Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Kopfjaeger wrote: I had a guitar tech, who specializes in Fender's, tell me once that he could not understand why Rickenbacker did not add tension hold down's, like the round disc on the Fender P headstock, to add downward pressure to the strings between the nut and posts. I told him why, as long as you properly wind your strings, you don't need it on a Rick. Fender guys crack me up, sometimes!

Sepp

Could it be that In Fender style headstock the distance between nut and D- & G-string poles are longer than in Rick and that´s why hold down is needed? I had to add a cable tie on E- and A-string just above the nut on my J-bass when I changed to TI´s. They are so low tension that even though I winded them correctly, they buzzed.
I had some serious saddle wobble on ´10 4003 I had. Clear hard plastic under the saddles is the easiest way to repair it. I used old library card.

mikko wrote:Could it be that In Fender style headstock the distance between nut and D- & G-string poles are longer than in Rick and that´s why hold down is needed? I had to add a cable tie on E- and A-string just above the nut on my J-bass when I changed to TI´s. They are so low tension that even though I winded them correctly, they buzzed.

Yes, a Fender slab neck does not have any angle on the headstock and very little downward angle is created on the string passing over the nut, which is where there needs to be enough tension to stop vibration and fix the vibrating part of the string in place. The farther away you get the less your string install can do for you, so Fender relies on string trees to compensate. A Ric or Gibson, due both to headstock angle and the symmetrical tuner pattern, doesn't have this issue.

Ahhh, I understand now. It seems the saddles in the video had the threaded holes machined a bit too low causing the saddle to sit a bit higher on the bridge and teeter back and forth and not set on the bottom surface of the saddle. I can see how that would vibrate a bit and put more stress on the adjustment screw in the process.

The headstock angle on my 73 4001 is very slight. It's the only 70's Rickenbacker I own so I don;t know when the headstock angle began to increase. It's not at all like my 2011 4003 or even my 86 Shadow. I would think proper string winding is more of an issue with early basses without the headstock angle to get the proper break over the nut. The nut was so worn on the 73 that I think this was one of the issues. No more since the new white nut was installed. Looks better too with the the white binding.

Sepp