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Topic: Rickenbacker mounting screws |
Rune Alm
From:
Sweden
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Posted 2 Apr 2013 10:28 am |
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Hi everyone,
2 years ago I bought a Rickenbacker DW16 as a "project". I love the wooden Ricks and bought this one as a study-piece to fix up. When I got it, I removed the last traces of gold-spray paint, etc. and welded one of the aluminum leg-mounting-plates.
A long time has passed and now I am finally ready to get the guitar painted and ready to play.
But:
I am missing 4 of the the mounting screws that hold the plates around the pickups. As you see in the pictures, the screw is nothing like a modern replacement. My hope is that someone here on the forum have mounting screws lying around or have an idea for finding screws that are similar.
What is most important is that a possible replacement doesn't stick out too much.
I'll appreciate any help!
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Michael Brebes
From:
Northridge CA
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Posted 3 Apr 2013 9:55 am
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From the dimensions you show, a good replacement would be a #4 pan-head stainless steel wood screw that is 3/8" long.
_________________
Michael Brebes
Instrument/amp/ pickup repair
MSA D10 Classic/Rickenbacher B6/
Dickerson MOTS/Dobro D32 Hawaiian/
Goldtone Paul Beard Reso
Mesa Boogie Studio Pre/Hafler 3000
RP1/MPX100 |
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Rune Alm
From:
Sweden
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Posted 5 Apr 2013 10:58 am
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Thanks Michael!
A bit optimistic to simply hope to find the old screws somwhere. If I had the money, I'd buy the DW16 wreck on ebay at the moment. And steal the screws from there.
I'll get some new screws in any case. Hope it'll look alright  |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2013 7:38 am
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Find the originals. You will. Learn the terms to describe the features of the screws. Do not settle for stainless or zinc plated. Do not overlook brass. Brass screws may be nickel plated at little expense -- even by you at home.
In a pinch you can have them machined out of steel or brass and plated, or machined out of nickel silver.
If you put stainless or modern plated screws on there that will stand out -- not in a good way. The guitar will still make music, but why not do your best to replace properly.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 6 Apr 2013 8:10 am
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You might try contacting Rickenbacker with the photos you've provided to see if they have any spares sitting around, or if they can suggest a place where you could buy them.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Rune Alm
From:
Sweden
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 11:32 am
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Hi! And thanks for the encouragement!
Ok, now I have tried mailing Rickenbacker. Would be great to get an answer. Plus I ordered the nearest thing to the original from the Rickenbacker homepage. Not the same at all, but it'll hold everything in place. I got an IM about the welding I had done. The mail didn't handle the pictures, so here is the rest of it, Jim!:
The aluminum moulding is unfortunately not of a good quality on these guitars. They do the job, but if something breaks the material is brittle and snaps off. This is a picture of my guitar before the repair:
I searched for alu-welders on google and I figured out that people who need welding in aluminium are people driving motorcycles. A lot of bike parts are apparently aluminum, etc.
So I found a repair shop with good recommendations on google and I called and made an appointment to show up there one afternoon.
When I got there it didn't take him 10 minutes to fix the part. He started by grinding off all oxydation on both surfaces. He turned on the equipment (the size of 2 large refrigerators) and welded on extra aluminum around the breaking point. After that the metal had bended itself so he had to hammer it back in place. He sanded it again and polished.
The result is a very tuff welding that'll never break, I'm sure!
This is a picture of the finished job:
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