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1964 Rickenbacker--bolt-on neck REPAIR!!!
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Author:  John Elshaw [ Tue May 29, 2007 5:43 am ]
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Well, I just acquired an old 1964 Rickenbacker that is in serious need of a neck repair. As you can see from the pics, it has a bolt-on neck, the only problem is I don't think it's supposed to have a bolt-on neck. Does anybody know the proper neck joint for this Rickenbacker? Is it supposed to be just a glued on neck? My other big problem is that it looks like the person who did this expert repair may have also cut the fretboard off at the body. Does anybody know how many frets a 1964 Rick should have? If he cut the fretboard, is there any hope in repairing it or should I replace the neck? The guitar is otherwise all original, including the tuners which I have but were replaced with Gotoh tuners. Any help on how to proceed with this would be greatly appreciated. BTW, does anybody know exactly what model this is? I'm not very familiar with Rickenbacker.

Thanks!

John







Author:  crazymanmichael [ Tue May 29, 2007 7:20 am ]
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i think this is the 360 new style. has the rounded front body edge and the bound sound hole and the rounded, blunt, treble side horn. came out in the mid '60's. should be 24 frets, 24.75" scale, so your missing a bit of board.

the pickguard has been butchered, as has the repair. perhaps the technique might be described as robust?

the neck was a glue in. it has a L- shaped stepped tongue which was glued into a similar shaped inlet. the problem is you have to remove the back to get at it, which is probably why the ghastly butcher job was done.

good luck!!
Author:  crazymanmichael [ Tue May 29, 2007 7:22 am ]
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should have mentioned, serial numbers are available online.
Author:  curtis [ Tue May 29, 2007 7:27 am ]
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when you said bolt on neck - you really do mean BOLT on!


i think i'd take the industrial fixings off (you may have a load bearing structure you can use these on) and just see whats there.


once you've had a good look at whats going on inside the bolt-holes, i think you should try to take the neck off.


hopefully it'll basically be essentilly intact, just cracked at the heel/ came loose and didnt come completely off and still has all the gubbins inside the neck joint basically in place.


from there i would re-build the neck as it shoud be ( get onto a riccy forum or the factory themselves - they were very cool with me a few year ago when i last had repair dealings with them) and also the body socket and re-assemble as it would have been done (or as close as) in the factory.


brave fella to take this on - i think its a 360 which has 24 frets (please correct me anyone - i'm not great with ric's)


ric's website is a good resource - not sure if the older models are all up on there, but there are some tech diagrams that might help.


good luck!
Author:  John Elshaw [ Tue May 29, 2007 10:00 am ]
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Well, the good news is the neck is intact with the proper number of frets, 21. After closer examination and looking at some old photos, what he did was take the pickup off and move it back about an inch to make room for his frankenstein bolts. The neck is still the correct size/length. If I remove the bolts and properly glue the neck, I should be able to move the pickup forward leaving a nice routed channel where the pup used to be. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

Thanks!

John
Author:  crazymanmichael [ Tue May 29, 2007 2:46 pm ]
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john, take a look at the 360 new style at

www.rickbeat.com.

click on models on the lh side and scroll down to the 360 new style. i do believe that is your guitar. but a serial number check may confirm.

this site will show you the construction method of the rick body and neck. the body was routed from a solid block of wood, with the neck cavity , sound chanbers, pick-up cavities, etc., routed into the back side. to get at the neck joint you have to remove the back.

   http://www.provide.net/~cfh/rick.html#rick intro

the forth photo down shows it.
Author:  John Elshaw [ Tue May 29, 2007 3:41 pm ]
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Thanks for the links Michael, you are correct, it is a 360 New Style. According to the serial number on the jackplate, the guitar was manufactured in June 1966. It looks like the back will need to be removed to do any work on the neck. Time to start studying Rickenbacker assembly and design.

Thanks!
Author:  Dave-SKG [ Wed May 30, 2007 4:17 am ]
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Frankenstein model
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