Climate control issue with RICs

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:48 am

Have a question. Is it a climate control issue or is it just me but everytime I get a new RIC the neck is a little out of whack. I never experienced this with Gibsons or Fenders... Any thoughts?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 4:49 am

Rick necks have (at least since I was a whippersnapper) had one famous feature:

They're thin. This is much of their appeal IMO.

My Fenders all have Louisville Slugger necks. I don't see why they even bother with truss rods. (Exaggerating, of course). Ever adjust a Fender neck? It's like trying to turn the Titanic. Talk about stiff! Neither good nor bad, just different.

Gibbies are even thicker/wider/chunkier, as playing any Les Paul will show you. SGs, on the other hand, are a good example of a bad example. What I mean to say is: badly engineered/designed to have the whippiest necks around.

Then you come to Rickenbackers, which have necks with which you can do something. The price of this finely-tunable, responsive capability is a sensitivity to environment, and a bit of work to keep things in equilibrium.

For some odd reason Weber carburetors come to mind. They don't feel like plumbing fixtures as SUs do (for instance). They require a bit of dialing in depending upon your application. But once tuned, they are wonderful and bulletproof.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:18 am

I took the twin SUs off my MGB. It now sports a single Weber. I have yet to fire her up but I am expecting far more reliability, just like you would with a Rickenbacker neck.

red_rob · Post by **red_rob** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:57 am

Bingo Paul - it's a trade-off

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:12 am

I HATE SU's. As the owner of a 260Z I can tell you what a nightmare they can be when not right. I liked my turbo 240Z MUCH better!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:17 am

Didn't the 260Z have Jap SU copies?

Brian--the biggest difference you will notice, once the Weber is jetted properly and set up, is SNAP in the throttle.

The second is the exhaust note--it will be raspier.

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:20 am

Garbage flat-top, 4 screw messes that pretended to ensure driveability in light of increased emissions regs. I have a set of SU's from a '72 that I bought and never installed... when I finally get around to restoring that car it will be with a small-block Chevy V8..

steve_hershberger · Post by **steve_hershberger** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:25 am

I've never had any problem with my Fenders or Gibsons and rarely (if ever) need to adjust them at all. Even with seasonal changes of temperature or humidity. And here in Cincinnati, you can bet the temp and humidity changes daily, if not hourly. Often in extremes of those ranges.

I still don't know about my 360/12v64 neck though. It plays and sounds fine to me. But when sighting down the neck from the headstock to the body it looks twisted a bit in some ways. My friend's 330/12 is the same way, so I assume it's normal, but I'm not sure.

I haven't measured it, but I've got a slight touch of relief - meaning the neck isn't dead straight - and that's OK with me for now. Sure wouldn't mind the action being a *bit* lower, but I'm talking about maybe 1/32nd of an inch here. I can deal with playing it as is.

The one thing I don't get is - the trussrod on the bass side of the neck is really tight. The treble side trussrod nut is just about finger-tight. That doesn't seem correct to me, but I don't know.

If I can figure out how to work our digital camera I'll try to post some pics. Especially because I've got some other finish issues that I want Paul W. to check out - there's chunks of finish that have just fallen off my guitar around the outline of some tuners. There's no way the guitar has been hit or scratched in those areas - and the tuners have never been removed and they aren't screwed down too tightly. It's just a bizarre thing that I never noticed until a few days ago.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:40 am

Even a little more snap in acceleration would be great. I love the sound of an MGB with a Weber. It sounds so typically British. Don't you think?

Steve, My V64 had a pronounced twist in the neck also. I adjusted my neck and truss rods per Dale Fortunes recommendations and it is still there, but not quite as bad as it was when I first received the guitar. It does not effect playability but it irks me somewhat. All my other Rickenbackers are dead straight.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:21 am

Paul said:

... Gibbies are even thicker/wider/chunkier, as playing any Les Paul will show you ...

True for LPs, but not for ES335s like my 1967 ES335TDC, which has a thin/narrow neck that is a dream to play.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:29 pm

You're right, Gary. My Howard Roberts (mid '70s) was also thin and narrow.

I meant to include a disclaimer for hollow body Gibsons, but got distracted before I posted.

Sometimes I have the attention span of a gnat. It's these young college girls floating about my office, you see...

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:33 pm

I get distracted too... by happenings on the beach. Oops I am supposed to be working.

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:01 pm

Nothing to distract me here at the office. Pity......

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:05 pm

No (ahem) interested co-workers, Aitch?

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:08 pm

One..... sort of.....