Question/Story on my 360/12
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 9:22 pm
I had a question that you folks might be able to shed light on as I'm not as up on this stuff. My 360/12 had the neck replaced back in 1980 by Rickenbacker. They did a great job and, other than the wood being a bit lighter than the body wood, one can't tell the difference without a closer look. My question: how much does this affect the value of the guitar in general? I am assuming quite a lot, but figured you folks would know better.
The story of the 'why' behind the replacement.
My 360/12 is from 1966. Bought it used from a friend of a drummer I was in a band with. The local music store was going out of business - the owner had been killed in a light plane crash and his wife no longer wanted to run the store. They were closing out most of the current stock and their Ames location had this 360/12. I figured that it would be a good time to buy it as I could get it for good price (read: affordable for me). Visited the store and it was no longer there. They had also had a Mosrite 12 string which was my backup choice, but it was gone also.
Fast forward a few months (1973) and I ran into my drummer friend and he mentioned a friend of his had a Rick they wanted to sell - it was this 360/12. I asked 'how much?' and he wasn't sure but he gave me his address. Went over to the friend's (Rick coincidentally) and he was asking $285 for it (he had bought it from the store that was going out of business). He didn't know how to play guitar and was hoping to learn on the 360. It was in great shape, so I purchased it from him. I immediately started using it in the band I was in at the time.It sounded great through my Dual Showman.
Around 1975/76 I started noticing that the fret board was pulling up from the neck from the nut to around the 3rd fret on the high side of the neck. I knew of a luthier in Des Moines by the name of Maury Jones. The DM Register had run a story on him as he had just built a guitar for Chet Atkins that was shaped like an axe. Any way, I figured I'd take the Rick to Maury. He checked it out and said he could re-glue the board. Picked it up in December and it looked good.
Another fast forward: A year or two later and friend called and wanted to get together to fool around on guitar. I had bought some strings for the 360 which I had not put on yet. I figured I'd re-string it at my friend's apartment. Took the guitar in, but forgot the strings in the car. Went downstairs to the car for them and right back up. Unfortunately, my friend - figuring he'd be helpful - loosened ALL the strings on the Rick and the board popped - the glue not being able to hold with the tension completely removed. (I always did the strings a pair at a time.) Disappointed? Yes. Ted was all apologetic. Oh well. It wasn't that the guitar was unplayable, it was just not fixed any more.
Yet another fast forward. By 1980, not knowing any other luthiers, I decided to send the guitar to Rick to be fixed as a best choice. Prepped it for shipping as well as I could and sent it off via UPS. A week or so later I got a letter from FC Hall saying they had received the guitar and wanted to replace the neck. I was, like, "It doesn't need replacing, just glue to board to the neck". FC said they needed my okay to do the work or, at my request, they could send it back as is. I figured, send it back, I'll find someone local to deal with it. A week or two later it arrived back home. I opened the case and was heart broken. What had been a minor issue was now major. Not only was the board pulled up on the high side down to the 3rd fret, but now the neck was cracked from the 3rd fret down to about the 6th where it took a turn from the middle of the neck with the crack running back up to between the 5th and 4th fret - kind of a 'U' shaped crack - not all the way to the low end side of the neck. Totally trashed and unplayable.
I called out to Rickenbacker the next day and spoke with FC directly. I explained the condition of the guitar as I had sent it and the condition it was in on it's return. Mr. Hall explained it wouldn't make any difference as they would have installed a new neck anyway. I was trying to ascertain where/when the catastrophic damage had happened - going out to CA or coming back. I was unable to communicate this well enough on the phone so I sent a letter out to CA with a drawing of the before/after nature of the damage. Mr. Hall wrote back and offered to make a claim with UPS which I appreciated. UPS agreed to cover $700 of the repair cost and I was left with about $75 to pay on my own. Got a call from Rick after the guitar was received. I asked at that time if there was anyway they could put the old fretboard on the new neck as I liked the crushed pearl inlays better than the newer ones. I was told they couldn't do that, but that they could pull the old board and send it to me if I would like. I told them to send me the old board which I still have. Never quite figured that out, but. . .
