Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Long post, sorry.

I heard rumors that a shop in Hollywood had a lefty 360/12 FG and I happened to be going down there to see The Cure at the Hollywood Bowl in May, so I ended up coming home with a new RIC! I soon picked up a set of scatterwound toaster pickups, vintage cap, and push/pull pot from PotR, as well as a lefty 12-string trapeze tailpiece from Winfield. I brought the guitar to a shop in SF that was recommended on this board for installation of those parts and for a setup/checkup. I also asked them to replace the volume pots with lefty versions to get the full "1 to 10" function of the volume controls rather than the "1 to 3" function that most lefties have to deal with.

While playing the guitar before dropping it off at the shop, I noticed that the strings were muted when I used a capo at pretty much any position on the neck. The owner of the shop mentioned that he could see an "S" curve in the neck, and that this may be an issue. They would look at it and let me know if it was a problem. The estimate for the work I requested was higher than expected, but fair.

A few weeks later I get a call about what they found regarding the neck. They tried straightening it out as best as they could with the truss rod, but there is still a curve to the neck that doesn't allow them to level the frets on the PLEK machine. The recommendations were either: Set up the guitar with a higher action to prevent the neck curve from being a problem, or do a refret. If I chose the latter, the estimate would basically double. I asked them at what point should this be considered a warranty issue, and we contacted RIC for more information. I don't remember all of the details but the information from RIC was that if I wanted to send it in for a warranty claim, they would restore the guitar to factory specs in terms of action, which would still lead to muted strings when using a capo since the guitar was already within those specs when I bought it. There were no solutions offered for the curve in the neck.

I made the choice to forego the warranty claim with RIC, as I didn't think this would result in a better playing guitar. I went forward with a refret at the shop, but of course the lacquer on the fretboards is an issue. I chose to lacquer the board, but to leave the frets un-lacquered. That added about $400 to the estimate. The good news is that since we're already doing a refret, I'm having the frets extended through the binding on the sides and having them pinch the courses a little closer together to gain a little extra "real estate" on the fretboard. I didn't consider the neck width to be too much of a problem, but if I'm paying $1700 to make a $2500 guitar playable in terms of the neck bow, I might as well get a little something extra out of it.

I don't really know why I'm writing this, other than for therapeutic reasons, lol. I now have to wait about a month to get the guitar back, hence the title of this post. Any suggestions on how I should have handled this differently? The idea of pursuing a warranty claim with RIC was not appealing since they would basically return it to me in the same condition and that they did not consider the neck bow to be a problem. I'm not sure if I just got a lemon or what. Despite the dollar amount involved here, I do really look forward to getting the guitar back and playing the hell out of it! I also don't have a problem with the amount that the shop is charging, as they came recommended by this board and because I like the operation that they run there. I just didn't plan on having to spend so much to make a fairly expensive instrument playable.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin

Hope it works out OK, Kevin.

You deserve perfection after all of this.

I'm surprised that if there was really an S-curve, they wouldn't simply replace the instrument. Ability to use a capo is a perfectly reasonable expectation for a new instrument. I would have pushed on the RIC warranty, or simply demanded a refund from the dealer and found another lefty. Of course, I know they're thin on the ground and I suspect that motivated your decision, but it sounds like you may have thrown good money after bad. Sorry it's been such a bummer.

jdogric12 wrote:I'm surprised that if there was really an S-curve, they wouldn't simply replace the instrument. Ability to use a capo is a perfectly reasonable expectation for a new instrument. I would have pushed on the RIC warranty, or simply demanded a refund from the dealer and found another lefty. Of course, I know they're thin on the ground and I suspect that motivated your decision, but it sounds like you may have thrown good money after bad. Sorry it's been such a bummer.

2

I can't imagine an s shaped neck to be standard factory spec.

This certainly makes RIC customer service and warranty look bad.

Zaphod wrote:This certainly makes RIC customer service and warranty look bad.

I'm guessing the core issue was not properly communicated here. People love to bash RIC CS, but they've come through for me before on much smaller issues. While we can't forget the MID fiasco, I'd still think something this bad would have been addressed more appropriately.

Thanks for the replies. I should clarify that not all of the $1700 is to fix the problem with the neck. The estimate for the original work I had brought the guitar in for was about $700. That was the pickup replacement, tailpiece replacement, 12-saddle bridge installation, replacement of volume pots with leftys, installation of the push/pull pot on the fifth knob with wiring of the vintage capacitor, and setup. This shop charges a little extra for RIC setups, but that is understandable.

The fact that this is a lefty is definitely the main reason why I went forward with the neck repair. If this was a righty, I would have simply returned the guitar and found another. Of course, if I was a righty I would've bought a c63 model years ago and be done with it since George's guitar from AHDN is the holy grail for me. As far as I know, they haven't even made any of those in lefty yet. I haven't even seen a used v64 lefty being sold anywhere.

At least this way I can get them to extend the frets a bit and pinch the courses. That was something I was going to look into down the road anyway. I'm OK with the width of the neck as-is, but the idea of a little bit of extra space is welcome.

I know of my obligation to post photos, so I look forward to getting the guitar back in a few weeks and showing it off to you all. Oh, and to playing the heck out of it as well! Once I get it back, I get to have the fun of testing out all of the string options I've read about on this board. I can't wait!

-Kevin

I got my 360/12 back from the shop late yesterday. I think it looks and plays great. My only gripe is that I had specified a black nut to keep with the stock (bakelite?) nut. The owner had suggested graphite, but when I got it back I noticed that they had used bone. I usually prefer bone for acoustic guitars and anything with a white or light-colored nut, but in this case I'm not sure what I want to do. He agreed to replace it if I want, but I don't know. I'm leaning towards having him replace it since this was an expensive job and I feel that everything should be 100% what I asked for.

Any pros/cons on bone vs. graphite in terms of tone or durability? I prefer the black visually since it's closer to stock.

The frets were put in over the lacquer, so they don't look exactly like they did, but that was my choice. They really did a great job on this fretboard. I'll try to take some photos that do it justice later on.

Here's the before and after.

-Kevin

billfark wrote: The estimate for the original work I had brought the guitar in for was about $700. That was the pickup replacement, tailpiece replacement, 12-saddle bridge installation, replacement of volume pots with leftys, installation of the push/pull pot on the fifth knob with wiring of the vintage capacitor, and setup. This shop charges a little extra for RIC setups, but that is understandable.-Kevin

Did this price include all of the parts too? Because if that was just labor, it sounds like they charge way too much. Once they saw that your new RIC had neck issues, they should have let you know to send it back for warranty. RIC should have built you another guitar.

Still, that's an absolutely gorgeous guitar!