I just picked up this Ric B6 (~1940, 1.5"pu) and wanted to ask you guys a few questions. Neck relief on these bakelites, there's about a 1/16 gap above the top of the 8th fret under the straight edge. What's normal relief like on these? Are they supposed to be dead straight? (IMG_0031.JPG)
The horseshoe magnets, the treble side of the magnets appears to be a little lower than the bass side like maybe it was bent just slightly down more or is that normal? Are they supposed to be exactly equal in height? i.e. in the same plane. (IMG_0008.JPG)
Hi Ed , I wouldn't fool too much with those Bake. necks !! Doesn't look like the bow is too bad !! On the horseshoe pckps. those adj. screws on both sides can raise and lower the magnets in the windings unit closer or away from the strings. Sometimes the magnets on the bass side are set deeper in the winding unit and you have to adjust that side up or down so the string sound is balanced and sounds the same volume across all strings and all string are the same distance from the magnets !! There are guys on the Forum that really know a lot about old Ricks. but this has been my own experience !! Good luck with a great old steel !! Eddie "C"
The string/fret distance on my '39 B6 is a little over 1/4" off the top of the 8th fret, and the other Bakelites I own all are about the same measurement.
I don't know how rigid Bakelite is under tension. I've owned several pre-war B6s for almost 15 years, and the necks all seem fairly straight and stable.
If the Rick stays in tune and sounds good, I wouldn't mess with it.
Like Robert sez, if it works OK, don't mess with it. The un-even magnets are more common than you may think. I've seen a few like that. Also, many bakelites have a bit of bow in the neck, some just slight, and some more pronounced. Most of the bakelites I've had and worked on for other folks had some slight bow in the neck. Of course if the bow is really pronounced, like 1/4 " down in the middle under a straight edge, the string tension will likely have a tendency to bow it even more. Not much can be done about a severe bow (except keep on playing it!!)
Forgot to mention; check the string gauges on the Rick. You might have some extra heavy gauge strings pulling on the neck causing the bow.
Try a lighter gauge, it might correct itself.
I had a 1936 that was bowed about like that. Not much you can do, nature of the beast. Depending on what guage strings you are using it will get worse with time and the fret markers will become meaningless as the intonation goes further south.
Post war guitars used a different formula for the bakelite than pre-war, and used metal inserts. You would have to consult the Rick book to find out what took place and when.
The magnets were bigger on mine, not sure how those are suposed to be set up.
I sold my Rick to a collector and he hung it on a wall where it belongs, as a guitar to be played they are simply not that great of an axe compared to whats out there now.
I hope for your sake the pickup doesn't go, .038 wire is impossible to come by and that is what they were wound with, .040, and .042 doesn't cut it.
I sold mine for a ton of money and bought a new Superslide, along with a new Fender DeLuxe, had change left over, never looked back.
As my elder statesmen have said before me, A 1/16" bow seems pretty harmless. As long as it does not keep getting worse, just play it. And bakelite steels are temperature-sensitive little beasts, and chances are have to re-tune once the bakelite warms up to the room temperature, and your leg temperature. You can get a stand to lessen the effect from your legs.
While obviously not the best choice for gigs due to it's touchy and fragile nature, you still have one of the BEST sounding steels ever made. Enjoy those heavenly bakelite sounds. Just keep an eye on that neck.
* One of my D16's has almost a 1/16" bow in the necks even with the later bakelite formula as well, but never got worse.
