Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After doing a double take on the binding on my new 660 Blueburst it doesn't look right to me. There is a definate ridge on the side and top where the binding meets the body. The binding also distorts in height and shape in different areas and the squares are not perpendicular to the body in some areas. I have seen other bound Rickenbackers that do not look like this. The binding is perfect on the ones I have seen. For those with 660s can you please let me know if yours look like this.. I will try to post photos of the binding. I can send them via regular email if they do not show up here. Thank-you.

My 660/12 BB has a little of that, it's just very hard to notice because the color is so light.

This is not an anomaly, but is typical and has to do with the binding/painting process. After the guitar is bound, the binding is scraped flush with the surface of the wood, and carefully sanded and blended. Then several coats of sealer are applied to guitar and binding and sanded between coats. This sealer is transparent. Next, color tint (in this case a transparent blue) is applied to give the guitar its "burst" scheme. Obviously, on a burst, this color is deepest at the edge. Although the side binding is masked with a special razor-edge tape, the top and "checkerboard" purfling is not masked--a clean edge is not possible and masking the curved edge is too time-consuming and does not yield acceptable results, in any case.

So, after the blue tint has dried (several hours to overnight), the binding tape is removed from the sides and the top binding and purfling area is hand-scraped. This takes a deft hand and the ladies who do it have been performing this task for years. It is considered acceptable to scrape the seam between binding and body a tiny bit "short"; that is, to leave a bit of checkerboard showing under the tint, rather than risk over-scraping, and leaving a streak of bare maple between the dark tint and the edge of the checkerboard.

Because the tint does have a bit of thickness, and a clean scrape is crucial to the appearance, there is sometimes a slight ridge where the tint has been scraped away.

The whole guitar, unmasked and scraped, is now treated to its many coats of transparent conversion varnish. These initial coats are allowed to cure and shrink for several days, sanded and the guitar is sent back to the spray booth for more coats of varnish. This process is repeated; it takes about ten days from start to finish, or raw sanded body to painted and varnished body, ready to fit trim, install pickups and electronics, and string, set action, intonate, test play, and then case up and send out to the ordering dealer.

I've simplified, of course, in the interest of clarity and brevity.

It should be noted that ALL of the individual operations described here are done by human hands. So the miniscule variations you've noted are, in fact, completely normal and part of a Rickenbacker's hand-built and hand-finished identity, tradition, and charm.

Any of you who have a "deluxe" Rick model (or a Rick acoustic or older bass with this trim detail), can carefully inspect the binding on your guitar or bass, and (except in the case of JG or other opaque finishes, where it's less obvious) will see how the scraping operation leaves 1/4-1/2 mm of color overlapping the checkerboard. The "ridge" can be less or more pronounced and is one of the variations of the scraping and finishing process.

Paul, Thank-you for the explanation and clarification. I thought the top of the cresting wave was the most noticeable variation on the binding as I'd never seen it vary in thickness and shape as much as my guitar shows.

You're welcome, Dan. I've seen this sort of variation and it's within specs on a hand-fettled instrument, IMO.

Just picture a couple of ladies sitting at a workbench, each with guitar in one hand and single-edged razor blade in the other, and you'll get a feel for a small part of the immensely detailed handwork that goes into each one of these instruments!

Cool. I appreciate your professional expertise. Now I have to search for threads on your truss rod adjustment tutorial as the 660 neck needs an adjustment.

nyrkickazz1 wrote:My 660/12 BB has a little of that, it's just very hard to notice because the color is so light.

Thanks for taking a look at your 660/12.

My 1991 660/12TP JG has noticeable-to-the-touch 'uneven' binding, i.e., it is not level to the top or side of the guitar body for most the of length. I didn't see whether the checks are angled, but I'll look at it again, and I'll look at the 660/12 FG and the 660 DCM as well when I get a chance.

Although perfectly square little checks would be the ideal, parallelograms are more common...I understood from conversations with JH that RIC switched their binding supplier and that there was a lot of returned merchandise sitting in the supplier's warehouse as a result.

I was sure that I got some of this in my last purchases, because occasionally the checkerboard would snap at a color junction when it was being cold-curved to fit a guitar or bass. This is not "normal".

In the bottom photo, counting the black squares starting at the bottom, the 8th black square has a white streak through it. (I don't believe this is some sort of reflection.) How is it possible for a black check to be partly white. Just wondering . (I apologize for being so nit picky, my mind is naturally analytical) I think I may have figured it out. The white part is actually white binding in front of the black checked binding for the section closest to the wood. Does that make sense?

The checkerboard binding is the part closest to the wood. There is no white binding next to the wood.

It is possible that, sometimes in hand-scraping the checkerboard, that a slight change in angle of the razor blade might "scuff" the black check, leaving a grayish or whitish nick. I usually catch these when I am scraping. but in some cases, it could only turn up after the conversion varnish is applied, as the varnish sits on top of the binding, and does not penetrate. I've learned to avoid this by wiping the binding down with acetone (binding solvent) before applying the varnish, which re-wets the surface of the checkerboard and turns these scuffs black. I don't know if they do this at the factory, as it's a fix that I came up with myself.

Very interesting. Thank-you Paul for the detailed explanation.

I recently noticed that a small area of the binding on my 381 seems a little weird. The black areas are faded and not as strong as the rest of the binding. The pic is a bit out of focus, but I think you can see what I mean. Any idea what may be the cause?

86kubicki wrote:I recently noticed that a small area of the binding on my 381 seems a little weird. The black areas are faded and not as strong as the rest of the binding. The pic is a bit out of focus, but I think you can see what I mean. Any idea what may be the cause?

Hard to tell by the blurry picture. Could be air under the clearcoat. Can you take a sharper picture?

Oh, hell, I'll take it off your hands for $700.00.

jingle_jangle wrote:

86kubicki wrote: Oh, hell, I'll take it off your hands for $700.00.

What's the word I'm looking for.... oh yeah - HAR!