The factory did a great job with the replacement. I was - and still am - amazed at their work. It didn't disturb any of the body that I could tell for which I was thankful as the back shows some very nice curly maple grain. So there's the story.
Thanks for any input on the question of value.
The story of the 'why' behind the replacement.
My 360/12 is from 1966. Bought it used from a friend of a drummer I was in a band with. The local music store was going out of business - the owner had been killed in a light plane crash and his wife no longer wanted to run the store. They were closing out most of the current stock and their Ames location had this 360/12. I figured that it would be a good time to buy it as I could get it for good price (read: affordable for me). Visited the store and it was no longer there. They had also had a Mosrite 12 string which was my backup choice, but it was gone also.
Fast forward a few months (1973) and I ran into my drummer friend and he mentioned a friend of his had a Rick they wanted to sell - it was this 360/12. I asked 'how much?' and he wasn't sure but he gave me his address. Went over to the friend's (Rick coincidentally) and he was asking $285 for it (he had bought it from the store that was going out of business). He didn't know how to play guitar and was hoping to learn on the 360. It was in great shape, so I purchased it from him. I immediately started using it in the band I was in at the time.It sounded great through my Dual Showman.
Around 1975/76 I started noticing that the fret board was pulling up from the neck from the nut to around the 3rd fret on the high side of the neck. I knew of a luthier in Des Moines by the name of Maury Jones. The DM Register had run a story on him as he had just built a guitar for Chet Atkins that was shaped like an axe. Any way, I figured I'd take the Rick to Maury. He checked it out and said he could re-glue the board. Picked it up in December and it looked good.
Another fast forward: A year or two later and friend called and wanted to get together to fool around on guitar. I had bought some strings for the 360 which I had not put on yet. I figured I'd re-string it at my friend's apartment. Took the guitar in, but forgot the strings in the car. Went downstairs to the car for them and right back up. Unfortunately, my friend - figuring he'd be helpful - loosened ALL the strings on the Rick and the board popped - the glue not being able to hold with the tension completely removed. (I always did the strings a pair at a time.) Disappointed? Yes. Ted was all apologetic. Oh well. It wasn't that the guitar was unplayable, it was just not fixed any more.
Yet another fast forward. By 1980, not knowing any other luthiers, I decided to send the guitar to Rick to be fixed as a best choice. Prepped it for shipping as well as I could and sent it off via UPS. A week or so later I got a letter from FC Hall saying they had received the guitar and wanted to replace the neck. I was, like, "It doesn't need replacing, just glue to board to the neck". FC said they needed my okay to do the work or, at my request, they could send it back as is. I figured, send it back, I'll find someone local to deal with it. A week or two later it arrived back home. I opened the case and was heart broken. What had been a minor issue was now major. Not only was the board pulled up on the high side down to the 3rd fret, but now the neck was cracked from the 3rd fret down to about the 6th where it took a turn from the middle of the neck with the crack running back up to between the 5th and 4th fret - kind of a 'U' shaped crack - not all the way to the low end side of the neck. Totally trashed and unplayable.
I called out to Rickenbacker the next day and spoke with FC directly. I explained the condition of the guitar as I had sent it and the condition it was in on it's return. Mr. Hall explained it wouldn't make any difference as they would have installed a new neck anyway. I was trying to ascertain where/when the catastrophic damage had happened - going out to CA or coming back. I was unable to communicate this well enough on the phone so I sent a letter out to CA with a drawing of the before/after nature of the damage. Mr. Hall wrote back and offered to make a claim with UPS which I appreciated. UPS agreed to cover $700 of the repair cost and I was left with about $75 to pay on my own. Got a call from Rick after the guitar was received. I asked at that time if there was anyway they could put the old fretboard on the new neck as I liked the crushed pearl inlays better than the newer ones. I was told they couldn't do that, but that they could pull the old board and send it to me if I would like. I told them to send me the old board which I still have. Never quite figured that out, but. . .
The factory did a great job with the replacement. I was - and still am - amazed at their work. It didn't disturb any of the body that I could tell for which I was thankful as the back shows some very nice curly maple grain. So there's the story.
Thanks for any input on the question of value.