Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Not at all, Paul. My thoughts were more toward slowing the process down!!

I used to have a sign in the office of my design studio:

"you can have it CHEAP
you can have it TOMORROW
you can have it WELL-MADE

..pick any TWO"

As usual, it's a case of balancing all three criteria of cost, time, and craftsmanship...

An ex-boss of mine had a huge sign behind him in his office:

"The answer is NO!! Convince me otherwise...."

We had another in the fitting bays:

"Installation is $40.00 per hour.... double that if you insist on watching!!"

How much if you help?

Priceless! Some of our customers did insist and went noticably pale and sickly when they saw someone taking to the front doors of their precious new auto with a jigsaw and hammer!!

Our sign says: "Craftsmanship a creed...accuracy a law."

This project is moving along brilliantly.

Truss rod pics are great. I never realized the shape of a Ric truss rod. Just figured they were a straight rod of metal. Are these two way truss rods?

No just a 1 way rod that exerts pressure toward the finger board allowing it to bend in a convex manner. The 2 way rods that Stewart MacDonalds offer will bend a neck both ways, clockwise puts a convex bow and counter clockwise puts a concave bow in the neck. They won't fit the rick slots unless you pull the finger board and cut the channels deeper.

Thanks, Dale.

To explain in a bit more detail:

Rick rods only act in compression. As you shorten the threaded portion of the rod, you force that thick rectangular aluminum washer to compress the non-threaded half of the rod, forcing it convex. Imagine an elongated letter D lying on its back. The more that you tighten the straight portion, the more curve that the D develops.

Stew Mac's double-acting rods have the washer (actually a piece of steel that is square in cross-section) firmly attached to the passive half of the rod, so as you turn the adjustment screw on the active half, it can act in two directions depending on which direction the screw is turned. If you tighten the screw, it will bow the passive half, forcing the neck convex, like a Rickenbacker single-action rod. If you loosen the screw, you will exert tension on the passive rod half, bowing the active rod half and causing the rod assembly to bend the other way, forcing the neck concave.

I forgot to mention that the Rods on your '68, David, unlike the rods that Dale is showing in his build series, are not round in cross-section, but are actually flat on both sides. They are easier to adjust and also fit into a shallower groove in the neck than round rods.

Rickenbacker necks are quite "bendy" and will readily respond to very small truss rod adjustments, provided you give the neck time to respond to minor adjustments, and not try to get immediate results, which inevitable leads to overtightening and its own set of problems. Time to respond to small increments is measured in days. Small increments means 1/4 of a turn at a time. Anybody who weants a good demonstration of the flexibility of a Rick neck: turn on your amp, plug your guitar in, and hit an open "E" chord. Now, while the chord is still ringing, wiggle the neck toward and away from you while immobilizing the guitar body against your own the best you can. You can hear the difference as the neck bends.

This is more obvious on hollow-bodied than solid-bodied Ricks.

Thanks for the explanation, Paul. I'll get my '58 on it's way to you by Friday. Looks like you've got your hands full right now, so take your time. As long as I get it back by the following Friday and you can do it cheap...no worries!

BTW, do you take Green Stamps?

"Gotta think in terms of that new patio furniture..."

Murali, I GIVE Green Stamps. But whatcha gonna do with 'em?

Next in the 335 saga: Refretting. It CAN be done with a five-pound sledgehammer, if you've mastered the touch and ground the head of the sledge to the proper radius...

The ideal is to refret a 21-fret guitar with the minimum--21--well-placed and perfectly-weighted hammer blows. It's a Zen thing...

Stay tuned.

This thread is better than anything on TV. It so interesting that I look forward to the next posting with a sense of anticipation. Thank you Paul and Dale. I have learned answers to questions that have been in the depths of my mind for years with no one really to ask. You are teaching and giving of yourselves at the same time. Thank you again and again.

Thanks to you also Brian. Without guys like you I'd be nowhere. Dale