Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wildberry wrote:What's accordion plastic?

Stop the YouTube video above at 2:08 and you'll see the tailpiece is Italia as well!

The RImini Classic 12 has the german carving:

That's it!

By "accordion plastic" I meant the top of the Rimini model I saw featured at NAMM was coated with pearloid plastic that looked like the same type of material that accordion bodies are made from.

I really like what they did with the jack on that guitar...

paologregorio wrote:That's it!

By "accordion plastic" I meant the top of the Rimini model I saw featured at NAMM was coated with pearloid plastic that looked like the same type of material that accordion bodies are made from.

My first guess was Framus, my 2nd Italia - not bad...

Ah, I know that material - weird to cover a guitar with, though! How do these play, the sound they make is supposed to be not bad.
They're not expensive, either.

The "accordion plastic" used to be celluloid sheet, AKA MOTS ("Mother of Toilet Seat"). Flammable as heck. Manufacturers used to cover accordions with it, as well as guitars and amplifiers. I believe the newer stuff is acetate rather than nitrate (which is very unstable).

Anyway, the old stuff could be softened if held over a heated bath of ethylene dichloride. EDC has a flash point of about 80°F...Forrest White tells of a fire inspection at the old Fender plant in Fullerton. The inspector took one look at the setup they were using to heat this stuff prior to covering lap steels, and he ran out of the building and called his office from a phone booth a block away.

I used to purchase this solvent back in the '60s from a firm in Chicago that stored it in concrete bunkers.

You can see Fender and Magnatone lap steels and amps covered in MOTS. Also proprietary brands like "Oahu", and others.

In Italy is was commonly used to cover accordions, and you'll see that Eko guitars and a lot of local Italian workshop brands used it as a less labor-intensive way than paint to give wood an attractive, durable finish.

jingle_jangle wrote:Anyway, the old stuff could be softened if held over a heated bath of ethylene dichloride. EDC has a flash point of about 80°F...Forrest White tells of a fire inspection at the old Fender plant in Fullerton. The inspector took one look at the setup they were using to heat this stuff prior to covering lap steels, and he ran out of the building and called his office from a phone booth a block away.

There are photos of Fender empolyees using this setup in Richard Smith's Fender: The Sound Heard 'Round The World.

Great background story, Paul! Much appreciated

jingle_jangle wrote:AKA MOTS

lol... even there I wouldn't put it!

And, indeed, toilet seats were covered in the same material, in the same fashion.

jingle_jangle wrote:And, indeed, toilet seats were covered in the same material, in the same fashion.

The horror

I have a MOTS-topped Thinline Tele that sounds great. I don't play it much, but then I have a few other guitars to keep me busy....

Mother of toilet seat, that kills me. Mark

Sorry for the late reply, it is that one. No doubt about it. Has anybody ever played one.....

I can see on the Italia site that it's over 6mm (48mm) wider than the 330/360 at the nut. Does anybody know which way the doubles are put on, like a Ric or like anything else.
I have a 330/12 but it's really difficult finding room for the fingers, especially a chord like A7 with the open g string. That is so annoying.......
I know that the 660/12 is wider at the nut (not as much as the Italia though) but I have the 330/12 and at the moment it's not possible to get a decent price for it and it's not possible to find a 660/12 within EU either.
Mart Hart has many 12 strings, I would assume that he have found something particular appealing in that model. I can't find any mentioning of him on the Italia site so he's not likely to be endorsed by them.

I wish my name was Mart Hart

HKC wrote:I can't find any mentioning of him on the Italia site so he's not likely to be endorsed by them.

I've got an ad mag at work where he's named along with a couple of artists and bands like the Kaiser Chiefs - can't remember seeing them use one.

Henrik, 660/12s do pop up on european eBay sites every now and then - one just has to monitor several of their local sites as search results will be different on all.

Wildberry wrote: Stop the YouTube video above at 2:08 and you'll see the tailpiece is Italia as well!

The RImini Classic 12 has the german carving:

Yes, that looks just like a Rimini 12.
I have one and they're great guitars (for the money).

And the neck width at the nut is wider than ... you-know-who.