Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I recently picked up a 330w and enjoying it so far, but there seems to be a relatively large gap at the neck joint. I can't help but be bothered by it. Should I be worried about this guitar's future? I bought it secondhand so warranty work is out of the question. It was made in the last year, so it's pretty darn new.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n51 ... 629278.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n51 ... 624371.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n51 ... 617218.jpg

Yikes. Was the seller "just thinning the herd?" mm hmm....

A tricky one to answer without examining the guitar in person. The most crucial aspect of the neck/body join is how the neck connects to the pocket - i.e. between the neck end and the underside of the body 'wings'. The back is essentially a cap and not primarily part of the neck join, although it certainly will help if the join between the back and neck and body is plumb and true.

That said, the gaps at the sides look slightly alarming from here. I really can't fathom what has caused this - the chief culprits are either the wood shrinking (neck maple) or the pocket expanding (walnut), or poor construction followed by negligent QA. None of these are beyond the realms of possibility, but I just can't see how they would let the guitar out of the factory like that. 'Other Brands' , yes. It might be worth sending RIC an email - you might get lucky.

Have a close look at the rest of the guitar's geometry - if the neck is true and not pulling forward (or any other direction) I wouldn't worry too much (but stay vigilant). If in doubt, find a decent tech to investigate things. It shouldn't be too much trouble (for someone skilled) to insert some glue and clamp the gap shut, or to insert a small walnut shim if the gap is too big for clamping. As for the side gaps, things are not so straight forward.

Best of luck.