When Good Guitars go Bad ( Kinda long )
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2001 3:25 pm
Hi
This is the story of a good guitar gone bad.
For about 25 years or so I wanted a nice electric 12
string guitar. As I thought about it more, I decided
that what I really wanted was a early model Rickenbacker
360/12 in Fireglo. No particular influence involved,
although I grew up on the Beatles, and, of course, the
Byrds. I just thought that they looked pretty cool and
came standard with Ric-O-Sound. ( The tone, not the little
audio splitter box :^) )
I remembered playing one when I was a child, but the
memories were of a way too skinny neck, and the
accompanying pinched fingers.
Anyway, it became a long running joke between myself, and
the proprietor of my friendly local moneypit. He'd let me
know when a Rick 12 floated thru his store, and I'd find
an excuse to not buy it. One day, 3 or 4 years ago I got
the call, and I went and had a look at a really nice lo-miles
'65 360/12 FG. I couldn't resist, in spite of the fact that
the guitar had spent the previous 20 years under a bed somewhere,
accumulating crud. It was filthy, and strung bass-ackwards from
the "normal" octave on bottom arrangement. When I say filthy, I
mean it looked as if the prior owner was an auto mechanic who
didn't bother to wash the hands after work... I took my new
pride & joy to my local guitar mechanic, who removed the
hardware & electronics, and was able to remove the some of the
layers of dirt & grease without damaging the finish.
Unfortunately, here the story takes a slight downward turn.
While re-assembling the guitar, my local chimp "luthier"
managed to completely butcher the re-assembly of the
electronics, causing all sorts of problems, including the
loss of function in the blend knob, and intermittent crackle
& hum. Also, the poor guy hadn't the first clue about how
to set up a 360/12 "correctly". Strings too high at the nut,
trussrods cranked too tight, bridge misplaced for correct
intonation. All the classic mistakes. Not knowing any better,
I tolerated the situation for a year or so, justifying the
****** action by telling myself "It'll make the other guitars
seem easier to play" and other such nonsense. The guitar was
almost relegating itself back to under-the bed status due to
unintonatability ( new word alert :^) )and chronic string
slippage when I had 2 events occur that saved the day.
#1. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to briefly play a
well set-up '67 370/Byrds belonging to a friend ( Hi Gary )
at the aforementioned moneypit. This led me to the next logical
thought. "Damn, why doesn't mine play that nicely. It is
basically the same instrument". I pondered that thought for
a while until...
#2 I have been an inveterate Usenetter and Web surfer for a
number of years. During my travels I, one day, came across
a posting from Mark Arnquist. Here the saga takes an upward
turn. As I lurked, I grew to realize that Mr. Arnquist actually
knew something about that which he was posting about, which
can be unusual on the Net. It took me another year to stifle
my aversion to trusting a rare, valuable and fragile instrument
to _any_ of the shippers, much less to a more or less complete
stranger. After exchanging a few emails with the Doc, it went
into a box, and Fedex overnite to Everett...
It, to my great relief, arrived in one piece. Mr A. was kind
enough to explain in great detail what was needed, including
clear photos of the before & after. After agreeing on a plan
of action, the work was completed successfully and extremely
promptly. After another overnite from Everett to back home,
the guitar was back in my hot little hands in a mere 11 days.
After the Return:
The first thing I noticed after I unboxed it, was that it was
all in one piece. ( Thanks Fedex :^) ). I picked it from the case,
and plugged in my trusty(?)TU-12H and tuned it up to concert pitch.
I decided first to play it a bit unplugged, to see what was up.
One of the changes was immediately evident. The action at the nut
end was 1000% better than before. The Doc did a swell job on the
nut slot cutting. I can play a barre F chord with only 85% of my finger
strength, as opposed to 200% required previously. ( Percentages may vary ).
I also noticed that some slotting work had been done on the bridge
saddles. This subtle but critical adjustment, along with the correctly
cut nut, seems to have had the effect of raising the sonic level
of the octave strings to a proper balance. None of the octave strings
were being muted, as was the case before. Also, and this is a biggie
because poor intonation just annoys the living s%^t out of me, the
thing plays in tune on all the frets now... The misplaced bridge problem
was cured. None of the bridge saddles are now cranked to their extreme.
The Doc sez that a couple of the octaves are still a few cents out. If
I ever break down and buy a Peterson, I'll probably be able to notice :^)
The neck is now straight as an arrow, with some previous chimp work on the
trussrods fixed. I played around on it for an hour or so, and after the
new ( Rickenbacker standard 12 string set ) strings stretched in, I
noticed that a few of the keywinds were still a bit loose and slipping.
