Ever since then, and to this day, all British jetliners have used an oval shape for passenger windows, as opposed to a square shape. An oval or square has no edge or corner, hence it's much stronger.
Still strikes me as odd that this would happen to a Rickenbacker guitar; the fact that this has happened to Steve several times, and obviously alot of other folks as well, you'd think a "Fix" would have been come up with for something like this.
I'm sure the Gibson & Fender folks get a big charge out of all this; as Rickenbacker guitars are known to be on a quality level with the two aforementioned, although granted, Rickys are very "Different" kinds of guitars.
When you pick up a Les Paul, it just has that "Buttery" feel to it; the density of the solid body, etc. When you pick up a Strat or Tele, you have that wonderful "Slinky" sort of feel, etc.
Picking up a Ricky-12, is sort of it's own deal. It feels neither "Buttery or slinky", and the guitar, NOT YOU, is in charge.
The neck is too thin, there is quite a bit of "Pull" (Like you would feel on some cheaper guitars made out of lousy wood-This is NOT the case with a Rickenbacker, the "Pull" comes from the design of the instrument)
But yeah; this guitar kind of TELLS YOU how it's going to be, and you can't ever grip it like a weapon the way you would a say a Gibson SG.
You have to play by the rules of the Rickenbacker 12 string guitar; she's in charge, and if you do, THEN she'll jangle for days.
I've played them since 1980 (I was 19 at the time) and to this day, on bad days (You know, when a guitar feels like a barbed wire fence in your hands) the instrument can STILL feel "Awkward" in my hands.
It's sort of a "Code thing"; the price you pay for mid '60's bliss and jangle, for mini-skirts and go-go boots, for loud, smokey jetliners, for '66 Mustang fastbacks, for when you didn't have to leave your car doors locked, for when an adult passing a lost child only meant something helpful.
When there was still one more year left of black & white Andy Griffith shows, & Laura Petrie's Capri pants.
When people actually smiled at you, and were friendly...
For when the NBC Peacock went to "Living Colour"...
Thing is, there is no "Epiphone Ricky-12"; no half-way point, or economy guitar, that's going to take you where I just mentioned.
Funny, I owned my '67 366/12 from 1980, until just 4 years ago, and she never gave a lick of trouble. The "Warm" feeling of an older guitar is wonderful too; the aging of the wood always improving the tone, etc. I guess that's why everybody wants 'em!!
I bought my CW12 second party on ebay about 2 1/2 years ago; all the "Case candy" is there; poster, certificate, allen wrenches, booklet. I'll see if there is a way if "RIC" will replace this for free, if I send them the old "R". If not, I'll just have to scrape up the $100, and bite the bullet.
And yeah, re-stringing a 12 string Rick is sort of a focused, time consuming job, and I often will end with a little bid of blood too, at the end of the session!
I saw the Hard Days Night trapezes are 60 bucks, and alot easier to string up as well. Of course, that traditional "'65 360/12 look" I'm sure stays with alot of players...
This whole thing is all George Harrison's fault.
Christian
> Surely you know all about metal fatigue (unlike "mental fatigue") from your interest in aviation, Flyboy. Either that or some bug in the manufacturing process, like a stray air bubble perhaps, who knows?
>
> I've heard of this happening to others, it may be a design flaw, like the thin area where the fretboard meets the headstock where older Ricks almost always starts to crack. They should probably use a better grade of metal, such as brass, like better banjo tailpieces.
>
> That should be covered under your warrenty. Just make sure you keep the pieces, 'cause Rick won't replace it for you with out 'em!
>
> bw
>
>
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I did have the original metal ones that would go down a staircase one step at a time, until they got pulled too hard and bent by my little sister. 
