Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

New Ric owner here ... please bear with me ... just bought a 1998, 325v63 ... absolutely mint except for varnish crack just in between 5th and 6th string tuners on back of head. I took off tuners ... with magnifying class I couldn't see evidence of crack in wood ... but I'm puzzled how the crack got there ... all the way to the wood itself, apparently. Crack also under tuner's metal cover. Pretty sloppy but not so noticeable in casual viewing.

No signs of any abuse or tuner replacement ... no "chewing" of any screws or anything else.
What could have caused this ... oversight at factory?

Got 30 days to decide on keeping guitar. Everything else terrific ... well .... the "Ric Deluxe" tuners themselves ARE vintage type ... so ... a bit dodgy they are ...

Thanks!

-Jululu

Uh ... sorry ... cracks are between tuners for 1st and 2nd strings and seem to stem from the holes drilled for the screws holding the tuner on as well as from the larger hole the tuner pin goes through to the other side of head.

Can't imagine what could have caused it short of flawed finish work.

Does it sound like I have something to worry about?

Thank you!

These cracks are NOT from a faulty finish .

They are stress cracks , something has struck the tuner and or combined with tension of the scres into the back of the headstock , strings pulling on the tuners and some minute leverage in that area , you get these cracks .

Now I will also guess that there is a problem (perhaps ) with the formula of the Conversion Varnish that is being used .
That is to say it is formulated to do the job just fine and the OEM supplier will not have any trouble with it ...however it is NOT the formula that was used 25 years ago .
The EPA has changed things with every maker of finishing product in the USA .And these changes are nice for the air breathing populace, however they are not the old bullet proof stuff used 25 years ago .
Now this is all a guess by me and you will NOT get any kind of statement saying wrong doing from Rick at all . There is nothing wrong .At least with the products as they can get .

You have a problem in that it is not what you would like to see .... so here is what I would do ;

Call Rick service and ask Tommy what the official company policy is in this area , and what is his suggestion .

Let us know .

Thanks, Mark! I'll call Ric and give it a go ... see what they say. Sorta frustrating ... absolutely mint ... well it's only 4 years old ... but still ... perfect except for this darn little varnish crack ...

Now ... as I said .... I closely examined the area with good light and magnifying glass ... saw no wood cracks ... but what do you suppose the chances are that there COULD be a wood crack? It's virtually AT the seam of the head and the side piece, which is ever so slightly more visible on back of head .... in just right light ... you know ... I doubt the tuner was struck ... I would expect to see SOME evidence of this SOMEWHERE ... likely just stress, as you say.

If someone DID hit the tuner somehow, in a manner that wouldn't leave obvious tell-tale signs ... not likely to crack some wood, you think?

Thanks again! Smooth guitar ... beautiful ...

-Jululu

I will bet money that the wood is perfectly intact .

The more solids formula , that builds faster is the culprit here , and little to do about it .
ALL guitar makers in Southern calif are having finish woes .
Fender has clear flacking off the sides /edge of the neck .I get this all the time .The oil in the rosewood causes the finish to not stick , it pops , and then the flacking begins .
The Rick thing is a different type of material , but the adhesion is the culprit.The cohesion of the material is fine .Polyester does the same , but worse .
Acrylic or enamel UV materials seem to be fine (Tom Anderson and PRS and Warmoth are using these ) Rick is about to switch to this type of finish (rumor has it ) .
Sounds like a job for dyes and cyanoacrylate.That is about the only fix that I know .

The problem of whacking the guitar , and causing the finish to pop from the wood is an adhesion factor only , and I am seeing it on lots of brand guitars since the mid 1980's and especially since 1995.Even some of the Asian guitars are having this .
Keep us posted .

My TP660 tuners caused chips in the headstock. It seemed the sharp edges on the vintage tuners did not sit flat on the wood. Perhaps just using the key to wind a string caused it. It bugged me, but I assumed it was normal. I also had a hairline crack in the finish where the fingerboard starts on the neck.

I wonder if RIC thought of the possibility of doing the finish work elsewhere? You know, say in New Mexico or Baton Rouge, LA; where there aren't any air quality control standards? (if all the big oil refineries are located there, you could just hang a RIC out of the window and you'd have a JET-GLO finish in about a day or so!!) All joking aside, this could actually be at least a temporary solution to RIC's finish problems. Just my 2 cents worth...BTW, I had a MG 4003, 1976 Model that had a stress crack, in the finish, under the treble side of the neck, where it joined the bottow "wing" near the end of the fret-board...NEVER had a problem with tuning or "action"...of course, I don't "pop" my bass strings like some players. I think I'd be more worried about cracks in the structure of the body itself, say near the center, where the two main pieces of maple are joined. Sending your guitar to RIC is a good idea if you can stand being separated from you guitar for weeks!!!

ALL finishes have problems and NONE are free of checking or chipping , but having this minimalized is ideal .

I work on far more Gibson,Fender , Martin and my own guitars thanI do Rickenbackers ....but Ricks do seem to have more of this , than anyother brand .

However ......CBS Fenders are the worst.

Thanks all! I think Mark has this diagnosed right. That would be the only reason for me not to keep this guitar. I don't see how I could find any other used 325v63 more "mint" than this!
Frankly .... it's hard for me to believe anyone actually played it ... don't see any signs of it.

I know diddle about the guitar's history. Bought it at Guitar Center here in Chicago area ... they first had it tagged "new" with a $1700 price tag. When I went back for a second look he had done research and figured out it was "used" and had no case ... great(!) ... I hear Guitar "loses" cases frequently. So he knew or said nothing about the guitar so I've no idea as to its history, just that it's from 1998.

Looks more like a "scratch and dent" than a used one. If this is its only problem ... might as well keep it. Another guitar will only have another problem.

But I'll call Ric and have a chat with Tommy.

Thanks again!

-Jululu