Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=3773769091&rd=1

If I'm not mistaken, this is a pretty good price.

Whoa! thats some expensive junk there!

It have heard Grovers were not very durable and would actually fall apart with normal use. Does anyone know if that is true?

They were fine keys when they operated but when Richard Berger moved Grover's production to Taiwan, the pins in each corner that held the back cover on were not swedged properly. As a result these keys tended to spontaneously explode as the covers popped off.

Fortunately, assuming all the parts are present, these were easily repaired by re-swedging the corners against a vise with a punch and/or adding a drop of superglue on the pin.

These were the last Grover brand keys that Rickenbacker used (except for a short couple of week period when other keys weren't available from Schaller).

I've heard that rumor before as well. But I can tell you mine are 32 years old and like new. I've never had a problem with them.

I wonder if they've just got a bad rap.

I guess if I really need a replacement set, I would be prepared to pay almost anything for a good working set. But that's just me.

I've owned several Rics with them and like them. I have a 72 4001FL right now with them, when it arrived two of them had popped off back and I bought another set and put the old ones aside, I'll have to try JH's trick.
I paid $300.00 for the set that I have!

Yeah that was a decent deal, I've seen them sell for less though, after I bought mine of course. But those look like nice ones.
Hey post # 1000 for the second time, now I have to get back to 2000 posts, hahah! Was worth it to get rid of bobampeg though, I was a marked man every time an amp discussion came up. I also had about 100 posts as Robert D Young Jr. but a little too formal for me. I should be neck and neck with Jeff but he cheats, he posts blank posts.

They certainly get a lot of attention on Ebay.

I had to repair the grovers on my 73 (now sold) all of them were splitting and using a punch could be fixed. One however was actually apart and the punch was no good, i had to fix it my welding it together. Once repaired they had a nasty habit of slipping too.

Nothing a good set of Hipshots couldn't cure.

I,ve got a good set of my 73 FL but that has very low mileage on it...You can see, rather feel, how with plenty of use they get to that slipping stage. It seems a common problem, similar to the old Klusons too.
I was going to buy a set for my 72, but seeing as they have this tendency and it,s not an all original bass anyway, I too am going down the Hipshot highway.

The flat key set I replaced with Hipshot ultralites slipped badly. They never flew apart though.

I think you'll find that in most cases the slippage is caused by the cover being a bit loose, the swedging still holding but not tight enough to keep the cover, which aligns the worm gear, from moving slightly.

The gear cut on these is actually pretty good although I've not done a detailed examination of US vs. Taiwan made keys to see if they were consistent.

I think they're great tuners and they look cool too.

I agree Bob, they are cool looking tuners, especially the wavy kind.