Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm about to have the neck reset on my '66 330/12 and my luthier, whom i have used to reset my 1917 Martin's neck, among others, claims he can do it WITHOUT removing the back. He claims to have his own technique. I trust this guy; he's been doing guitar work for 30 years and is considered one of the best and certainly THE best in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area.
What do you think? Paul? Mark? Can it be done?

Wow. I'd like to see his technique.

I suppose it depends on how you define "reset".

I'm wondering if he even plans to remove the neck or if he claims he can reset it by heating and bending or something. But, of course, it will probably be nigh to impossible to get specific info from him.

BTW, removing the back is not rocket science, as long as it's understood that there's at least a partial refin involved.

Paul,
He's not shy about his techniques. He says the neck comes out. He certainly has the chops to remove the back, refinish, etc. And I'm not looking for a bargain basement deal either.

How would you define "reset"? And what do think i'd pay for one done accordingly?

Well, I'd love to know how he plans to do it without removing the back. I can think of a couple of ways, but have not tried them!

I know only what I'd charge for a reset, and that would be a back-removed type of one!

Paul,
please email me off list: [email protected]
and let's converse about this.

It is possible to do- we've done it successfully a few times, however, not to an instrument we weren't going to refinish.

Generally the need for a reset comes from having a long magnet pickup in the neck position, so there's a slot across the base of the neck. That problem can be remedied with a wedge forced in the magnet slot and the pickup replaced with a short magnet style.

Thanks for your post, John,
My guitar happens to have the short mag pup in the neck position and long mag in the bridge.

So when is a neck reset required? My guitar still has about 3/32" before the briged hits the mounting plate.

I've removed many necks from Rickenbackers without removing the back, it's quite simple. Using heat lamps of the infra-red type,brace the guitar on it's side, a woodworkers bench clamp will do nicely, now apply heat from the lamps to the top and back at the neck set area. About 12 inches away works well, you have to get the area hot enough the soften the Alphetic Resin glue, (tightbond is it's commercial name) once it's softened you may start the process by moving the neck in a sideways motion, keep working it up and down/sideways till it is loose enough to pull out. I also use a turnbuckle type of threaded reverse clamp that pushes against the rear of the neck/fingerboard,
this will ultimatly push and remove the neck very cleanly. Now when I say pull on the neck, you have to use care in this, very small amounts of force is all it takes. Once it's out, clean off all the old glue from the neck and body. Sand off a small amout from the bottom of the neck heel, now make up a maple shim that will be used in the new neck angle, this will be glued in place in the body. Using your straight edge, the fret board should be level with the top of the guitar. Using soft pine blocks and a C clamp, reinstall neck to body making sure you have aligned it to the bridge and pick ups. Touch up the finish around the heel and body and it's ready for strings. I told you it would be simple. In all seriousness, this is a major repair that should only be approached by an experienced repair person. A guitar can be destroyed if not done properly.

I'd think you would have to make very fine razor cuts along the lines where the neck meets the body, or else you would just destroy the finish completely. Either way, there is bound to be some touchup or a fine line at the neck joint all around.

Dale, to my way of thinking, the method that you detail makes perfect sense.

John's "approved factory" method is a very interesting and no doubt successful way of accomplishing the same thing.

I think the medical term for both would be "noninvasive procedure". Whereas John's method (if I'm reading correctly) would only work if the original guitar had a long-magnet pickup in the neck position, and the owner was willing to replace it with a short-magnet one, post-procedure, your method would theoretically work on any Rick.

I feel that Dr. Belloff's modification to the Fortune Surgical Technique makes sense, too.

And, although I'm an "experienced repair person" who defers to your greater expertise, I still believe that I would remove the back and go about it the more invasive way, just to be on the safe side. It's simply surer to me and more controllable, allowing me to remove the neck completely and set up the neck angle on my granite surface plate, within a fraction of a degree, before gluing it back into place for a second life.

In the case of a MG guitar, touchup is possible. Colored guitars of any variety (even JG but especially the transparent bursts!) still will show a touchup "blend zone". Perhaps the easiest would be white, but how many white Ricks are there?

I'm currently doing a complete refin on David Blair's JG Rick, because a repairman touched up the JG and, though very well done, the paint blend can be easily seen. (Black sprayed over transparent conversion varnish will soon display a disparity in its sheen, and a blend will always eventually show.)

As Howard would say, "Horses for courses", but my, this is a fascinating thread!

Far from Dr. Belloff. When it gets to stuff like this, you guys have it all over me. I'd like to ee some Rickenbacker repair videos made.

Send one to Ron Hazleton and 'ee' what he can do with it, Bob.