the thing then you should have no problem .
Personally I'd remove the compressor.It will be more trouble than it's worth.And while you are at it ...here is a mod that I do all the time .
Very few people use the Rick-O-sound jack,and they want to get the 'old sparkly/jangly tone...but not allthe time -so I give them a choice .
I remove the 2 jacks and replace them with 2 standard 1/4" Switchcraft jacks.The Rick-O-Sound jack hot lug will get a .0047mfd (or a 4700pf-same thing)cap soldered to the hot lug and run the other end of it over to the standard jack hot lug.Run the ground wire to connect the 2 jacks and then run a piece of shielded cable from the standard jack up to the controls.
What this will do is ;
the standard jack will give you FULL output/modern tone and the Rick-O-Sound jack will give you the vintage tone!
The best of both worlds and no headache .
The issue of the bridge is almost another posting unto itself by here's what I'd do...
So let me get this straight-the guitar ,which is a left handed guitar,was strung right handed and the bridge is flipped around with the saddle /intonation screws now facing the pickups?!?!
If that is the case then ...And you are a lefty wanting to play lefty?
...did the previous owner refile the saddle slots to accomodate there playing needs?
after I hear your reply I will proceed
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Jesse
Thanks for the tips re: the electronics. I may try that mod out, and I'll definately bypass the compressor. For the mod, where would you recommend I buy the cap, or will any cap with that rating do?
RE: The bridge: The guitar has a left-handed body with righty hardware, and was strung righty. I want to play it full left-handed. I asked the store to convert it from right-strung to left-strung and they simply flipped the bridge 180 degrees, so that the intonation screws now face the bridge pickup. They also replaced the nut. It looks like some filing may have been done, which seems strange to me ... no filing should have been necessary when it was strung righty.
RE: The bridge: The guitar has a left-handed body with righty hardware, and was strung righty. I want to play it full left-handed. I asked the store to convert it from right-strung to left-strung and they simply flipped the bridge 180 degrees, so that the intonation screws now face the bridge pickup. They also replaced the nut. It looks like some filing may have been done, which seems strange to me ... no filing should have been necessary when it was strung righty.
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Mark
flipping the bridge won't work....do these people even play?
here is what you are gonna need to do...and this is labor intensive ,but you can do this .
Do this where no one will bother you and get a twisty tie from a grocery store ,from the produce section.It will come in handy .If you have one of those already ...stay home.
Now the fun part.You will need a piece of paper with out lines on it that can coverthe whole bridge and a #2 pencil
You will also need a hex key wrench to adjust the Allen screws (hex head screws) .I'd go to a hardware store and get a hex screwdriver that fits.It will be easier for you .
Now after you have that ...here is what you need to do.
Take the bridge apart.Sorry but it has to be done.You need to turn the saddles around so that the low E string is now where the high E string is.The twisty tie is so you can slide each one off ...one at a time and onto the tie so they will not get out of order.
You will also need a pair of pliers and some masking tape.The tape is to cover the 'teeth' of the pliers.
Take the piece of paper before you take it apart and make a tracing of the saddle pattern .Lay the paper across the top and rub the pencil across the top of the saddles.Instant pattern.I hope that it was intonated correctly .
next the real job. Take it apart and then as you remove the saddles slip them one by one onto the twisty.this way they will be in the correct order .
(OPINION)
Guitar stores/salesmen are so lazy...they sit around for the afternoon waiting for the working stiffs to come in and then then don't use their time to do something like this for a customer.
(back to the task)
Ok so it's a tedious job ,but it needs to be done to work correctly.
Re-assemble and use the pattern to realign the saddles.You will have to turn the paper over to get the LEFTY pattern .
That's it ,good luck ...now you can be a luthier in the privacy of your own home ,but don't tell anyone.
here is what you are gonna need to do...and this is labor intensive ,but you can do this .
Do this where no one will bother you and get a twisty tie from a grocery store ,from the produce section.It will come in handy .If you have one of those already ...stay home.
Now the fun part.You will need a piece of paper with out lines on it that can coverthe whole bridge and a #2 pencil
You will also need a hex key wrench to adjust the Allen screws (hex head screws) .I'd go to a hardware store and get a hex screwdriver that fits.It will be easier for you .
Now after you have that ...here is what you need to do.
Take the bridge apart.Sorry but it has to be done.You need to turn the saddles around so that the low E string is now where the high E string is.The twisty tie is so you can slide each one off ...one at a time and onto the tie so they will not get out of order.
You will also need a pair of pliers and some masking tape.The tape is to cover the 'teeth' of the pliers.
Take the piece of paper before you take it apart and make a tracing of the saddle pattern .Lay the paper across the top and rub the pencil across the top of the saddles.Instant pattern.I hope that it was intonated correctly .
next the real job. Take it apart and then as you remove the saddles slip them one by one onto the twisty.this way they will be in the correct order .
(OPINION)
Guitar stores/salesmen are so lazy...they sit around for the afternoon waiting for the working stiffs to come in and then then don't use their time to do something like this for a customer.
(back to the task)
Ok so it's a tedious job ,but it needs to be done to work correctly.
Re-assemble and use the pattern to realign the saddles.You will have to turn the paper over to get the LEFTY pattern .
That's it ,good luck ...now you can be a luthier in the privacy of your own home ,but don't tell anyone.
-
Jesse
Thanks Mark,
Your help has been invaluable. I flipped the bridge saddles successfully and totally re-intonated the guitar (snapping 4 10p's during the process on the G and E strings!). The guitar sounds fantastic, much better than it has previously. It turns out that the guitar hadn't been intonated by the store at all: the saddles were in a perfect diagonal line. All in all, I have to say that my experience with Cotten Music Center in Nashville, TN, was totally abysmal.
The guitar is great though! I'll attack the electronics when I get some cash!
Thanks again!!
Jesse
Your help has been invaluable. I flipped the bridge saddles successfully and totally re-intonated the guitar (snapping 4 10p's during the process on the G and E strings!). The guitar sounds fantastic, much better than it has previously. It turns out that the guitar hadn't been intonated by the store at all: the saddles were in a perfect diagonal line. All in all, I have to say that my experience with Cotten Music Center in Nashville, TN, was totally abysmal.
The guitar is great though! I'll attack the electronics when I get some cash!
Thanks again!!
Jesse