Fret board width, 12 string.

[byu]

I have an RCA 12 and the neck is no wider than a standard 360/12.

[carr]

I have Mark Arnquists formula for respacing the strings on standard ric 12 string .It cost me $50AUSD to get a local luthier to make and replace the nut and made it instantly more playable for my hands .


If is any use send me a PM here or post here and Il dig it out send it on over

J

[carr]

Here is the forumla proposed by Mark.It worked for me with a 360/12 .
Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 01:41 am
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You need a set of Dial Calipers ,a razor blade /utility knife blade ,great lighting ,a calculator an the nut blank.

I use over sized stock ,that way I can cut it to fit .None of this ...hey it is stock and it doesn't go to the edge thing!

I but different types of material from lots of sources and cut it to suit .You can get blanks from several 'Luthier Supply ' houses.

the math is standard Jr.high stuff ...the formula is this .

Set the outside strings as close to the edge of the fret (where it starts to round over) as you dare .On a 12 string you can do this as you are not playing it like a six string ...no vibrato!

Set your out side strings and using a sharp pencil,score a line on either side of those strings.
Take the strings off the nut ,using your knife blade (don't use a Kitchen/steak or hunting knife ....they do NOT work)score a line in the nut material.
Using your calipers...measure in from the high E string .075
On the Low E string measure in .085
This measurement is "X"

I cut the pairs for the low E and A at .085
I cut all the other pairs at .075

.085 X 2 =.170
.075 X 4 =.300

add these=.470 - "X" = "Y" this is all the spaces inbetween all the pairs.To figure out the space between each of the pairs ....

.470-"X" ="Y" divided by 5 = the space between pairs.

Thats it .

[xpitt]

I have an RCA 12 and the neck is no wider than a standard 360/12.

aha ! So the wider neck was introduced later to the Laguna. I always thought that the RCA' s as a forerunner of the Laguna had the wider neck. But I guess it was rather based on a 360 style body with the stock neck width , only done in walnut.

[Ric-O-Buc]

Why don't you play the 330/12 untill you get used to it? Roger McGuinn changes his technique specifically to play the RIC 12 stringer. You should be able to compensate. Believe me - ITS WORTH IT!!!!!!!

[teb]

There are some folks, like me, who have big hands (and more importantly, broad, rather blunt fingertips) and though the McGuinn chords help (2-finger E,A, Am, 1-finger Em, etc.) they still aren't enough and that technique isn't possible on some of the important ones, like D and C. My first 360/12 had an Arnquist nut, which helped, but still wasn't ideal. On my 370/12, I had Mark refret it with the new frets all the way out over the binding and then build a new nut that used as much width as possible and had tight pairs of strings. This, combined with the McGuinn chords is the only reason I can play a Rickenbacker twelve at all. I did try a 660/12 at one point and liked the sound, but can't relate to that dinky little body. The string pairs were also farther apart than I was used to, so it tended to feel more like a continuous band of strings across the fingerboard - rather than six pairs.

Here is the 370 with the factory stock nut and frets and then with the full-width frets and new nut. The change made a night and day difference in the quality of my playing.

[xpitt]

Todd, a very smart solution !

[murphy12]

I'm seriously thinking of having a new nut with wider spacing installed on my 360/12. That's my only complaint on an otherwise perfect guitar.

[xpitt]

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