Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Here's a link to the pics of my 370/12 Mark upgraded. New taller frets,new nut,the full Arnquist treatment. Enjoy.

Cole


http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loveric ... y/Arnquist

Gee, that chair looks familiar. Mine got the same treatment, plus a 12-saddle bridge in 2006. It's amazing what a small amount of extra fret width can do. Have fun.

Beautiful work. I'd love to play one of his 12-strings someday.

Todd mine is still on the FedEx truck so I can't comment yet. I'm having fits though, hope it shows up soon.

BTW did you leave your fretboard unfinished?

sloop_john_b wrote:I'd love to play one of his 12-strings someday.

+1, they look amazing.

Yes, the fretboard is just oiled on mine. I can't say that I've really noticed any difference in playability, feel, or sound though compared to the old finish or the varnished board on my 340/12.

Arnquist is a master...he made over my 360-12v64 as well. Dressed the frets (left the fretboard alone though), unwound the pick ups, rewired the controls, cut and installed a new nut, added a 12 string bridge, including reshaping the saddles and trimming the saddle springs as necessary, r&r the Ric trussrod system and installed his, reshaped the trc to vintage shape, r&r all the tuners and strap screws, fill with poly-acrylate and re-install (to prevent stripping out) and lastly relocating the bridgeplate so the guitar would intonate properly.

It's absolutely astonishing how these upgrades turned this instrument into something I WANT to play instead of leave on the wall as art....

I highly recommend any Ric go to him for a makeover. the playability factor will increase substantially!

Why RIC doesn't do this at the factory I'll never know. Sad really.

loverickbass wrote:Why RIC doesn't do this at the factory I'll never know. Sad really.

If it ain't broke...

Oh it's broke, it's just there's no alternative to RIC. Take it or leave it is a better statement.

One man's "broke" is another man's "suits me just fine".

Clint wrote:One man's "broke" is another man's "suits me just fine".

That was my sentiment, moreso than "Take it or leave it"...

They are basically unplayable to me besides the 660/12 (and Collin's 1993, yowza), so I'd love to feel first hand what Arnquist does to improve them.

It made a tremendous difference for me in playability, and the quality of my playing. This is a list MA sent me for the stock mods that he did on my first 360/12.

Rickenbacker 12 string modifications post 1985 era guitars

1- make a new black phenolic nut with the widest spacing possible
This spacing is based on the round over point of the
frets ... not the actual fretboard .
The pairs are cut at .070 for the D/4th ,G/3rd ,B2nd and High E/1st
The pairs for the Low E and A are cut at .080 apart

You gain about .110" in overall width !

2- trim the nameplate to vintage spec so that it
clears the slots in the face of the headstock

3-replace the stainless steel truss rod bard with one that is
shaped to the edge of the cavity wall .
The 'new' version on this era of Ricks ,
digs under the fretboard and when the rods are tightened ,
it wraps around the walnut
center section , causing the bar to dig and then pop the fretboards .
The replacement that I make is similar to the originals in shape .

4- the Sharkfin and bottom guard edges are rounded over .
This was original spec so you would not cut your hand on the plexiglass .

5- The 12 saddle bridge is mounted (I do not supply this part )

This entails -
5a-centering the base plate to the neck ,
5b-etching the bottom with the instruments serial number,
5c-etching a "T" for treble, a "B" for bass as this plate is NOT symetrical !
5d- The location is checked and 5/32" added to the length so that the
saddles when intonated , will be centered in the bridge chassis .
5e- the springs shifted and/or stretched to not rattle once it is adjusted/intonated.

6- the saddles are removed , and deburred on the outside edges of each pair,
The tops of each pair are gently rounded to give a visual 'pairing' of the two saddles .
This was done in the 1960's
The saddles are notched with the tops of the strings following a 10" radius .
This gives a smooth picking motion to the player.
The tops of all the saddles are sanded with 220 grit sand paper and
then steel wooled to give a nice finished look .
This was also something done in the 1960's .

7- The tuners mounted on the side of the headstock are removed , the screw holes plugged
and redrilled with a #44 bit , then the screws inserted ,then removed to
form 'threads' and a drop of Cyanoacrylate glue drizzled into the hole to harden
the walls of this cavity .
This allows the screw to tighten more and keep these tuners snug .

8- The jacks are checked and on "Rick-O-Sound" jacks ,the mono/standard jack switch is
cleaned and both jacks tightened .
The dual jacks of other models can be modded ... I install a .0047 cap on the jack
nearest the neck -so that when you plug into that jack , you
get the clasic 'crisp' tone . The other jack retains the normal 'full' tone .

9- The "R" tailpiece (while classic looking) is prone to gripping strings making it
difficult to change broken strings . These fins were once deburred before plating .. I deburr every one that crosses my bench .
For solid body guitars I suggest replaing the "R" with the flat /vintage style .
This allows the setting of intonation and restringing to be much easier .

10- The strap buttons - the threads are checked .
Many of these become loose over time , and a dose of C.A. glue and retapping fixes thi .

11- The pickups are checked for balance .... and the grommets replaced or
added to fix the height of the pickups for maximum sound.

12- the frets are checked for level and the height measured .

13- SET UP

The nut is finalized , the guitar is strung with your choice of string
gauge /brand (you supply this ,Do NOT put new strings on before you send me the guitar )
The truss rods are adjusted for minimum neck relief
The bridge height is set
The saddles are intonated for A 440hz unless you specify a different pitch .
The pickup height fine tuned
The controls are checked
And then the guitar cleaned of any shop 'dust'and or 'funk'

Later, on my 370/12 I also had the full-width frets installed for even more room, and again, it made a big difference in ease of playing for my big hands.

FRETS:
Remove frets using soldering gun to soften any possible glue and
to soften the finish around the fretwire .
Sand fretboard to remove the finish and to create a 'flat' ledge
for the notched fretwire to sit on .
Notch tang of CF Martin vintage fretwire and install
Level recrown and polish frets

If I hadn't had these things done, I would be playing a different brand of electric twelve string - even though I've never wanted to play any other brand.