Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Thanks Gary - that's perfect. I wish my pic was better, but it shows the situation.

The nut is cut properly; seems to just need a bit of prodding.

Regarding the clearcoat ding on the binding...I had s 620/6 in blueburst that had exactly the same issue. The case had little padding on the inside edge on the side of the latches. The latched also were pushed in a little as well. I asked for a replacement case and received a "new" one however it was NOT a new one and it had even less padding and it had been used. I bought the guitar from an online dealer (not one of the big ones). Rather than deal with fixing the clearcoat ding and getting the case replaced again I sold it. This was my only Rickenbacker and I am still without one. The ding occurred during shipping and I regretted buying it. I am wary of buying another that comes in the same case model.

Update:

re: clearcoat issues, the new style case I have has several areas where either hardened glue or some other obstruction feels like 1/4" diameter circles of coarse sandpaper. They correspond to some minor surface imperfections on my instrument in the same location of the more significant problems on my earlier guitar - confirming for me the cause suggested earlier in the thread by others.

re: nut cut/placement: I was in Rudy's in NYC today when a brand new MG 660/12 came in. Nut placement on this one was better, and I also noticed that the low E string was equidistant from the top edge of the nut as the high E was from the bottom.

As you can see above, mine is definitely not centered either in its cut or placement (even though the cut may be within acceptable tolerance per Paul's comment above).

The Rudy's 660 played beautifully and made me much more confident that my guitar will play as well once the nut issue is resolved. So sad to have a nut issue tho!

In that case contact Customer Service and see about getting a nut sent. Also address the case issue. THe Scratch-X and Zymol treatment may be sufficient to work out the surface "hazing". But unless the case is addressed, it will reoccur.

From the pics, it looks to me like the nut has slid over to the bass side about 1mm or so. If once you loosen the strings, you find it's actually glued that way, place something such as a piece of wood against the neck side of the nut and give it a light tap. It should pop right off. Clean up the contact surfaces with a fine file or light sandpaper and follow Paul W's directions for centering it and re-glueing it. It looks perfectly cut to me.

On the case, I pushed the rough areas in using my finger and it collapsed a bit of the foam underneath it, bringing it more or less level with the rest of the surface. Now it feels smooth and furry where it was sharp and scratchy before. There were 6 or so problem areas.

Sounds like maybe excess glue in those areas of the case that migrated to the surface, if that is possible.

It is excess glue, as I mentioned in a previous post. The velour lining absorbs glue like a sponge, and when it hardens, it turns into a hard, abrasive patch that wears through varnish like coarse sandpaper.

I should also emphasize that this was a one-time deal, a limited number of these went out, and cases have been swapped. But if your recently-acquired Rick has a case with this problem, I'd suggest contacting Kenny at RIC.

Oops, I missed seeing that, Paul!

Hi - an update. I ended up not being happy with the results of my feeble attempts to replace the nut, so I took the 660 to an excellent luthier in New York City (Paul Schwartz at Peekamoose Guitars). He cut me as new nut using a Graphtec acoustic bridge saddle blank.

It fits perfectly and has the added benefit of bringing the drone strings a bit more in line with the plane of the fundamentals, making it an easier playing instrument. Paul also re-topped the saddles on the bridge and tweaked the spacing slightly, so I can play without the bridge cover and not rip my hand up!

Thanks to everyone here who weighed in on this issue for me. I was able to give Paul some extra info about Rics that made me sound like I knew what I was talking about!

Paul

Glad it worked out for you, Paul.