Broken "R" Tailpiece
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:42 pm
Yeah; figured it was some kind of fatigue, obviously. This is what happened to the British De Havilland Comet jetliner in 1952-53; they underestimated the stresses in the rear fuselage, especially around the cabin window area.
Ever since then, and to this day, all British jetliners have used an oval shape for passenger windows, as opposed to a square shape. An oval or square has no edge or corner, hence it's much stronger.
Still strikes me as odd that this would happen to a Rickenbacker guitar; the fact that this has happened to Steve several times, and obviously alot of other folks as well, you'd think a "Fix" would have been come up with for something like this.
I'm sure the Gibson & Fender folks get a big charge out of all this; as Rickenbacker guitars are known to be on a quality level with the two aforementioned, although granted, Rickys are very "Different" kinds of guitars.
When you pick up a Les Paul, it just has that "Buttery" feel to it; the density of the solid body, etc. When you pick up a Strat or Tele, you have that wonderful "Slinky" sort of feel, etc.
Picking up a Ricky-12, is sort of it's own deal. It feels neither "Buttery or slinky", and the guitar, NOT YOU, is in charge.
The neck is too thin, there is quite a bit of "Pull" (Like you would feel on some cheaper guitars made out of lousy wood-This is NOT the case with a Rickenbacker, the "Pull" comes from the design of the instrument)
But yeah; this guitar kind of TELLS YOU how it's going to be, and you can't ever grip it like a weapon the way you would a say a Gibson SG.
You have to play by the rules of the Rickenbacker 12 string guitar; she's in charge, and if you do, THEN she'll jangle for days.
I've played them since 1980 (I was 19 at the time) and to this day, on bad days (You know, when a guitar feels like a barbed wire fence in your hands) the instrument can STILL feel "Awkward" in my hands.
It's sort of a "Code thing"; the price you pay for mid '60's bliss and jangle, for mini-skirts and go-go boots, for loud, smokey jetliners, for '66 Mustang fastbacks, for when you didn't have to leave your car doors locked, for when an adult passing a lost child only meant something helpful.
When there was still one more year left of black & white Andy Griffith shows, & Laura Petrie's Capri pants.
When people actually smiled at you, and were friendly...
For when the NBC Peacock went to "Living Colour"...
Thing is, there is no "Epiphone Ricky-12"; no half-way point, or economy guitar, that's going to take you where I just mentioned.
Funny, I owned my '67 366/12 from 1980, until just 4 years ago, and she never gave a lick of trouble. The "Warm" feeling of an older guitar is wonderful too; the aging of the wood always improving the tone, etc. I guess that's why everybody wants 'em!!
I bought my CW12 second party on ebay about 2 1/2 years ago; all the "Case candy" is there; poster, certificate, allen wrenches, booklet. I'll see if there is a way if "RIC" will replace this for free, if I send them the old "R". If not, I'll just have to scrape up the $100, and bite the bullet.
And yeah, re-stringing a 12 string Rick is sort of a focused, time consuming job, and I often will end with a little bid of blood too, at the end of the session!
I saw the Hard Days Night trapezes are 60 bucks, and alot easier to string up as well. Of course, that traditional "'65 360/12 look" I'm sure stays with alot of players...
This whole thing is all George Harrison's fault.
Christian
> Surely you know all about metal fatigue (unlike "mental fatigue") from your interest in aviation, Flyboy. Either that or some bug in the manufacturing process, like a stray air bubble perhaps, who knows?
>
> I've heard of this happening to others, it may be a design flaw, like the thin area where the fretboard meets the headstock where older Ricks almost always starts to crack. They should probably use a better grade of metal, such as brass, like better banjo tailpieces.
>
> That should be covered under your warrenty. Just make sure you keep the pieces, 'cause Rick won't replace it for you with out 'em!
>
> bw
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Buddy Woodward buddy@..
> THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS "bluegrass with a buzz"
> http://www.dixiebeeliners.com
> http://www.myspace.com/thedixiebeeliners
> http://www.sonicbids.com/thedixiebeeliners
> Check out our new blog for Gibson:
> http://www.gibson.com/allaccessblogs.aspx
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ever since then, and to this day, all British jetliners have used an oval shape for passenger windows, as opposed to a square shape. An oval or square has no edge or corner, hence it's much stronger.
Still strikes me as odd that this would happen to a Rickenbacker guitar; the fact that this has happened to Steve several times, and obviously alot of other folks as well, you'd think a "Fix" would have been come up with for something like this.
I'm sure the Gibson & Fender folks get a big charge out of all this; as Rickenbacker guitars are known to be on a quality level with the two aforementioned, although granted, Rickys are very "Different" kinds of guitars.
When you pick up a Les Paul, it just has that "Buttery" feel to it; the density of the solid body, etc. When you pick up a Strat or Tele, you have that wonderful "Slinky" sort of feel, etc.
Picking up a Ricky-12, is sort of it's own deal. It feels neither "Buttery or slinky", and the guitar, NOT YOU, is in charge.
The neck is too thin, there is quite a bit of "Pull" (Like you would feel on some cheaper guitars made out of lousy wood-This is NOT the case with a Rickenbacker, the "Pull" comes from the design of the instrument)
But yeah; this guitar kind of TELLS YOU how it's going to be, and you can't ever grip it like a weapon the way you would a say a Gibson SG.
You have to play by the rules of the Rickenbacker 12 string guitar; she's in charge, and if you do, THEN she'll jangle for days.
I've played them since 1980 (I was 19 at the time) and to this day, on bad days (You know, when a guitar feels like a barbed wire fence in your hands) the instrument can STILL feel "Awkward" in my hands.
It's sort of a "Code thing"; the price you pay for mid '60's bliss and jangle, for mini-skirts and go-go boots, for loud, smokey jetliners, for '66 Mustang fastbacks, for when you didn't have to leave your car doors locked, for when an adult passing a lost child only meant something helpful.
When there was still one more year left of black & white Andy Griffith shows, & Laura Petrie's Capri pants.
When people actually smiled at you, and were friendly...
For when the NBC Peacock went to "Living Colour"...
Thing is, there is no "Epiphone Ricky-12"; no half-way point, or economy guitar, that's going to take you where I just mentioned.
Funny, I owned my '67 366/12 from 1980, until just 4 years ago, and she never gave a lick of trouble. The "Warm" feeling of an older guitar is wonderful too; the aging of the wood always improving the tone, etc. I guess that's why everybody wants 'em!!
I bought my CW12 second party on ebay about 2 1/2 years ago; all the "Case candy" is there; poster, certificate, allen wrenches, booklet. I'll see if there is a way if "RIC" will replace this for free, if I send them the old "R". If not, I'll just have to scrape up the $100, and bite the bullet.
And yeah, re-stringing a 12 string Rick is sort of a focused, time consuming job, and I often will end with a little bid of blood too, at the end of the session!
I saw the Hard Days Night trapezes are 60 bucks, and alot easier to string up as well. Of course, that traditional "'65 360/12 look" I'm sure stays with alot of players...
This whole thing is all George Harrison's fault.
Christian
> Surely you know all about metal fatigue (unlike "mental fatigue") from your interest in aviation, Flyboy. Either that or some bug in the manufacturing process, like a stray air bubble perhaps, who knows?
>
> I've heard of this happening to others, it may be a design flaw, like the thin area where the fretboard meets the headstock where older Ricks almost always starts to crack. They should probably use a better grade of metal, such as brass, like better banjo tailpieces.
>
> That should be covered under your warrenty. Just make sure you keep the pieces, 'cause Rick won't replace it for you with out 'em!
>
> bw
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Buddy Woodward buddy@..
> THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS "bluegrass with a buzz"
> http://www.dixiebeeliners.com
> http://www.myspace.com/thedixiebeeliners
> http://www.sonicbids.com/thedixiebeeliners
> Check out our new blog for Gibson:
> http://www.gibson.com/allaccessblogs.aspx
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I did have the original metal ones that would go down a staircase one step at a time, until they got pulled too hard and bent by my little sister. 