Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Do the screw holes on vintage reissue nameplates line up with the screwholes on genuine '60s Ricks?

I want to put a Rick nameplate on my '69 Electro, and was wondering about this. I'd be reluctant to drill into the headstock to make it fit.

Thanks.

No.

Why not?

why?

Why should they? Through the years there were probably 50 different versions and were never intended to be interchangeable. Today there's only a couple of vintage style plates, and never intended to be replacements for true vintage plates.

Finally, there's the obvious- would you expect a Cadillac door handle to fit a Buick?

Hey Glenn - another problem you'd have is that, if I'm not mistaken, the Electro nameplate uses different hole spacing than a Ric nameplate, even one which is from the same period as your Electro; the "third" hole (away from the nut) would be visible if you installed a traditional Ric truss rod cover.

OK, fair enough.

Will the two holes by the nut at least line up?

Probably close enough that the screws can be angled in but I'd be surprised if it fit exactly.

Hole spacing varied from model to model, even in the early days. There is photographic evidence to suggest it would vary on the SAME model; it may have come down to who was doing the assembly on what given day......most times the noticable difference was out at the tip of the nameplate, not at the nut end.

Thanks again for the info!

My 60' 360 was repainted from FG to MG at the factory after I ordered it and I suspect that it was a conversion from an older guitar as evidenced by the red paint in the control cavity and under the neck plate. Notice that this instrument has had a different neck plate at one time as evidenced by the extra holes. The outside holes are currently correct.

Here is a view of the head.

Single truss rod, that's neat Dave...

This is the first photo I have seen of the TR cavity of a single TR instrument. Interesting that the cavity was made with a forstner bit like the route for the toaster PU cable in my '73 4001, cool.

Thanks John & Jeff....here's what the rest of it looks like.