Mark was kind enough to give a pointer to the Gotoh Kluson replacements
during the process, which I'll definately consider for this guitar
and for a few others. One of the most outstanding side effects of the
correct setup is that now the guitar seems to be much more "live" than
it was previously. Much of the classic Rickenbacker semi-compressed
"jangle", if you will, is now present in this guitar even while
unplugged. This was not evident prior to the visit to the Doc.
So far, so good. Time to plug in. Fire up the AC30, as soon as the
wax melts, we are on the way... First test - standard out into the
"Brilliant" channel. Hmm, the 4 big knobs on the guitar actually
now change the tones. What a concept :^). OK, things are looking up,
time to plug in the Ric-O-Sound. Treble into "Brilliant", Bass into
"Vib/Trem" jumpered into "Normal". Whoa - as soon as I got the levels
set it was blatantly obvious that this is a special combination. I
know it has been said many times before but Rickys + AC30 = WOW.
It was also quite a thrill to turn the small knob on the guitar and
actually hear something happening. Amazing what correct wiring adds :^).
In order to take the experiment over the top, I unplugged the Bass
side of the ROS from the AC30 and plugged into Godzilla #2, which
is a '66 Marshall JTM100 Super PA and Orange 4x12. I am not sure how
much my neighbors down the block liked it, but hey.... I sure did.
Anyway the point of this mini-novel is not to brag on my gear, but
to sing the praise of Mark Arnquist. He could have quite easily sold
me a neck reset, 12 string bridge, or probably other unneeded items,
( I'm _real_ easy ), but he didn't even try, because he didn't think I
needed it, and because he was honest enough to not try to pad the bill.
I definately appreciated the bits of wisdom Mark dispensed during the
process, along with a few stories from the factory days. I'm way glad
I didn't wind up with one of the guitars with a reverse compound radius :^).
I am extremely grateful to Mark for helping to rescue a wonderful
guitar from the dust bunnies. I'm also extremely grateful to Fedex
for not smashing the guitar during transit. I normally am not one
to dispense advice to strangers on the Net, but if anyone reading
this has a problem Rickenbacker, or probably any brand, and can
overcome the aversion to playing shipper roulette, I can heartily
recommend Mr. Arnquist's services to anyone with a good guitar gone bad.
Thanks again, Mark
Claude
This is the story of a good guitar gone bad.
For about 25 years or so I wanted a nice electric 12
string guitar. As I thought about it more, I decided
that what I really wanted was a early model Rickenbacker
360/12 in Fireglo. No particular influence involved,
although I grew up on the Beatles, and, of course, the
Byrds. I just thought that they looked pretty cool and
came standard with Ric-O-Sound. ( The tone, not the little
audio splitter box :^) )
I remembered playing one when I was a child, but the
memories were of a way too skinny neck, and the
accompanying pinched fingers.
Anyway, it became a long running joke between myself, and
the proprietor of my friendly local moneypit. He'd let me
know when a Rick 12 floated thru his store, and I'd find
an excuse to not buy it. One day, 3 or 4 years ago I got
the call, and I went and had a look at a really nice lo-miles
'65 360/12 FG. I couldn't resist, in spite of the fact that
the guitar had spent the previous 20 years under a bed somewhere,
accumulating crud. It was filthy, and strung bass-ackwards from
the "normal" octave on bottom arrangement. When I say filthy, I
mean it looked as if the prior owner was an auto mechanic who
didn't bother to wash the hands after work... I took my new
pride & joy to my local guitar mechanic, who removed the
hardware & electronics, and was able to remove the some of the
layers of dirt & grease without damaging the finish.
Unfortunately, here the story takes a slight downward turn.
While re-assembling the guitar, my local chimp "luthier"
managed to completely butcher the re-assembly of the
electronics, causing all sorts of problems, including the
loss of function in the blend knob, and intermittent crackle
& hum. Also, the poor guy hadn't the first clue about how
to set up a 360/12 "correctly". Strings too high at the nut,
trussrods cranked too tight, bridge misplaced for correct
intonation. All the classic mistakes. Not knowing any better,
I tolerated the situation for a year or so, justifying the
****** action by telling myself "It'll make the other guitars
seem easier to play" and other such nonsense. The guitar was
almost relegating itself back to under-the bed status due to
unintonatability ( new word alert :^) )and chronic string
slippage when I had 2 events occur that saved the day.
#1. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to briefly play a
well set-up '67 370/Byrds belonging to a friend ( Hi Gary )
at the aforementioned moneypit. This led me to the next logical
thought. "Damn, why doesn't mine play that nicely. It is
basically the same instrument". I pondered that thought for
a while until...
