Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Has this happened to anyone else? The tailpiece on my purple '92 330-12 spontaneously broke into 3 pieces at the hook. The guitar was even strung with 08's. It was a black painted tailpiece although I doubt it makes a difference. The guitar was stored on a stand when it happened and I didn't know it had occured until I picked it up to play it only to find strings everywhere. Creeeepy eh? Although not as creepy as when the bridge popped off one of my ukelele's while we were watching "The Shining".

Hi Dominic
There is a thread that I posted on this same topic under rickenbacker guitars on the second page titled R tailpiece, you will find some very interesting replies there

Yeah, it happens on occasion to the black R's. It's happened to me. It has to do with the powder coating used on the black R's. Not a perfect process, which is why RIC no longer makes black hardware. You can get a replacement from Pick of the Ricks, for a fee.

Dom wrote:It was a black painted tailpiece although I doubt it makes a difference.

Actually, it does. The process used to powder coat the black tailpieces make them more prone to this failure than the chrome plated ones.

IIRC, John Hall recommends black epoxy type paint as one option on the replacement, as RIC no longer produces black "R" tailpieces.

I was at the Dallas Guitar Show this weekend, and saw a new 360/12 with the chrome "R" tailpiece whcih had apparently moments earlier snapped. It was on the left side looking at it from the front, at the skinniest part of the R leg. Of course, all the strings were sprung loose, looked like a little metal afro!

Guy said it would be taken care of by the factory, but I still hated to see it and wondered if it was a problem. The metal reminded me of that pot metal they used to make cheap tools for Japanese motorcycles back in the 70s.

I must say that it's quite alarming to read about Rickenbacker tailpieces self-destructing, especially since my 330/12 supposedly has all the risk factors: I bought it about twelve years ago used (I'm not sure when it was made), and it has the black "R" tailpiece, not to mention the fact that it's strung with fairly heavy strings (D'Addario .010 to .046) and I keep it tuned to concert pitch. I'm wondering what I can do to safeguard my guitar against the disaster so many people on both Rickenbacker forums have described. Should I go with a lighter string set or detune my guitar when I'm not playing it? Is there anything else I can do?

I would not detune the guitar; just a get a new tailpiece. You can switch to lighter strings if you like, but the D'Addario is a pretty popular 12 set for those who don't go for the more boutique TI or similar brands. I like the lighter Ernie Ball .008-.40 set on mine just for the ease of doing bends.

Since I've had no problems yet with the "R" tailpiece, is it imperative that I replace it? To tell you the truth, I really like the look of the "R" tailpiece as compared to a trapeze. Also, I'm not much of a fan of light gauge strings (As a matter of fact, I just replaced the low string on the G pair--which was a .017--with a wound .020 to avoid inadverently bending the G pair during solos). How likely is it that I'll have a problem, and is there any special way I can store the guitar to avoid tailpiece disasters?

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, the condition is quite rare. In this case I would assume there was a flaw in the casting. Whatever the reason, RIC makes tailpieces by the thousands and we probably hear about every one that fails. I'm going to guess that's a failure rate of less than 1%.

RIC doesn't have a supply of the black tailpieces anymore, but Pick of the Ricks does. I'd contact them.

http://www.pickofthericks.com/products/ ... ring-.html

The failure rate seems low enough that I wouldn't even trip on it. I have one too, the black "R", but I'm just going to use and enjoy it until it breaks (which it probably won't). Then, as has been pointed out, replacements are available if needed. Till then I won't let it harsh my mellow.

The Model 350 I recently posted originally had black hardware, but most of it, including the black "R" tailpiece was gone when I bought it. The "R" had been replaced with a John Lennon style Bigsby. I switched everything else to chrome, and the pickguards from black to white. Luckily, the truss rod cover had already been switched to a nice white, clear vintage style. Black trim does NOT turn me on, so it worked out great.

My former 610's black tailpiece was corroded so I glassbead blasted it and powercoated it a second time to clean it up (taking it up to 500F). I used D'Addario 0.011" on it with never an issue.