Is This Really Necessary

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manta
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Is This Really Necessary

Post by manta »

Here is another one of these Van Campens.

I have a 650 and have no problem with the "bump" at the neck base.

Has anyone ever played one of these?

link

The price ain't bad, BTW.

Timbo
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jingle_jangle
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by jingle_jangle »

"Van Campen" is another way of saying, "weaken it and pad the invoice".
BlueAngel

Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by BlueAngel »

It's the same as people who go on about the "heel from hell" on 22-fret PRSs. The longer heel does not get in the way - at least it doesn't for me, and I have small hands (and I do very occasionally play right at the last fret too) - it was done by PRS deliberately to make the neck stiffer and eliminate a common dead spot in the very early models which didn't have it. Nonetheless a myth has grown up that it's some sort of problem that needs to be "corrected".

Given that the 650 has a 24-fret neck, even the extended heel is far shorter than that on a Strat, a Les Paul, a PRS, or just about any other guitar I can think of anyway... except maybe an early SG, which are notorious for having the neck fall right off :-).
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eatswodo
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by eatswodo »

It's an answer to a non-existent problem....

Which, in turn, could very well lead to a major problem for which there will be no answer.

Avoid like the plague.
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sloop_john_b
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by sloop_john_b »

SO unnecessary.
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doctorwho
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by doctorwho »

eatswodo wrote:... could very well lead to a major problem for which there will be no answer...
Some time back, a fellow Forumite did wind up with an unfixable problem because of this mod (and an unplayable, unfixable guitar). IIRC, there was a knot or 'grain anomaly' (for lack of better term) in the wood right where the wood was shaved off, and the neck developed an irreversible twist or deflection because the wood was removed. Although it was a new guitar, RIC was unable to help because the guitar had been modified by the dealer, and the dealer, who will not be named to protect the guilty, did not do anything (nor admit to the error created by their mod, IIRC).
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca
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firstbassman
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by firstbassman »

It may be "unnecessary" but it is a cleaner look. Others may disagree of course.
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deaconblues
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by deaconblues »

firstbassman wrote:It may be "unnecessary" but it is a cleaner look. Others may disagree of course.

The heel, maybe. The nasty zebra humbuckers, on the other hand... :evil:
rickenbacker650_02.jpg
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jingle_jangle
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by jingle_jangle »

That poor puppy not only has a snarky neck, it's cross-eyed to boot!!!
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1965
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by 1965 »

In a word: No.

Roman = FAIL
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whojamfan
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by whojamfan »

Why buy a guitar that you don't like in the first place. Many other choices are available out of the box the require no modifications. If you don't like the heel, don't buy it, as there's plenty of folks who do.
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firstbassman
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by firstbassman »

dpowell wrote:
firstbassman wrote:It may be "unnecessary" but it is a cleaner look. Others may disagree of course.

The heel, maybe. The nasty zebra humbuckers, on the other hand... :evil:

Yes, I meant the heel. (Or the lack of one.)

Agree, hate zebra pups on any guitar and on the 650, even more so.
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jimk
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by jimk »

whojamfan wrote:Why buy a guitar that you don't like in the first place. Many other choices are available out of the box the require no modifications. If you don't like the heel, don't buy it, as there's plenty of folks who do.
+1

JimK
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paologregorio
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by paologregorio »

Those Zebra humbuckers just make the poor guitar look awful. Instead of uglifying a Rick, why don't people just buy something that's hideous right out of the box, such as a guitar version of this similarly finished Alembic bass. I feel sorry for any tree that had to die in order for any Alembic bass to be built. I don't care how expensive they are: http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_kb.html
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goofyfoot
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Re: Is This Really Necessary

Post by goofyfoot »

sloop_john_b wrote:SO unnecessary.
Agreed, JB. What up with that? Regards.....G-foot.
Play on, pick often, jam with any Rickenbacker, and prosper.
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