Neck Angle Question

['70RS]

Morning all,

I have a question regarding the neck angle on 300 series Rics.
From memory (guitars no longer owned):
My old #1 '66 330 had an angle that was pretty comparable to a Gibson...bridge was adjusted pretty high for good action.
My '66 360/12, not as much angle, but not parallel to body.
The neck on my '89 360 was almost dead on parallel to the body.

My current 370/12, reversed angle...slight...but reversed. Action is great for me, bridge still has adjustment room, but you can see from the attached pic that the strings angle back toward the body...not away from it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/ ... bridge.jpg

There are no finish cracks, so it's not like something has given. I've been away from Rics for about 8 years now, so I'm not sure what the current norm is. Enlighten me please.

Thank you,
-r

[Clint]

Curious, all the examples I have owned or played have been flat. I thought they were always made that way.

[radioactive]

Related to this post, what is the ideal height for the bridge? I notice on the attached picture of the '89 360, that the bridge is somewhat high to compensate for the neck with reverse pitch. I usually adjust the necks as flat and straight as I can get them on the three 360/12 Rickenbackers that I have, as a result the bridges are low around 7/64" or slightly higher off the baseplate.

[electrofaro]

Curious, all the examples I have owned or played have been flat. I thought they were always made that way.

Indeed, curious... I've never really bothered to check the angle, but would love to see what is normal.

Question for Robert: with reverse angle you mean that in your picture the neck is going down?

['70RS]

Question for Robert: with reverse angle you mean that in your picture the neck is going down?

Correct...opposite angle of standard Gibby, Fender, Martin, etc.
The neck itself is straight, fret the 1st & 24th positions and you can just barely slip a business card between the string/fret at the 9th fret. It touches the fret & the strings, but there is a very, very small gap there. However, when the guitar is laying flat on it's back there is definitely a 'rise' in the neck towards the headstock.

There is absolutely no problem with playing the guitar, tuning issues, neck stability....I just noticed the neck angle while playing it the other day and started to question what is 'correct' with new Rics.

[electrofaro]

Correct...

However, when the guitar is laying flat on it's back there is definitely a 'rise' in the neck towards the headstock.

I'm getting confused, so to be sure I made this little drawing of what I think is positive and negative angle - it's in an interesting topic, so I want to be sure I get it right

Based on this picture, what way should the headstock go, if not horizontal?

['70RS]

Thanks for that pic for clarification.
When I said 'reverse' angle, I meant reverse of what is the regular guitar norm. So, in looking at your pic, my 'reverse' would be your 'positive'.

Looking at the pic I attached of my 370/12, you can see the strings angled down, towards the bridge (fingerboard not parallel to the body). A typical guitar would have the strings rising away from the body as you got near the bridge. Neck pickup sitting lower than bridge pickup. Mine is opposite of that, as if the neck joint was loose and string tension was pulling it forward.

Edit: I should say again, the joint sure doesn't feel as if it slipped....this feels like the most sturdy Ric neck joint I've ever had, and the neck itself is much 'chunkier' than any of my other Rics (21 before this one). It's almost got a NoCaster radius.

['70RS]

Maybe these will help:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/ ... angle1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/ ... angle2.jpg

[electrofaro]

I included pictures of my 360 - your neck does seem to lift off like a ramp. Mine's a 6 string, so maybe there should be a difference. Paul or some other member will surely know!

This being my first Rick and first real guitar (instead of some 200 quid copy) I'm always afraid there's something wrong with my Rick I've got the bridge sitting quite high, as the (bad) 3rd image shows - when I got it the bridge was lowered on the E B G side only!

[schoolside]

My current 370/12, reversed angle...slight...but reversed. Action is great for me, bridge still has adjustment room, but you can see from the attached pic that the strings angle back toward the body...not away from it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/ ... bridge.jpg
There are no finish cracks, so it's not like something has given. I've been away from Rics for about 8 years now, so I'm not sure what the current norm is. Enlighten me please.
Thank you,
-r

I have several new Rics and all but one have a neck parallel to the body (by eye). One of my 360/12's has a tiny finish crack on the low e side and slight forward neck angle as you have described. when you turn the guitar over and look at the back (and it is back lit) you can see that the neck is pulling the back forward about a 64th of an inch where it meets with the neck. This is caused by the 12 strings tension, heat and humidity. When I put this guitar away in it's case, I fold a small cotton cloth over the neck that covers the nut up to about the 7th fret. This keeps enough counter tension between the neck channel on the case and the guitar neck, so the guitar comes out of the case with the finish crack nearly closed. I don't expect this condition to get any worse for the next twenty years or so. My 12 string in storage is tuned down a half step. Bottom line, "don't worry about it".