Opinions on this Ric 330 neck please?

badlydrawnbanjo

Any advice from the hive mind on this neck? Does it look like a finish fault or a broken neck that's been fixed and oversprayed? If that was the case I'd have thought the fret board would have been written off?

Cheers in advance.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rickenbacker-330-12-JetGlo-Original-hard-case-see-description/222883750375?hash=item33e4e821e7:g:9GMAAOSwKX9aqmYG

ICBM

There's no question that a large area of the neck has been refinished, badly and with what looks like the wrong type of finish and a slightly different colour. I'm not even sure it's been 'sprayed', it looks like a hand-brushed job.

It's a near certainty that the neck has been damaged in some serious way for that to be necessary. It could have been broken without breaking the fingerboard, depending on which direction the break was in.

I'd be interested to see what Rickenbacker said. The shop is clearly wrong.

badlydrawnbanjo

That’ll do for me. Cheers. 

mikem8634

I can't be definitive but I had my jetglo 330 for a long time and did not experience anything approaching milkiness or sinkage. (Ha ha what about the guitar though?) I'd certainly be wary.

thermionic

Very optimistic price he’s asking considering the possibility of a neck repair. But then, prices for used Rickenbackers on ebay are nuts.

Do Ricks often suffer neck breaks? Laminated maple with a shallow headstock angle would make them relatively sturdy.

Teyeplayer

Just messaged the seller to ask for pics of the rear of the body, full neck (both sides) and head stock (both sides). They are ‘on their way’ apparently...we will see.

Roland

Looks to me like a fracture line which goes right up to, and possibly into, the fretboard.

ICBM

thermionic said:

Do Ricks often suffer neck breaks? Laminated maple with a shallow headstock angle would make them relatively sturdy.

They aren’t that strong - definitely stronger than a Gibson, but weaker than a Fender. Part of the problem is the dual truss rods, which obviously means that twice as much wood is taken out, from a neck which is already fairly skinny. The truss rod adjustment channel is also huge, even compared to a Gibson.

The pre-1985 ones can have a problem with the fingerboard separating from the neck if the truss rods are tightened incorrectly without bending the neck back by hand before tightening the nuts - the rod can kink and force itself upwards under the board. This is why the design was changed, although they still have two.

badlydrawnbanjo

He’s posted Facebook asking for advice. I messaged him to seeif he’d post but it’s collection only. I don’t *think* he’s intentionally trying to deceive anyone. 

Teyeplayer

We’ve clearly been watching the same guitar/seller. Seems a genuine seller, it’s just that weird sinkage -though I have seen that on ric bodies.

ICBM

Teyeplayer said:

We’ve clearly been watching the same guitar/seller. Seems a genuine seller, it’s just that weird sinkage -though I have seen that on ric bodies.

Blow up the pics and look at them on a big screen - particularly the first one - there is *no way* that's factory finishing. You can clearly see the change in texture and colour at the join - the repair is very rough and there are either sanding or brush marks at the join. The original finish actually has gone slightly milky and is less black than the repair.

I find it very hard to believe the shop didn't spot that either, it's glaringly obvious.

Teyeplayer

ICBM said:

Teyeplayer said:

We’ve clearly been watching the same guitar/seller. Seems a genuine seller, it’s just that weird sinkage -though I have seen that on ric bodies.

Blow up the pics and look at them on a big screen - particularly the first one - there is *no way* that's factory finishing. You can clearly see the change in texture and colour at the join - the repair is very rough and there are either sanding or brush marks at the join. The original finish actually has gone slightly milky and is less black than the repair.

I find it very hard to believe the shop didn't spot that either, it's glaringly obvious.

As you can tell, I’m on a phone screen so the photos are pretty crap tbh. 

Regarding the shop not spotting it...maybe they did, we’ve only the sellers ‘copied and pasted’ response -so may not be authentic? (Even if I did think his tone seemed pretty genuine).

Roland

Looks like a crack to me

Wazmeister

Stay clear - there are loads of these around with no stories