Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just picked this up for cheap. Thought I'd show it off as it is a bit of a stunner to these humble eyes. Made in Korea in 2004, the pickups are better than decent sounding, jury's still out on the tuners; they're smooth but I can't tell if the strings are still wearing in or if the Grovers are slipping. It's in need of a truss rod adjustment and set-up; I'd like to lower the frets a tad and something drones microphonically like a sitar in sympathy with the G string, maybe a saddle. But that's all the bad news. The neck is slim and fast enough for this girl and the vibe is very late-seventies Gibson. The poly finish is well done and the binding and inlay work are beautiful.

Another Epi that does the work and has the look, Kira.

While these instruments can be hit and miss, I have been impressed with their quality overall. They are affordable and the tone is usually very good.

You have touched upon the downside already which for me is always seems to be the tuners, electronics and an annoying rattle which of can be the poor quality pickup selector switch.

We look forward to its debut in your upcoming recording, Kira.

At least the pickups sound good, so I won part of the "Epi hardware roulette" game. I need to take it in for proper setup anyway, and we'll look at that switch or bridge saddle. The sitar effect is so pronounced on the one string that it's hilarious. I feel like breaking into "Within You Without You" when I hear it When it comes back I've got a little blues number in mind for it...

That's a sweetheart, Kira. I was watching the Obama onfomercial last night and there was a guy from mid-Ohio shown playing one of these in his living room...

These immediately bring John Lee Hooker to mind.

Re: tuners slipping. This won't happen because they're worm geared and the gears are keyed to the tuner shafts. Also, the tuning keys themselves are keyed to their shafts, so everything is locked in. Most, if not all, Asian tuner copies are made like this too, right down to the cheap Chinese ones. So check your string wraps--try to keep 'em at three turns or less on those treble strings, and stretch each string thoroughly when tuning up with new strings.

The sitar sound is most probably a badly-cut nut for the one or two strings where you can hear it. If it only shows up on open strings, and goes away when you fret at the first fret, that's the evidence. If it still makes that sound when the string is fretted at the first fret, it is bridge-related; probably a loose saddle. I think these have nylon saddles, so that could be the culprit, too.

jingle_jangle wrote:That's a sweetheart, Kira. I was watching the Obama onfomercial last night and there was a guy from mid-Ohio shown playing one of these in his living room...

These immediately bring John Lee Hooker to mind.

Re: tuners slipping. This won't happen because they're worm geared and the gears are keyed to the tuner shafts. Also, the tuning keys themselves are keyed to their shafts, so everything is locked in. Most, if not all, Asian tuner copies are made like this too, right down to the cheap Chinese ones. So check your string wraps--try to keep 'em at three turns or less on those treble strings, and stretch each string thoroughly when tuning up with new strings.

The sitar sound is most probably a badly-cut nut for the one or two strings where you can hear it. If it only shows up on open strings, and goes away when you fret at the first fret, that's the evidence. If it still makes that sound when the string is fretted at the first fret, it is bridge-related; probably a loose saddle. I think these have nylon saddles, so that could be the culprit, too.

The only Epi I know of with nylon saddles is the John Lennon signature Casino.

Thanks, Nick. As you can see, Epi details are not my forte.

jingle_jangle wrote:That's a sweetheart, Kira. I was watching the Obama onfomercial last night and there was a guy from mid-Ohio shown playing one of these in his living room...

These immediately bring John Lee Hooker to mind.

Yeah, now I need to wear a huge black pair of Foster Grants when I play it, and carry a gold plated hip flask. The guy from Oasis likes 'em too. It feels and plays first-class, like a Gibson, and has a distinct identity because of the model's history.

jingle_jangle wrote:Re: tuners slipping. This won't happen because they're worm geared and the gears are keyed to the tuner shafts. Also, the tuning keys themselves are keyed to their shafts, so everything is locked in. Most, if not all, Asian tuner copies are made like this too, right down to the cheap Chinese ones. So check your string wraps--try to keep 'em at three turns or less on those treble strings, and stretch each string thoroughly when tuning up with new strings.

The strings have settled in overnight and tuning seems fine. I notice that the tuner shafts are a bit too short for the thickness of the head and I can only get a few turns on the larger strings.

Not a bad score for $300

jingle_jangle wrote:The sitar sound is most probably a badly-cut nut for the one or two strings where you can hear it. If it only shows up on open strings, and goes away when you fret at the first fret, that's the evidence. If it still makes that sound when the string is fretted at the first fret, it is bridge-related; probably a loose saddle. I think these have nylon saddles, so that could be the culprit, too.

The droning happens with the G string only, from open to fret 22, and it's the worst at frets 5 thru 12. It's got gold-plated metal saddles in an old-fashioned tune-o-matic style bridge.

It's the first full-scale electric guitar I've owned in a while so my fingers have to become re-accustomed; the tension is greater too. I may have to back down to .11 gauge strings. I've got the groundwound D'Addario jazz lights EHR350 on there, like I use on my shorties.

DOWN to 11's????

on a 24.5" scale, I've never found bigger than 10's to have any advantage, I usually go back and forth between 10's and 9's on my SG (though lately I've stuck to 10's)

I always kinda felt that more string means more tone, especially on the clean settings. I don't really bend 'em more than a whole step ever.

Cool! Congratulations Kira!

Nice, Keye-ray!

Our rhythm guitarist/singer in the Lemon Antennas has a natural finish one from '93.

www.lemonantennas.com

jps wrote:Nice, Keye-ray!

Our rhythm guitarist/singer in the Lemon Antennas has a natural finish one from '93.

http://www.lemonantennas.com

That's great, Jeff.

This new guitar is really growing on me fast. I took it to my local setter-upper for some adjustments and to see what's up with the sitar effect. Does your rhythmer's Sheraton have any weird buzzes? I presume he says the usual good/bad things about his Epi? Most folks say when you find a good one it's a keeper. We'll see. By the middle of next week I'll be starting the honeymoon.
I like the natural finish but I feel that black shows off one's hands the best. This is my third black guitar.

Warren has been having issues with it staying in tune, but I think some of that is due to his tendency to press the strings down too hard. He is most comfortable with an acoustic guitar.

jps wrote:Warren has been having issues with it staying in tune, but I think some of that is due to his tendency to press the strings down too hard. He is most comfortable with an acoustic guitar.

That might be why he's out of tune while playing, but if the guitar falls out of tune constantly, I'd look at the nut for pinching.


That guitar looks great! Tomorrow night I'll have a sunburst model nearby to use as a backup should my SG break a string!

jps wrote: He is most comfortable with an acoustic guitar.

This is a good electric for him then, with stout enough strings the board could be OK feeling for him, fairly flat, and the body has a warm acoustic tone unplugged, despite the central block. He might think the neck is too slender if not too narrow as well, but I find it to be my idea of a good average between acoustic and solidbody, in fact a true semi-acoustic feeling in the playing. Makes me want to get a new wardrobe and play some country blues