Clueless "Expert Advice"

[whojamfan]

In the july 2008 edition of Guitar World magazine in the "Tech Education" section, a correction was printed for their may 2008 column where the "expert" told a guy with a 73 4001 that it was "not possible to remove the truss rods without removing the fretboard." the correction goes on to explain that Richard Cannata at RIC customer service explained to him how to do it.The correction later goes on to say that RIC no longer uses dual trussrods, nor do they sell them, and offers up a contact of some outfit who apparantly does.

I believe the august 2008 issue will be including another "correction" section.

It's no wonder that there are so many messed up, out of whack Ricks out there, as it seems even the "experts" have no idea what to do with them. Good grief, is it really that difficult to do your homework? These guys can set up a floyd rose in a dropped alternate tuning no problem but can't seem to do jack squat with a Rick.

[winston]

When I read material like that I begin to wonder how accurate the technicians advice is on any subject, taking into account their less than stellar understanding of Rickenbacker instruments.

[rickenbrother]

Makes you wonder how they come up with stuff like that.

[bassduke49]

I think what Richard was saying that they no longer use or make the "doubled over" (folded) truss rods as in the 4001 basses. The current basses still have two truss rods, each a single rod, not folded over. Looks like the correcting editor didn't understand what Richard was saying.

[doctorwho]

And it's not like Richard was calling from a tech center in Mumbai ...

[winston]

I think what Richard was saying that they no longer use or make the "doubled over" (folded) truss rods as in the 4001 basses. The current basses still have two truss rods, each a single rod, not folded over. Looks like the correcting editor didn't understand what Richard was saying.

Agreed. Richard knows his stuff. It's the supposed expert with the magazine who is clueless.

[jingle_jangle]

Well, there are two ways of learning, and the better way (as an interlocked system requiring organization, prioritization, and logical thinking, which yields understand of both subject matter and context) is losing ground to the "rote" way. The rote way involves memorization of seeming random facts, with little effort made to teach or learn their relationships.

Just as our kids are now learning by rote in order to pass tests, I think techs often learn this way. It can give the impression of competence, but upon close scrutiny, the whole house of cards falls apart. This point comes with many techs when a Rick is pulled out of its case. Cold sweat time, not because Ricks are so darned different, but because their rote "education" or "training" leaves them ill-prepared for anything but the routine, and they've heard that Ricks are difficult to work on to good effect.