Broken truss pressure plate on 4003

[dcr]

Hi! I have a mid-80s 4003 with two-piece pickguard, with truss rod adjustment at the body end of the neck. The rods are the "doubled over" type. They exit the neck on the body end through a metal pressure plate that sits inside a little channel. Lately I have been hearing buzzing/rattling noises from this area, and inspecting it has revealed three things.

One, this is definitely where the rattle/buzz is coming from. I can alter it by applying pressure to the plate with the end of a screwdriver.

Two, the plate appears to be broken in half, one half per rod.

And three, when I tighten a nut, the plate around it begins to come forward out of the channel.

I've posted some photos here (sorry, the close-up on my camera is only so so):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5X ... directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Vu ... directlink

What's the best way to address this? Buying a spare plate is impossible, I'm assuming.

[windchimp]

Have a look here on the RIC site - this is the parts list for truss rods. Although yours adjusts at the body end, the "spacer" should be similar if not the same. One of the resident experts should be along shortly to verify/shoot down my theory

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/trussrods.pdf

Here is a link to the part in question in the Boutique section of the RIC site:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/cart.asp?vi ... cellaneous

Good luck!

[dcr]

Thanks for the reply! I also have a new Rick bass handy, and the pressure plate on it is totally different--a thin metal wafer, whereas on the old 4003 it's a big chunky block.

[windchimp]

Thanks for the reply! I also have a new Rick bass handy, and the pressure plate on it is totally different--a thin metal wafer, whereas on the old 4003 it's a big chunky block.

OK then, where's the cavalry when you need them???

Just a WAG on my part, but it may be as simple as stacking 2 or 3 of the "newer" style plates to achieve the same thickness.

Unless there is something uber-special about the original, that is. If I were faced with your dilemma, I would whip out my verniers, make some measurements and have one of the machinists at work tool one out of pure unobtanium.

So I close with the big disclaimer....Since I never played around with any RIC basses with the adjustment at the heel, I am about as far from being an expert as they come!

[jingle_jangle]

Wow...broken? That's a 1/4" thick chunk of half-hard aluminum stock...unusual, to say the least.

I see nothing wrong with using three new steel plates stacked up, provided the hole centers are the same...older aluminum plates can vary a bit, whereas the steel ones are all identical.

[aceonbass]

I don't think the truss rod thrust plate is broken. Since the truss rods were further apart at the body and and the original plates had holes that were too close together, the plates were cut in half at the body end. A new one piece plate of greater thickness could be made fairly easily.

[dcr]

That's a relief! The two ends of the plates seem rough on the edges facing each other, & that led me to think it had broken. Well, I can cross that off my list.