Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wow, that's nuts. Go to the head of the class John. Got to love those heat-resistant, thermosetting, chemically stable resins.

May anybody answer to my question? Maybe I am too OT...

Marcello, the listing doesn't have enough information to give a 100% answer... Though the dimensions would work with a bit of modding for your individual bass, the description "resin" is too general. If it is, in fact, bakelite (polyoxlybenzdjfioetpozxvplzkxnvlvjsdafoasfojisf), your bass will retain a Rick tone. But there will be minor tonal variations if it's a different type of "resin". The only way to evaluate it is to buy one and try it!

A Rick nut is about 4.8 mm thick, while the one on ebay is 6 mm. You could sand it down to fit between the neck and TRC.
But the one on ebay is not tall enough, and you’ll have to shim it up underneath, as I did her with ebony. The one on ebay seems to be way to low though, so you will need a taller shim.


New 4003 nuts have the strings space almost 35 mm from centre of G to centre of E sting. If that spacing is useful - depends on the width of the neck and personal preference. On a narrow neck it might bring the G-string very close to the edge.

When I got hold of a sheet of black polyoxymethylen (black Delrin ) I made new nuts for both my Rick basses.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Delrin-Virgin-black ... 5d2d977261
The sheet is 6.35 mm thick and has to be sanded down to ~5 mm. With the necessary tools (a set of proper nut files, a little saw, sanding paper up to 2000 grit, and a sanding block) and the do-it-yourself spirit, you can make the nut yourself, with your own preferred string spacing. A bit of work of course.

johnhall wrote:The only Delrin we've ever used is white; if it's black and not aftermarket, it's polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. Er, bakelite.

Interesting. Any particular reason for not using black Delrin?

cjj wrote:

johnhall wrote:The only Delrin we've ever used is white; if it's black and not aftermarket, it's polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. Er, bakelite.

Interesting. Any particular reason for not using black Delrin?

Delrin requires quite a bit of deburring or cleanup after laser cutting that bakelite doesn't require. As I recall, black Delrin is somewhat more expensive as well. I guess you could argue that the self-lube properties of Delrin would make it tune up slightly better but the Bakelite has worked just fine for decades, so not much incentive to change. Beside, we all know it just sounds good!

So, never having had the opportunity to play a Rick bass with a white Delrin nut, does it actually sound much different than Bakelite? I changed to a brass one once, back in the early '80s when it was all the rage, and can't say I really noticed any difference...

In the end I chose to buy an original part... at least I am sure it wil fit!

marcinkus wrote:In the end I chose to buy an original part... at least I am sure it wil fit!

A lot easier too.