Terminology: 4001/4003 “Crack of Doom”

When you look at as many pictures of guitars as I do, you pick up on some things other folks might miss. Here’s a prime example.

And I’ll admit I’m cheating here. “Crack of doom” is not a real term used in the Rickenbacker community—I borrowed it from a problem with the door on MGB sports cars—but it fits! As far as I can tell, there is no official or even informal term for this issue, but it happens enough that it needs a name, dammit! And so I’m declaring it the “crack of doom”.

So what is it, and what causes it? As soon as I show you the picture you’re gonna say, “oh yeah! Crack of doom!” So here it is. The crack of doom:

Crack of doom on a 1982 4003

Think that’s just a one-off thing? Oh no it is not! Here it is on a 1973 4001:

Crack of doom on a 1973 4001

A 1977 4001:

Crack of doom on a 1977 4001

A 1964 1999:

Crack of doom on a 1964 1999

I could go on, but you get the picture. So how common is it? I’d guess in the ballpark of one in fifty older guitars—but that’s just a guess. I know I have replaced a pickguard with the the crack of doom in it and I am sure others have as well, so maybe it’s worse? Let’s just say it’s not pervasive, but it exists.

What causes it? User error exacerbated by poor design. Let’s look at a neck pickup to understand what I mean:

What we have here is a standard neck position button top Higain—but a toaster has the same basic construction. Now remember that these are mounted from under the pickguard. So those screws on the corners come into contact with the underside of the pickguard when the pickup is adjusted as high as it can go. Got it?

The center holes are where the height adjustment screws go. So if the pickup is as high as it can go and you keep on tightening those height adjustment screws, it’s going to cause the pickguard to bend down between those corner screws a little bit. And because the pickguard material is a touch on the brittle side and because there’s not much space to “spread” and dissipate that pressure out over on the bass side…it cracks. And boom. You’ve got a crack of doom.

Why only on the bass side? It appears there’s enough “more space” for that pressure to radiate out from out on the treble side, so it’s not as vulnerable.

So be careful raising those neck pickups, or you too could end up with a crack of doom. Ask me how I know!

Thanks to Bill O. for suggesting this topic! And just for fun, here’s the MGB “crack of doom” that can appear right below the front quarter window. This one is just down to poor design, though!

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