(We now join this RM 1999 restoration already in progress)

[Kopfjaeger]

Whoa Mark, you got the action that low and up to pitch with no truss rods?? Now you are showing off!! Man, that looks nice and low, super!! Now put some electronics in her and lets hear her sing!!!

Sepp

[walker]

Hey guys - thanks for the props, and good eye on noticing the "transparent rods." I opted for them due to the issues that the carbon rods contributed to the neck. Chip Little put them in both the neck and fretboard. Not to belabor what I think of his work, but this option created the issue of the fretboard not fitting on the neck properly. (see the earlier photos of how the seams btw neck & fretboard are full of gaps before I removed the fretboard). *They also added a considerable amount of weight.* (Keep that in mind, those of you thinking about trying the same trick.) So I had to sand down the carbon rods in both neck and fretboard just to get the pieces to sit flush again before gluing.

Once glued and looking all purdy-like, I discovered that the truss rods no longer fit in the cavities. I could not have been HAPPIER about that. The neck was bowed forward a little, but I wasn't about to take off the fretboard again and route those canals deeper. There is a scarce amount of wood in an RM neck as it is! So through some very careful manipulation with a steam iron, I bent the neck back to what I figured to be the perfect point of overcompensation. Once I put the strings on, the neck was still back-bowed a bit, but over the course of 1-2 days under standard string tension, it came forward to just the perfect angle for me - almost perfectly straight with just a slight fwd bow. This process was one of the few things I actually nailed the first time.

[Kopfjaeger]

****, I can imagine your horror when you realized the rods would not go in to the neck. In studying the fotos of my 4002 project with the fretboard off and the rods in, there is precious little real estate in the neck for "spare" items! I sincerely hope the neck maintains its proper angle through the various weather and humidity conditions. I know in the winter and drier climate my necks tend to bow a bit. Some more than others. Summertime and humidity make them back bow. I'll be crossing my fingers for your RM1999 buddy!!

Sepp

[walker]

Thanks, Joe. Truss rods are usually easy to maneuver back into the neck properly waxed and with the application of a little TLC. I feel good about my RM neck where it is in this higher humidity. I've noticed that my '68 tends to back-bow in dryer colder weather. So given wood's tendency to be more pliable/maliable in more humid weather, I'm hoping that the RM neck doesn't come forward any more than it has. If it was at this same angle in cold, dry weather, I'd be nervous about the onset of moist weather.

And just so you know, Joe, you can't say C®AP on this site!

[cjj]

Oddly enough though, if you search for that word in the Advanced Search, it finds all of the posts which have 'em *'d out...

Oh CARP! I hope they don't see that and "fix" the search page too...

[walker]

HA HA! Too fuckin' funny!

[walker]

Ummm... the auto-censor must have dozed off for that one.

[aceonbass]

Wow I can't talk about Rickenfakers being me in China, but moderators can drop the "F" bomb. Awesome...

[cjj]

Um... moderators dropping bombs?

[walker]

Yeah - enyhu ~ another thing that I think contributed to the neck angle coming out so manageable in spite of it's thin design is how I set the new neck block. I cut the edge by the fretboard at a slight angle so that the neck would pitch back at about a 2˚angle (sort of like a Les Paul) instead of being perfectly straight. I've noticed that a lot of '60s Ricks have an issue of the necks pitching forward right at the neck/body wing intersection. So this was another point of overcompensation that helped nicely.

[walker]

Heh heh! I gave up the "moderatorship" awhile back to go back to being an "advanced member." I seem to be more popular with the ladies with this distinction.

[cjj]

Hopefully, that neck block mod will do the trick and remain like it is now...

[jps]

...the carbon rods... *They also added a considerable amount of weight.*

I am surprised as CF is usually quite light. I remember one of my visits to Joe Zon's shop where I quite amazed at just how lightweight a freshly made neck (without a fingerboard attached) felt when I picked it up.

[cjj]

Maybe they were carbon steel...

[walker]

Who knows... and now I'm all the more curious.