Fix my v68.

[Kopfjaeger]

Wow, scary stuff!! Question, I removed my first Rickenbacker pickguard a few days ago from my 1973 4001. I was expecting to see the body side truss rod ends at the base of the neck but they were not there. I used an allen wrench to see just how far up the neck they started and I found them about an inch up on one side and about an inch and an 1/8 on the the other. Is this normal??? This thread is freaking me out a little. Oh, the neck is straight as an arrow.

Thanks

Sepp

[rickenbrother]

Sepp: If the neck is straight, don't worry about it. If you get a sudden change, adjust the rods slowly, and watch for any changes. I wouldn't freak out. This is a rare occurrence. This particular "V68" has also been previously modified. Some of the work done on it was on the fingerboard. As you can see it now has non original full width sparkly inlays. I'm not saying that's what caused the problem, but it's a possibility that it contributed to, or started the problem.

[jdogric12]

Its in good hands....

Yep. I've got my 66 360/12 smurfglo scheduled to go to him in the fall.

Good luck JB!

[bassduke49]

Wow, scary stuff!! Question, I removed my first Rickenbacker pickguard a few days ago from my 1973 4001. I was expecting to see the body side truss rod ends at the base of the neck but they were not there. I used an allen wrench to see just how far up the neck they started and I found them about an inch up on one side and about an inch and an 1/8 on the the other. Is this normal??? This thread is freaking me out a little. Oh, the neck is straight as an arrow.

Thanks

Sepp

Sepp, on the old 4001 basses, you shouldn't "see" the body ends of the truss rods at all. The old rods are actually folded, so there isn't really a "body end" to the rods. I don't know how consistent the folded rods were concerning their length, but all the action happens at the head end where the adjusting nuts are. If one of the rods shows more thread than the other, that would not be bad as long as the neck is straight.

[aceonbass]

This particular "V68" has also been previously modified. Some of the work done on it was on the fingerboard. As you can see it now has non original full width sparkly inlays. I'm not saying that's what caused the problem, but it's a possibility that it contributed to, or started the problem.

If the neck wouldn't adjust flat, I'd agree since sawing halfway through a fingerboard in eight places and pouring inlays tends to weaken it. The truss rod nuts sinking into the maple indicates an issue with the wood that was already there. This problem would have been more easily and cheaply solved by making a thrust block at the body end and longer rods.

[johnallg]

This confirms what I've always said about this neck wood. It is just too soft and the body end rod nut/washers just keep displacing the soft wood. IIRC there were a few other necks from these few years with the same problem and saturating the wood with super glue was the proposed solution.

Glad Larry is taking good care of your baby, John.

[JakeK]

Larry is a very good choice to send your bass too. Right on, JB. If anyone can fix it, he's one of them.

[jps]

Larry is a very good choice to send your bass too. Right on, JB. If anyone can fix it, he's one of them.

Have you sent your guitar to him, yet?

[sloop_john_b]

Here’s the bass as of the past few days. Had a few surprises, but it’s now back together and I’ll be on to the finishing process. I had to get a pair of new truss rods – the one that was replaced on the bass side was unusable, and the old one had seen better days. In addition to the repair at the heel, the bass side truss rod rout at the nut had been drilled out, which meant that it needed to be plugged to match the treble side. I also made a square aluminum bar for the nut end of the truss rods – it’ll work much better than the flat plate.

I anticipate that it’ll be ready in about three weeks.

[cheyenne]

This is cool. I like.

[jps]

The spacer bar at the headstock makes it look more 1968, too.

[sloop_john_b]

The spacer bar at the headstock makes it look more 1968, too.

Cool!

Also having Larry shoot the fretboard with clear instead of the amber Dale did. I wanna see those sparklies really SHINE.

[ajish4]

Glad you are getting it back to playing condition John!

Looks like it will be good to go for a long time to come.

Congrats!

[rickaddict]

Lookin' good, JB! I like the insert on the heel side.

There's not gonna be any acorn nut pull-through on that puppy again!

[jingle_jangle]

Larry comes through again. Kudos to both of you, John! Excellent work and a gentleman to deal with.