Cracks in finish along neck/body joint on 330

justinh · Post by **justinh** » Sun Feb 25, 2001 2:42 pm

Hello, I just bought a Rickenbacker 330 in black with the black option (unique guitar), and noticed there are a few minor cracks that appear to be in the finish of the guitar on the neck/body joint. It is not on the underside where the neck and body meet but on both sides of the neck. Is this normal? It's not brand new, I bought it used but otherwise the guitar is in extremely mint condition and plays great. Please ease my mind about these cracks..Thank you.

tom · Post by **tom** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 12:41 am

is this something to worry about...see bottom message

tom · Post by **tom** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 12:41 am

I have them along where the neck is connected into the body on my Rick 360-12 v64....

ERIC · Post by **ERIC** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 6:01 am

I have exactly the same problem with my '94 Rick 1997.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 8:13 am

From what I've seen over the years, this is Not
something that is a "Problem". Yes, it might bug you from a cosmetic standpoint, but rest assured,
your neck is not somehow plotting to work itself loose out of the guitar.There is about 3"-3-1/2"
of mortise/tenon joint in those guitars, and they are Not coming undone anytime soon.Care to add any more to that, Mark??

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 11:34 am

These necks will NOT come out on their own.

What you have is two things ;

1- a build up of finishing material in a corner and the expansion / contraction rate of two pieces of wood that is slightly different.(Check out any Gibson ES-335 guitars neck joint )

2-On some of the neck joints in Rickenbackers ,that do not have a neck thru setup,there is ,from time to time, a certain amount of filler that is found in this location .The filler has a different expansion rate than the wood /finish and you see this cracking in this area.

In other words ...extreme, temperature will cause this to show itself .This is NOT just a Rickenbacker thing .

A fix....I'd have to see it to give you the definitive answer

admin · Post by **admin** » Mon Feb 26, 2001 1:55 pm

Bring on the photos Justin.

Justin_Howley · Post by **Justin_Howley** » Tue Feb 27, 2001 12:50 pm

Thanks for all the advice. I'm glad it's something not to worry over. I'll have a pic up here in a few....Thanks again. One more question, Which truss rod adjusts the neck twist? I want to set the action nice and low with no neck twist and a really flat board.