660/12 odd nut

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:41 pm

Hi - just got a jetglo 660/12 new from a dealer NOT near my home. It's my second one, the first had a nasty clear coat ding on the binding in a very unfortunate location and was returned.

So, I'm not inclined to send back another one . . . but . . . the nut is poorly placed (skewed 0.5mm to the bass side) and, compounding this, also appears to be badly cut, causing the strings to skew further to the bass side.

As a result, the low E string frets out any time I try to finger it between the first and 5th frets.

I assume I can replace the nut, and I noticed that Ric sells a replacement on their site for $9.

I need advice from the elders of the village here - can I do this myself? Any input would be much appreciated.

Best

Paul

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:58 am

Paul, If the guitar is new you should send it back. There's no reason you should have to perform this kind of repair on a new instrument IMO.

I would think that this guitar didn't come form RIC in this condition.

When I get a new Rickenbacker, the only thing that I have to do is adjusting the action and maybe the neck to suit me.

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:32 am

Actually, the guitar did come directly from Ric messed up, as did the one before it. It came straight out of the shipping box. The dealer received a shipment of 6 or 7 and I think 5 of them are being returned for quality control issues worse than the ones mentioned in my original post. Pretty disappointing.

Having waited a while for this guitar, I am loathe to send it to Ric to they can take their sweet time to fix it. If its simple, I'd rather take care of the repair myself and close this chapter of my life.

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:58 am

It doesn't sound that simple to me. Without actually seeing it, if the nut is skewed, the question is why is it skewed? Was it glued on incorrectly? Is the end of the fretboard not cut square? Remember that the nut has a lot to do with the playability of your instrument. It would help if you could post some pics.

If you plan on keeping the guitar, I would send in the warranty card and contact Kenny Howes at Ric. He has helped many people on this forum with warranty repair issues. From what I have read here, the turn around time is rather quick.

If you choose to not go the warranty route, I would seek professional help with this repair.

Hope this helps.

jdogric12 · Post by **jdogric12** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:25 am

I also advise going through proper channels for this. I notice you are new to posting here, Paul, so I'll kindly warn you, airing problems right off the bat here isn't very popular. I'd bet dollars to donuts Charles' advice will yield the best solution. Please stick around and share! Cheers, J

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:36 am

There is a bit of overreaction here, I'm afraid.

I can understand both your hesitation in performing this operation, but it really is not a huge deal. To send a guitar back to RIC to have a nut replaced is an option, of course, but this is the equivalent of sending the car back to the manufacturer to change the windshield wiper blades!

I can't understand it coming from RIC misplaced and with the slots skewed (they are laser-cut on newer Ricks), It is possible that it slid over from string tension, but the glue should have held it. This is no doubt due to a shipping blow or possible drop, which broke the glue seal (it's Titebond yellow glue).

Re: the "5 or 6 being returned": I'd say this is hearsay and FedEx rather than RIC is the guilty party. Each of their guitars are hand-assembled, fine-tuned and inspected. I've watched them put together guitars--it can be hypnotic--and each is also hand-strung and tuned by strobe. That this would be done and these problems not noticed is improbable.

To your nut replacement--the nut from the boutique is laser-cut and is the part that would have been on your guitar; the spacing is optimized as well as the depth.

To change the nut: Loosen all the strings about 12 turns for all strings except for the 3 lowest (D, A, E), which should be loosened 6 or 7 turns. Shift the strings over to the side of the fretboard, off the neck. They will usually stay right there. The old nut will fall right off if it's loose. Now take the new nut, orient properly bass/treble. Tapered side goes toward the headstock. Put a small dot of white glue (Titebond is a bit better, but unless you're a woodworker, you're unlikely to have that lying around!) on the bottom of the nut and another on the face contacting the fretboard. Press it into place in the correct orientation and let it rest for an hour or two until the glue is firmly set.

Now replace the strings, alternating sides, into their proper slots. Tighten up, not to tune yet, again using alternating sides, and then bring up to tune, bass side first, octave strings last. A quick retune and you should be OK.

Don't knock RIC quality control until you've seen the low-key atmosphere at the factory, and know that quality is paramount to rapidity. They are all pros and badly-built guitars don't often slip through.

BTW, that clearcoat ding could be a case problem--there was an issue with hardened glue on case linings causing this for a few guitars. The cases were returned to the supplier and the supplier notified. Apparently this was a big problem with the supplier, as hundreds of cases had to be trashed and replaced.

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:53 am

Hi thanks everybody - Paul's comment "this is the equivalent of sending the car back to the manufacturer to change the windshield wiper blades" captures my position perfectly. I wish I had more confidence in my windshield wiper-changing ability!

I'll post some pics. It might be that the nut is properly cut and just shifted, but you guys will know better than me. in the meantime I'll get warrantized and reach out to Kenny Howes. Thanks so much for this tip.

I have found this forum to be absolutely indispensible in the information I have acquired just by searching. I have only felt the need to post 2 times about issues for which I could not find existing discussions that were perfectly on point. The depth of knowledge here is waaaaay beyond me - I do not post lightly and am grateful for any feedback that I receive from this extraordinary community.

This is my 5th Ric - I have a 1981 Jetglo 330, a 2005 MB 360, a Fireglo 2003 381V69/12, and a 2005 MG 4003. I love these instruments and have a profound respect for the way Ric does business. This may be why my disappointment is so apparent. We all know the issues I am experiencing are par for the course from lesser manufacturers.

The instrument I have now has some minor scratches on the surface - acceptable to me. Apparently the other instruments received in this shipment by my dealer have more serious finish issues all in the same spot, so the glue in the case explanation rings true to me. The cases are the molded type, not the vintage ones that I guess were available through last year.

Thanks so much to everyone for responding to my situation. Makes me feel better about the whole thing.

Best

Paul

jdogric12 · Post by **jdogric12** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:01 am

Very cool collection, Paul! Rock on -J

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:41 am

Paul W.,

If Paul D. decides to repair this guitar himself, isn't he voiding the warranty?

It has always been my understanding that if a repair and or adjustment is made that is not covered in the owners manual that it will void the RIC warranty.

Also, If I buy a new car and the wipers are bad I agree that I'm not going to sent it back to the factory to have them replaced, but I would have the dealership replace them.

In the case of RIC only they can make warranty repairs. The dealers are not authorized to perform them. That is why I advised Paul D. to contact Kenny.

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:58 pm

Here are some pics. Sorry they are not super quality, the flash was too harsh. What do you think?

[img]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/pdegooyer/IMG_1800.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/pdegooyer/IMG_1795.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/pdegooyer/IMG_1794.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/pdegooyer/IMG_1792.jpg[/img]

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:59 pm

can't figure out how to get thumbs to show up!

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:01 pm

I would do what Paul wrote up - knock the nut loose and reglue. Looks like it slipped when glued, or it is now loose and shifted. Can you recenter it with just pushing it?

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:02 pm

http://www.rickresource.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=formatting

pauldegooyer · Post by **pauldegooyer** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:07 pm

Thanks. Will try the loosen and reattach with Titebond over the weekend. Its def glued into this position.

This might be easier to view: http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/pdegooyer/ric%20660/

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:12 pm

Paul, I hope you don't mind my resizing one of the pics and posting it in the thread.