#2 I have been an inveterate Usenetter and Web surfer for a
number of years. During my travels I, one day, came across
a posting from Mark Arnquist. Here the saga takes an upward
turn. As I lurked, I grew to realize that Mr. Arnquist actually
knew something about that which he was posting about, which
can be unusual on the Net. It took me another year to stifle
my aversion to trusting a rare, valuable and fragile instrument
to _any_ of the shippers, much less to a more or less complete
stranger. After exchanging a few emails with the Doc, it went
into a box, and Fedex overnite to Everett...
It, to my great relief, arrived in one piece. Mr A. was kind
enough to explain in great detail what was needed, including
clear photos of the before & after. After agreeing on a plan
of action, the work was completed successfully and extremely
promptly. After another overnite from Everett to back home,
the guitar was back in my hot little hands in a mere 11 days.
After the Return:
The first thing I noticed after I unboxed it, was that it was
all in one piece. ( Thanks Fedex :^) ). I picked it from the case,
and plugged in my trusty(?)TU-12H and tuned it up to concert pitch.
I decided first to play it a bit unplugged, to see what was up.
One of the changes was immediately evident. The action at the nut
end was 1000% better than before. The Doc did a swell job on the
nut slot cutting. I can play a barre F chord with only 85% of my finger
strength, as opposed to 200% required previously. ( Percentages may vary ).
I also noticed that some slotting work had been done on the bridge
saddles. This subtle but critical adjustment, along with the correctly
cut nut, seems to have had the effect of raising the sonic level
of the octave strings to a proper balance. None of the octave strings
were being muted, as was the case before. Also, and this is a biggie
because poor intonation just annoys the living s%^t out of me, the
thing plays in tune on all the frets now... The misplaced bridge problem
was cured. None of the bridge saddles are now cranked to their extreme.
The Doc sez that a couple of the octaves are still a few cents out. If
I ever break down and buy a Peterson, I'll probably be able to notice :^)
The neck is now straight as an arrow, with some previous chimp work on the
trussrods fixed. I played around on it for an hour or so, and after the
new ( Rickenbacker standard 12 string set ) strings stretched in, I
noticed that a few of the keywinds were still a bit loose and slipping.
Mark was kind enough to give a pointer to the Gotoh Kluson replacements
during the process, which I'll definately consider for this guitar
and for a few others. One of the most outstanding side effects of the
correct setup is that now the guitar seems to be much more "live" than
it was previously. Much of the classic Rickenbacker semi-compressed
"jangle", if you will, is now present in this guitar even while
unplugged. This was not evident prior to the visit to the Doc.
So far, so good. Time to plug in. Fire up the AC30, as soon as the
wax melts, we are on the way... First test - standard out into the
"Brilliant" channel. Hmm, the 4 big knobs on the guitar actually
now change the tones. What a concept :^). OK, things are looking up,
time to plug in the Ric-O-Sound. Treble into "Brilliant", Bass into
"Vib/Trem" jumpered into "Normal". Whoa - as soon as I got the levels
set it was blatantly obvious that this is a special combination. I
know it has been said many times before but Rickys + AC30 = WOW.
It was also quite a thrill to turn the small knob on the guitar and
actually hear something happening. Amazing what correct wiring adds :^).
In order to take the experiment over the top, I unplugged the Bass
side of the ROS from the AC30 and plugged into Godzilla #2, which
is a '66 Marshall JTM100 Super PA and Orange 4x12. I am not sure how
much my neighbors down the block liked it, but hey.... I sure did.
Anyway the point of this mini-novel is not to brag on my gear, but
to sing the praise of Mark Arnquist. He could have quite easily sold
me a neck reset, 12 string bridge, or probably other unneeded items,
( I'm _real_ easy ), but he didn't even try, because he didn't think I
needed it, and because he was honest enough to not try to pad the bill.
I definately appreciated the bits of wisdom Mark dispensed during the
process, along with a few stories from the factory days. I'm way glad
I didn't wind up with one of the guitars with a reverse compound radius :^).
I am extremely grateful to Mark for helping to rescue a wonderful
guitar from the dust bunnies. I'm also extremely grateful to Fedex
for not smashing the guitar during transit. I normally am not one
to dispense advice to strangers on the Net, but if anyone reading
this has a problem Rickenbacker, or probably any brand, and can
overcome the aversion to playing shipper roulette, I can heartily
recommend Mr. Arnquist's services to anyone with a good guitar gone bad.
Thanks again, Mark
Claude