Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Sarah,First and foremost Id say you probably need a set of 9s or 10s if your a light fingered lady.go with what string gauge you are happy with,cause at the end of the day the guitar is yours to be played and comfort is paramount.I thought id have a change and i tried 8s on my 620/12 MMMmm they personally didnt work for me, a tad too light but if its 8s you want why not!Futhermore id change my guitar tech!Find a reputable dealer ask around for a well known and trusted tech and take the guitar in with you ( dont leave it with instructions) and talk to the tech.Tell him about the nut, your strings and the snap when your tuning.Ask him everything even if it makes you look a dumb ***.Ask him what he thinks the problem is and how he/she intends to solve your issue.Only when your are satisfied that the tech knows what he is talking about tell him your break his balls if he screws your guitar,and you kill his cat also.I hope you get to bottom of your problem and wish you well
Scott
Edit:Anyway after listening to Transient Few your not that weak fingered you kick ***!Nice one

Thanks for your comments and your vote of confidence Scott. That is really great of you!

Mickey is very good and has been playing around doing the technical stuff for years now. One of the good things about him is that he never does anything without finding out everything he can first and he always says if he has not done something before. I know I can trust him to do the job, he was just a little anxious about doing something he hasn't tried before becasue he knows how I feel about my Rickys. And feels pretty much the same. He is not an owner but an avid admirer and he wants a 4003 in MG. What more can I say!

Rickygirl wrote:
I have had trouble with the nut on my 12 string. My friend and guitar guru Mickey, had to fiddle about with it The Rickenbacker strings just don't fit into the nut. He thought about filing down the grooves slightly to help, but is a bit anxious doing this. I ordered a new nut just in case it all went horribly wrong and Mickey has been promising to do all this this for me, but he is trying to avoid it I think. He is very good with his "luthiering", but has been learning about Ricks on mine.

Any thought chaps?

Hi sarah just a few things from you orignal post that trouble me
1,My friend.Dont let friends work on your guitars
2,Fiddle,MMmmn Guitar techs dont fiddle
3,Mickey has been promising.If you pay someone to do this you are completely in a different situation and more in control of the outcome.( Im not saying your not paying mickey im saying get a receipt of the work that is to be undertaken)
4,He has been learning about rics on mine? (This is maybe down to bad wording but its a scary line)
Sarah the best advice i can give you(OK lets face it i dont know you and i dont know Mickey) is take your guitar elsewhere at least for a different perspective on what is really going on with your geetar!
Wishing you all the best
the daft Scotsman....

Daft but true.

I hope you can get it sorted, Sarah. I couldn't play my 350/12v63 with anything less than 10s because I find there's just not enough tension in the strings - too 'floppy' for me. I had a sticky nut on one of my 350s and I solved it by squirting a bit of graphite powder in the slot and running a new string throught it 10 or 12 times. Of course it was the dreaded G string..... what else?? The downside is that I now have black residue on the nut that I can't get rid of but I can live with that!

It's not limited to Ricks, either.... one of my Strats is due for the same treatment.

Now to sort out the sticky saddle (G string..... what else??) on my 360v64.

Howard the best place for a sticky nut is the local surgery. Of coarse it probably down to having your g string to tight
I actually started of tonight being reasonably serious and its all went belly up.

Scotty, you're killin' me. Sarah, maybe you could find "the" local Rick tech, have that person set it up right, and have Micky ask to be present so he can see how to do it right, and he won't have to guess in the future.

If done with the right amount of humility and tact, everyone can come out ahead and maybe make new friendships and strengthen old ones. The tech gets a good ego stroke, Micky gets to learn how to apply his skills confidently to your Ricks(and others), and you get your baby set up perfectly. Eventually, maybe you'll experience the rewards of knowing how to, and doing it yourself.

I hope you get this whole thing wrapped up with a happy ending and more music,more musc,more music.

I took pills for the 'other' sticky nut, Scotty.... 30 years on and it's still as free as a bird!!

Aitch, migraine pills won't fix a sticky nut.......


Scott you are a card. I get sore sides from laughing every time I read one of your posts.

Nah, Brian...... not migraine pills. They were weird odd-shaped black pills. Or was it rabbit poo........ not sure but they sure worked!!!!

Thank you for the replies on this topic.

I would rather leave my guitar with Mick any day than with someone I didn't know, unless that person came with recommendations from someone I trusted. He is honest, careful and does his homework. I wish I hadn't mentioned him now as this has turned into a slag off of one of my closest friends and supporters, just because he is not a Rick luthier or professional guitar tech. I can think of a number of so-called guitar techs who I wouldn't let within a million miles of any of my guitars.

The whole point of this post was because he wanted some advice from you lot, as he wanted to do the job properly, not botch it up.

However I appreciate everyones input and it has been very helpful. Thank you.

Let us know how you get on Sarah.Im interested on whats happening with your geetar.I hope i didnt come across as slagging anyone off infact i dont think anyone has.Only some forum members having pot shots at each other.Wishing you all the best Scott

We can be an unintentionally rough crowd at times ... Sarah, I hope that you didn't take the comments as put-downs of you or your luthier friend. Best of luck on resolving the problem (IMO, I think that enlarging the string slots in the nut is the practical approach).

Some of the comments were put-downs and I did feel a bit offended by them and Mickey certainly didn't deserve them, but I know everyone had the best of intentions and wanted to help.

Thanks for that Gary and Scott.

I know how to remedy the problem now. Just my playing to sort out!

Sarah,

Google "Big Bends Nut Sauce" and check the many videos at their website. This product won't solve your main problem as described, but it does have benefits that you will appreciate (e.g., broken strings due to binding, screeching during tuning, popping out of tune, and no black fingers from graphite).

Also, give the fellas some slack. Their solutions are based on experience as well as common sense, and for that reason, limited. Forum advice is seldom one-size-fits-all; realizing this helps one not easily be offended.