The Steel Guitar Forum

It has been said that metal body Rickenbachers were often filled with clay to stop the unpleasant resonances and increase sustain.
I wish to know what type of clay was used. I wish to use this technique on one of my metal body Rics.

I've never seen clay myself, always newspaper. Clay sounds very heavy.

I have a 1938 Model 59. It has either clay or plaster filling the cavity under the bridge. It works very well. Yes it is heavy. Remember though, Ric Bakelite guitars ar very heavy and sustain and sound amazing.

I have heard that Plaster of Paris was a preferred option... There was a reason but I cannot remember what it was!!!!!

If be very weary of placing any hygroscopic (absorbs water) material in a metal bodied steel. Rickenbacher used a creosote pitch to fill the necks and pans in frypans and in some Model 59s . I'm sure it's carcinogenic ... it sure smells when you chip off a piece ... Personally I stuff terrycloth hand towels up in the necks and bodies ... then throw in some desiccant packs to be safe.

Mine, from the pickup to the tail is filled with what
looks and feels like bakelite. It's black and very hard.
I had to remove some of it to pull out the tone control for repair.
From the pickup forward it is stuffed with newspaper.

I used foam rubber. It's light, don't think it absorbs moisture and seems to do the job it's supposed to do.

I second using towels in the cavity. Just pull out the newspaper and stuff it in a zip lock bag, to assistance in dating your guitar. Then stuff it with terrycloth hand towels. The tone is so much better without having to add much in weight.

Caveat: What follows is my opinion only, since it's your guitar and you can do what you please with it.

If you don't like the way the Ric sounds, trade it off for a guitar you're happy with, or hang it on the wall. It seems unwise to purposely devalue a vintage instrument.

I had an old prewar NS that sounded okay, but couldn't hold a candle to my early postwar Bakelite. It was filled with confetti made from old newspapers. I had once considered filling it with BBs or lead split shot fishing sinkers, but sanity finally won out and I sold the guitar to someone who was happy to get it.

I want to make clearer what I’m looking for. The wonky tones that metal body Rics put out is clearly dampened giving better tonal performance by using things like paper or terry cloth to stuff the body with. I have done this. What terry cloth and the other items we stuff these bodies with does not do, is increase what I consider poor sustain quality of the stamped metal instrument. I’ve had an ongoing battle with my post war NS for years now. Great overall tone, but the note decays very quickly. I even made a brass bridge for it, which helped a little. Still not good. The 1938 model 59 I just got, has what appears to be plaster in the body cavity under the bridge back to the butt of the guitar. This guitar has wonderful sustain. It clearly makes all the difference to me. But…I do not know what the material actually is. Before I go putting something in there, I need to know what has been used in the past by those who know! No guessing. That is not helpful. There was a fellow who recently bought a Silver Hawaiian and claimed on another Facebook site, that it was filled with clay and whether or not to remove it. Many chimed in and emphatically stated not to remove the clay! It is what is giving the guitar sustain and tone more like that of a Bakelite B6. So hence my inquiry.

Now I'm intrigued, if I could get a $600.00 59 to sound like a B, well, that's definitely interesting.

Glenn Wilde wrote:Now I'm intrigued, if I could get a $600.00 59 to sound like a B, well, that's definitely interesting.

I don’t think a metal body can ever sound just like a Bakelite B6, but it can sustain similar to one. I know this for a fact as I have a metal body with the plaster/clay in it, and a metal body only with terry cloth stuffing. I also have two Bakelite B6s and I know clearly what they sound like. The common thread between all four guitars????…the magnificent Rickenbacher horseshoe pickup. These pickups sound like no other. They are at the heart of the Ric tone. The bodies are secondary to that, but of course very important.