Hi all,

The mounting bracket (Rick catalogue no. 01112) to my 370/12 'R' tailpiece just snapped the other day. I had a seen a tiny crack but thought it was stable. Seems impossible to get hold of one, at least for me in Europe. All EU dealers list the piece as out of stock, and Rickenbacker themselves refuse to ship to non-US addresses (and even to US addresses when using a non-US paypal account).

So, any ideas on how I could solve this? Any US firm you know of that ship to Sweden? Or maybe someone would be so kind to order one for me and simply send it across the pond to me? It's this part: http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/BRACKE ... p_548.html

Happy to pay all expenses and a little extra.

Any help appreciated....

/David

Hi David,
That's a real shame. I had a similar self-destruction happen to my 620/12 tailpiece a few years ago. Due to various reasons I only got it replaced this year.

In my case I had to order it from RIC Asia, my region's supplier (I'm in Australia and we didn't have a dealer until Jan this year after a break 5 years or so) and it took over a year before they got the part in stock. I was led to believe that parts are very back-order as RIC focuses on production instruments and spares are thin on the ground. However, it does happen so it's worth persevering.

The guys at RIC-Asia were very helpful and got me sorted out, so you could contact them to see if they can help. But bear in mind, no one seems to have on-hand stock. It's definitely a matter of ordering and being patient.

If you're a gigging muso and need your Ricki back to scratch there's a mob called (I think) a third party that make a generic tailpiece that works fine, it just doesn't look as cool as the R tailpiece. It could get you out of trouble while you source the correct part.

Two final points I can make from experience;
1. You will need to send your busted R tailpiece for inspection and validation before they'll post your replacement. This is RIC policy as it's how they maintain their intellectual property. Fair enough, I say.
2. About a year before my tailpiece broke the tailpiece bracket snapped (exploded more like!). If your tailpiece has bust the bracket probably isn't far behind. From memory it's not too expensive. So you might want to consider getting a new one as insurance when you order your replacement tailpiece.

Best of Luck.

Andrew

_________________
“Heat, pressure, and time. The three things that make a diamond, also make a waffle.” - Scott Meyer