Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

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Marn99
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Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by Marn99 »

Okay, so I know that before 1966, RICs had a center "block" that was hollowed out along with the "wings" that made up the rest of the body. However, I am kinda confused how these bodies go together, especially around the neck joint. Was the center piece a consistent width down its entire length or did it follow the taper of the neck? If it is the former, how did they fit the neck on the bass side of it without a gap? With the latter, that slightly acute angle would've naturally been formed when the wings were glued on to the slightly tapered center block. I suppose in the first scenario they could've pin routed it to rough shape, and then chisel it to fit, but obviously stuff like that would've ideally been avoided in a production environment... anyone know?
(photo from John Biscuti's neck reset thread)
r12b20.jpg
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jps
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Re: Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by jps »

Marn99 wrote:Okay, so I know that before 1966, RICs had a center "block" that was hollowed out along with the "wings" that made up the rest of the body. However, I am kinda confused how these bodies go together, especially around the neck joint. Was the center piece a consistent width down its entire length or did it follow the taper of the neck? If it is the former, how did they fit the neck on the bass side of it without a gap? With the latter, that slightly acute angle would've naturally been formed when the wings were glued on to the slightly tapered center block. I suppose in the first scenario they could've pin routed it to rough shape, and then chisel it to fit, but obviously stuff like that would've ideally been avoided in a production environment... anyone know?
(photo from John Biscuti's neck reset thread)
r12b20.jpg
As you plan is to make a copy of this guitar, why bother with all the minutiae of construction, internally. You copy doesn't need to be built exactly like the original, it just has to look like one, externally. If you copy it with such exacting detail, this will then fall under the classification of forgery. Is that your intent?
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sloop_john_b
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Re: Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by sloop_john_b »

Hey Benjamin, I would recommend creating an account at the BeatGear Cavern forum.

There's a sub-forum there called "Expert-Textpert" where many posters are undertaking projects exactly like yours; plus, former Rickenbacker factory employees Dale Fortune and Mark Arnquist are regular contributors. Within that specific sub-forum, there's a really good community of information sharing about the construction of these instruments with zero judgment.
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collin
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Re: Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by collin »

Good advice from John above and apologies if others here aren't as welcoming. Free exchange of information is always positive, what you do with that info is your business.

You're overthinking the construction of the bodies. Nothing was an exact, tight fit. The body is made of three piece of maple (with the center part even throughout), glued together and routed out from the back side, X-braced inside, then capped with 1/4" maple back.

The neck pocket was formed by the same pieces as the body, not glued in separately, and it was a consistent width from side-to-side. The neck tenon did not have a taper either. However, the neck tenon/pocket joint was typically quite loose-fitting in the 60s (on the sides of the tenon), which played a significant role in the necks shifting over time, particularly on early 12-strings.

In mid-1966, the body was changed to a two-piece, and neck pickups were changed to flat pole magnets that didn't require a pickup route (increasing the surface area for gluing the tenon, and thus helping prevent neck shifting).

Looking at photos of the inside of a Rickenbacker body from that era would explain a lot of the production techniques.

I must add that the modern construction of these guitars is far more precise (especially since the introduction of CNC machines years ago), that solved some of the previous weaknesses.
Marn99
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Re: Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by Marn99 »

jps wrote:
Marn99 wrote:Okay, so I know that before 1966, RICs had a center "block" that was hollowed out along with the "wings" that made up the rest of the body. However, I am kinda confused how these bodies go together, especially around the neck joint. Was the center piece a consistent width down its entire length or did it follow the taper of the neck? If it is the former, how did they fit the neck on the bass side of it without a gap? With the latter, that slightly acute angle would've naturally been formed when the wings were glued on to the slightly tapered center block. I suppose in the first scenario they could've pin routed it to rough shape, and then chisel it to fit, but obviously stuff like that would've ideally been avoided in a production environment... anyone know?
(photo from John Biscuti's neck reset thread)
r12b20.jpg
As you plan is to make a copy of this guitar, why bother with all the minutiae of construction, internally. You copy doesn't need to be built exactly like the original, it just has to look like one, externally. If you copy it with such exacting detail, this will then fall under the classification of forgery. Is that your intent?
I understand your concern, let me assure you that my intention is in no way for to be a forgery, rather just faithful in construction, and I apologize if I've given off the impression that I wish to forge a 365 capri down to every single detail. I am going to sign "built buy...." followed by my full name and the date of completion in sharpie in both the bottom of the control cavity, as well as on the top of the inside of the body before the back is put on. I am also using modern components, modern 250k and 500k VIP pots, a new Switchcraft switch and jack with the glass laminate wafers, instead of the brown phenolic on the vintage ones, new Luxe Astron capacitors for the .047uF caps, and a modern ceramic for the .047nF cap, finally, there will be no serial number on the jack plate. Like you said, it just has to look like one externally, inside it will be very clear that it is not at all a real Capri. I sense that I am walking on thin ice with this discussion, and I apologize to my fellow forumites for that, I'll be more careful in the future, I've been a long time non-member lurker, and in the short time I've been a member I've come to like this place.
Marn99
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Re: Pre 66 bodies, how do they go together?

Post by Marn99 »

sloop_john_b wrote:Hey Benjamin, I would recommend creating an account at the BeatGear Cavern forum.

There's a sub-forum there called "Expert-Textpert" where many posters are undertaking projects exactly like yours; plus, former Rickenbacker factory employees Dale Fortune and Mark Arnquist are regular contributors. Within that specific sub-forum, there's a really good community of information sharing about the construction of these instruments with zero judgment.
thanks for the tip! I actually am already a member of BGC, but I had been interested in joining this forum as well, not just for technical info :D
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