Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I am following the Ric on the Bay with a missing TRC...

Now i understand what a pain it is to take it off and put it on with the strings, but c'mon man...it's like wearing a tuxedo without a tie. Also, it's not a small TRC...not real easy to lose.

Are we to assume that the seller sold it off? And if so, can that seller really be trusted?

Thoughts?

Patrick

A couple of questions posed..."can the seller be trusted?" Can any or all sellers be trusted? Yes and no; obviously the feedback rating will be an indication unless the seller is new to the 'bay.
Why is the cover missing? Anything is possible. If he has two guitars, he could have taken a cover of his keeper, and now he's selling the backup. If it's an older guitar anything could have happened to the original, especially if the original owner got the guitar on a whim, and wasn't a real guitar lover, therefore, complete care was not a priority. Maybe it was sold to someone else and some kid was messing with it, changing strings, the original cover was damaged...wow, so many possibilities, but no one knows. Maybe you could write and ask the seller if he knows...regardless, one solution if a replacement is hard to come by, make your own! I did on a very worn '90 330. I enjoyed the challenge and liked the results. An original home-made cover will obviously make the guitar a "player" guitar, not a museum piece, but so what. Ricks are made to be played, sweat upon and to become "aged." Enjoy no matter the result, no matter the buyer, no matter the owner!

...wisdom

Given how often I lose my wallet and car keys, I can easily imagine someone taking off their TRC placing it in a "safe place" whilst adjusting the rod...only to instantly forget where that "safe place" is....

I've also seen a few broken and battered plexi TRCs in my time - probably resulting from using oversize replacement tuners after the wavy Grovers have given up the ghost.... The TRC won't fit after the new tuners are put on and either gets forced into place (and broken) or reshaped by hand in the tradition of all great DIYers..... and broken due to overtightening the vice or a slip with a chisel....

Good points...

I am always so careful with my guitars...i treat them like the fine instruments that they are.

Others may not be the same.

the trc + silver knob inserts + bridge cover are the most often missing items on used rics.
with the trc it is situation that you just don't want to take it off and put it back on with every small neck adjustment that is needed during touring -especially if it is modern truss rod and 12 string with bit "temperamental" neck and you go from 50% or more humid place to dry colder climate and back in like two three days, it will need adjustment twice so imagine how annoying it is to take it off and put it back on twice...it is likely that octave g string will not make it as well as wound g and it is likely that some other plain string will do the same...so it is far easier to keep the trc off all together...and than it's lost somewhere living with the bridge cover in the same ziploc bag ...

Reynman wrote: Are we to assume that the seller sold it off? And if so, can that seller really be trusted?

Thoughts?

Patrick

Why on earth would a seller taking a part off his guitar and selling it give any reason not to trust him?

Now.....if he replaced it with a fake one or something, that'd be different...but a missing TRC-- no big deal.

Again...it is so foreign to me, i cannot fully grasp it.

I get the touring/adjustment thing...makes sense.

I bought an Elliott Easton Gretsch that the guy sold off the pickguard and the TRC...there were all these little things that i had to repair/replace. I guess this is my baggage.

It doesn't mean you can't trust him... it doesn't mean he was even the one who did it, but even if he did, that's his prerogative. Maybe he needed a TRC but not a guitar... doesn't make him dishonest.

I hear you...like i said, my baggage.