Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Paul, the volute on my 230 is a real pain, especially when playing F chords & their open derivitaves. What would be involved in its removal? Would the neck be strong enough without it & could the 1985 FG ever be matched for the touch up, or would the entire neck need to be sprayed. If the neck needed a respray, how dificult is it to match the FG to the body?

The volute could be thinned. Remember that this is a weak spot of the neck (that's the reason for the volute in the first place), and one good smack against a cymbal or a large barrel of Carnivore Chow, and you're risking snapping off the headstock.

Your sustain would suffer a little, and the balance of the guitar would shift toward the body a bit.

A respray (entire neck is easiest; touchup is tough where translucent dyes are concerned) is fairly easy, and matching the existing FG is a snip.

Those have really thin necks, as do most RICS. I also have had issues with F chords on my 230, but I just deal with it. I wouldn't want to mess the guitar up by shaving the neck down any more!

I'd be very interested to see the instrument in question (both full shots and a close-up of the volute).

Would that be possible? I need an education update, you see........

Here you go Howard. One 230 & the volute....

The gtr is for sale because of this, but I really want to keep it. The volute bothers me though. I used it for half a gig & my thumb arch of my left hand was aching like crazy. When I use it at rehearsal, I notice the volute regularly. The sound is so good that I want to keep the gtr, but this is a real issue for me....not sure what to do.

Tony: This is a question for John Hall to field as well. The factory has probably been faced with it in the past. Certainly that would be a lot of neck to lose to set things right. In passing, why not comment on the humbucking sound on the solid body versus the semi-acoustic body.

I think the pickups are single coils Peter. They are supposed to have 'humbucking tonality', but they sound like single coils to me. It is a 1985 model & I think the humbuckers came a little later on the 200 series. The gtr also sounds like a Rickenbacker, oddly enough. Not quite the depth of tone of the thin lines & probably a little easier to overdrive, but Rickenbacker none the less. It's a superb gtr with a superb sound, but......that volute!!!

Your are right Tony, I wasn't thinking. From the RIC catalog

Pickups: While having only a single coil, this new design offers humbucking-like tonal possibilities. The entire width of the pickup is used for string sensing, eliminating warm or dead notes. Extremely high output design for overdrive effects with unusually wide spectral response. Both pickups have height adjustment from rear.

Thanks, Tony. I see the problem (in fact I can almost feel it!) and I don't know what advice I can offer. I can honestly say I haven't seen anything as pronounced as that before!

It would be a shame to get rid of it... it's a lovely looking guitar!!

It's a fantastic gtr Howard. Really nice to play (apart from the obvious), great sound & IMO a great looker. I can see why JH is so keen on these gtrs. This is why I am exploring a neck mod, to make it a regular user...I think it would be worth it!

The neck is no thinner than several of my other Rics (in fact it's thicker than my 350V63. My 360V64-12 & '97 330 are very comparable), so if it was shaved, would it really weaken it that much?

Tony: It certainly would be your bravery test. Wouldn't it? I would say that it would weaken the neck considerably and would be Rickencide to attempt it. Crisis counsellors will be on hand over the next few days.

Tony: could you provide a real closeup photo of the volute area, from the same point of view as your second photo above?

I'd like to see the grain pattern to ascertain viability. Maybe not Rickencide...

Tony: could you provide a real closeup photo of the volute area, from the same point of view as your second photo above?

I'd lke to see the grain pattern to ascertain viability. Maybe not Rickencide...

I don't think there would be a problem to reduce that volute significantly but of course it reduces the strength in that area.