Replacing rods

Setup, repair and restoration of Rickenbacker Instruments

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jdogric12
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Replacing rods

Post by jdogric12 »

Hi gang. So I've decided to pull the rods on the guitar neck of the 4080 and put some new ones in. What all's involved? I already know how to pull the rods safely... I'm sure Jeff will post the pic :)

Do I just shove the new ones down in there and manually set it? Thanks, J
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

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jdogric12aolcom wrote:Do I just shove the new ones down in there and manually set it? Thanks, J
Basically, yes. It is really that easy with the old style rods. You will have to remove the pickguard as the rods will need to go fully in to allow room for the spacer bar. Then you push the rods back up towards the headstock and into the holes in the bar; the rest, I assume you know how to do.
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

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Pic? What pic is this you speak of, Dr. Mendelson? :mrgreen:
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jdogric12
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Re: Replacing rods

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Yeah, what pic?

And I think the 'rest' is manually bending the neck into place/straightness, and then tightening the truss rod nuts. Is this done before or after stringing it up to pitch?
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jps »

Once the rods are in just barely snug up the nuts. String up to pitch as adjust to taste, with the Bend 'N Twist® method. :wink:
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Re: Replacing rods

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BnT???
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

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Bend the neck and twist the nuts!
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jdogric12
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jdogric12 »

Ah yes. I was worried there was a neck-bending I had to perform! Thanks again Jeff. Rock on. The 6 strings are off, R tailpiece off, TRC off, bridge off, and I was able to loosen the tr nuts, so I'll have me bandmate hold the fretboard on and perform another successful delivery, I hope!
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

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I have one of these so I don't need to depend on friends to remove the rods. :wink:
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jdogric12
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Re: Replacing rods

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Lucky for you, huh? :P :lol: :wink:
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jdogric12
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jdogric12 »

Another successful delivery:
4080gtrrodsprepull.jpg
4080gtrrodspulled.jpg
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jps »

8)
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jdogric12
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jdogric12 »

Those rods are fubar'd, right? They look pretty bent to me, and would explain why the neck was so bowed. How does this happen? (read: How can I avoid this?)
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jps
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Re: Replacing rods

Post by jps »

The rods are okay, they are fairly malleable so you can adjust them to your needs. On my rods I had just a bit of an arc before putting them back in the bass; the important part is the treaded section should be straight in relation to the rods.
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