Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi there - does anyone know when Rickenbacker stopped using Grover flat tuners?? Best regards

I know my early '71's had Flat Grovers.
My guess is sometime in '72.

Welcome, BTW!

I just did a quick look in the register and they changed around May - June of '72. Real close to when they removed the walnut wings on the peghead and added the skunk stripe.

Welcome Anton. Poke through the register and find out!

http://www.rickresource.com/register/

My June 1972 4001 has the shedua strip and flat keys on closed-back Grovers. Still have the original Toaster-top pickup, wiring harness, and jackplate, but everything else has been replaced or refinished. The contrasting headstock wings were also an addition.

Paul, I saw there were a couple with the stripe and flats. Probably just using up the stock.

Slightly off topic, but were those Grovers quality-wise better than the most common Kluson/Rickenbacker ones?
Aestethically speaking, I have always found those Grovers ugly, to say the least

My '74 has the Wavy Grovers (closed back) Shedula strip, red dots, High Gain pickups and 1/2 inch spacing for the neck pickup. Also a neck I have loved since I first picked it up in the summer of '74!!

rickinroma wrote:Slightly off topic, but were those Grovers quality-wise better than the most common Kluson/Rickenbacker ones?
Aestethically speaking, I have always found those Grovers ugly, to say the least

Same here. Still, I'm sure that some people like 'em.

I like the Flat Grovers. Super smooth.

I assume they have the same self-disassembling issues that have killed so many of the wavy version? Love the feel of them when they are in good working order, but so many horror stories.

The "flat" and the "wavy" are the keys which are interchangeable (?) on the Grover tuners. The Grovers on my '72 are original "flats" and have never been a problem coming up on 50 years now.

I haven't heard of the Flats exploding. None of mine have ever had a problem.

rickinroma wrote:Slightly off topic, but were those Grovers quality-wise better than the most common Kluson/Rickenbacker ones?
Aestethically speaking, I have always found those Grovers ugly, to say the least

I’m the opposite. I much prefer the look of the Grovers. I just wish they weren’t inclined to explode!

My Feb ‘72 has flat Grovers, my Aug ‘72 has wavy’s. Flats are pretty hard to come by; last year I managed to get a few spares.

I’ll add that mine have always been fine, touch wood, and I have the necessary parts to do the permanent fix on them all anyway, just in case.

rickinroma wrote:Slightly off topic, but were those Grovers quality-wise better than the most common Kluson/Rickenbacker ones?
Aestethically speaking, I have always found those Grovers ugly, to say the least

Quality, as in tuning stability and no backlash? About the same. But the Grovers have been known to spontaneously explode - cover coming off and internal hardware letting go. The good thing is a reputable machine shop that is used to dealing with smaller items can rebuild them, for a price, which collectors seem to be ready to pay to retain originality of the '70-'72 basses that have them. See this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=414610