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New member - First Ric

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:27 pm
by Jimbodiddley
Hi all. Just wanted to introduce myself. I just bought my first Ric last week - a beautiful ruby red 330/6 from 2014. Been trying to get up to speed on all the idiosyncrasies of Rics and set-up options, etc.

Only problem I'm having is that while the action is pretty nice and low, when I capo it there's major fret buzz. From what I've read so far on this forum and elsewhere, Ric necks are supposed to be flat, so while normally this might require a truss rod adjustment to provide a little more neck relief, on Rics you're supposed to leave the neck flat and just raise the bridge? Is that true?

Seems odd to me. Don't all guitars need a little neck relief so there's room for the strings to vibrate? i.e., the neck shouldn't be perfectly flat. What's different about Rics that they wouldn't need a little relief?

Anyway, other than that, I'm really enjoying this guitar. It has hi-gains, of course, which I like. I love the sound of vintage toasters, too - Tom Petty / Mike Campbell, George Harrison, Pete Townshend - but I also love the sound Paul Weller, Johnny Marr and Peter Buck get from their hi-gain equipped 330s/360s. I tend to go for a more overdriven sound rather than a clean sound, so the hi-gains perform marvelously in that regard.

I had to raise the bridge pup a bit to balance it out a bit with the neck pup. The neck pup won't go any lower.

I put a set of D'addario 10s on it (there were 9s on it) and I may eventually go for 11s, maybe try the Ric strings, compressed or whatever. May try flatwounds at some point. Hey, experimenting and finding your own preferences is part of the fun, right?

Happy to be here in Ric-land.

Cheers
-j
330 in case-sm.jpg
Ric 330 Vox Pathfinder-1275px.jpg

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:30 pm
by jps
Adjust the neck relief to what works for you, just like on any other guitar. Simple as that. Enjoy that beauty. 8)

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:56 pm
by Jimbodiddley
jps wrote:Adjust the neck relief to what works for you, just like on any other guitar. Simple as that. Enjoy that beauty. 8)
Thanks. I have allen keys that work with the truss rods for my Tele and Gretsch, but will I need one of these?

http://www.pickofthericks.com/gp140-1-4 ... combo-kit/

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:06 pm
by jps
Yeah, that, or a long handle 1/4" hex driver, the kind that uses interchangeable bits. Just don't use the bits as the driver's tube itself fits over the truss rod nuts.

Sometimes there is not enough clearance between the TR nut and the bottom of the cavity for the Xcelite driver to fit in so the walls of the hex end may need to be ground down to fit.

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:31 am
by jdogric12
A dead flat neck is great on a Rick! That's how I do it. I don't even mind a teeny little bit of buzz. Raising the bridge ought to fix that. Put a little relief in the neck if you like. Just make sure to use the right tool. Don't just grab any old thing that fits the nut. Use a long handled one like RIC specifies, for the right amount of torque. Smaller ones, or ones with a right angle, can do damage, I hear. Better safe than sorry, you know? COngrats and good luck!

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:44 pm
by Tommy
Jimbodiddley wrote:Thanks. I have allen keys that work with the truss rods for my Tele and Gretsch, but will I need one of these?

http://www.pickofthericks.com/gp140-1-4 ... combo-kit/
It's worth it to buy one of those. I did. I feel safer when I adjust my truss rod using one of those screwdriver style tools.

As far as a dead straight neck with no relief...I suppose it may have to do with the way the neck is set, the angle of the headstock, the height of the bridge on a Rickenbacker. Those things may be unique to the Rickenbacker design and thus a straight neck is what works best for a Ric.

I find it a pain in the neck to raise or lower the bridge on a Ric. There are four screws and every time I mess with them to raise/lower the bridge, the darn bridge never is level. It leans like the Tower of Pisa. Four screws but to get them all in synch I fine to be a chore.

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:02 pm
by jps
Tommy wrote:
Jimbodiddley wrote:...Four screws but to get them all in synch I fine to be a chore.
Try synchronizing this!
Ferrari 250 GTO Engine.jpg

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:36 pm
by Jimbodiddley
jps wrote:
Tommy wrote:
Jimbodiddley wrote:...Four screws but to get them all in synch I fine to be a chore.
Try synchronizing this!
Ferrari 250 GTO Engine.jpg
I'll stick to guitars, thanks! :D

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:36 pm
by Jimbodiddley
Thanks all!

I raised the bridge a tad, a little at a time, using quarter turns on each screw. It helped decrease most of the buzzing, and the action is still quite low, but I may at some point in the future try the give the neck a little relief.

Cheers.

Re: New member - First Ric

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:26 am
by Tommy
jps wrote:
Tommy wrote:..Four screws but to get them all in synch I fine to be a chore.
Try synchronizing this!
Ferrari 250 GTO Engine.jpg
:D

Luckily, I have an old Mustang with a teeny, tiny carburetor. Four screws on that thing and, beleieve it or not, those four screws are easier to tweak than the four screws on a Rickenbacker bridge.