Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

aceonbass wrote:The neck pickup cavity is WAY too big on this and subsequent 4001/3's till early 2014. The proper fix is pressure fitting a precisely cut maple block that is slightly loose on the sides, but so tight that the neck needs to actually be bent back slightly to make it fit. Then a new neck pickup cavity will need to be routed just large enough to fit the neck pickup, and access the truss rods for adjustment, (which by the way, are the current style rods). If the neck is already flat, then heat treating it will accomplish what?

Dane,
I sincerely have no answer for you, i was very honest about being out of my depth here. Darrell says that the heat will loosen the glue in the neck joint, which will allow him to put the neck at the correct angle and put the truss rods back in, tighten them and then the neck will remain in that position. I have no answers to your questions but i will post an update once he's done with it and we can study it together. I also asked him if he can put a block of maple since that seems to be the solution but he says that if the ,, surgery'' goes well there will be no need for it.

Komadinic wrote:Darrell says that the heat will loosen the glue in the neck joint, which will allow him to put the neck at the correct angle and put the truss rods back in, tighten them and then the neck will remain in that position.

Oh dear... That doesn't make any sense, I'm afraid. This is a thru-neck bass: there is no 'neck joint' to loosen.

The neck joints are the body wings. I agree with espidog and don't see how moving any of that will help.
His statement sounds like he's talking about a set neck bass, not a neck thru.

Still would really like to see and up the neck picture.

Dirk

Dirk wrote:The neck joints are the body wings. I agree with espidog and don't see how moving any of that will help.
His statement sounds like he's talking about a set neck bass, not a neck thru.

Still would really like to see and up the neck picture.

Dirk

Don't know guys, truly out of my comfort zone here unfortunately. I will let you know everything once he's done with work, currently the bass is with him and I'm patiently waiting for news.

Former RIC employee Mark Arnquist has performed this fix many times, and I've done it on my 8-string conversions. I believe it's the only fix that will permanently fix your problem.

aceonbass wrote:Former RIC employee Mark Arnquist has performed this fix many times, and I've done it on my 8-string conversions. I believe it's the only fix that will permanently fix your problem.

I would personally trust Dane's input on this, that said the final decision is that of the owner.

Well guys you were absolutely right, the issue is indeed the neck pickup route. He will fit a block of maple and reroute the neck pickup. Sorry for doubting you, i just don't have experience and wanted to leave it to the pros. If you have any advice regarding the fix I'd appreciate it and share your words with Darrell, he is confident that he can fix this up but I'm sure he wouldn't mind your help. Thanks for all the responses and i hope that she comes home very soon and in a better shape!

Komadinic wrote:Well guys you were absolutely right, the issue is indeed the neck pickup route. He will fit a block of maple and reroute the neck pickup. Sorry for doubting you, i just don't have experience and wanted to leave it to the pros. If you have any advice regarding the fix I'd appreciate it and share your words with Darrell, he is confident that he can fix this up but I'm sure he wouldn't mind your help. Thanks for all the responses and i hope that she comes home very soon and in a better shape!

Glad to hear you've found the root cause, once fixed you'll have a lovely v63 on your hands, congratulations

thx1955 wrote:

Komadinic wrote:Well guys you were absolutely right, the issue is indeed the neck pickup route. He will fit a block of maple and reroute the neck pickup. Sorry for doubting you, i just don't have experience and wanted to leave it to the pros. If you have any advice regarding the fix I'd appreciate it and share your words with Darrell, he is confident that he can fix this up but I'm sure he wouldn't mind your help. Thanks for all the responses and i hope that she comes home very soon and in a better shape!

Glad to hear you've found the root cause, once fixed you'll have a lovely v63 on your hands, congratulations

Thanks Jim. The bass really played and sounded good even with the high action so I can only imagine how great it will be now. I'm not a bass player but I'm looking forward to learning how to groove

So as promised I want to update the post on how things went. First and foremost i have to say that Darrell was such a breeze to work with and he kept sending me updates with progress of his work quite often. There's not enough good words i can say about this man!

The bass had to have the huge factory pickup route fixed since it pulled the neck in a little bit and messed up the action on higher frets. Darrell was able to tackle this by pressure fitting maple into the route and routing out a new pickup as you have suggested. The action is right where i wanted it and I'm very happy with the results.

Also for some reason the pickups were out of phase which contributed to a very weak sound in the middle position which he fixed as well. I feel like he charged me a very small price for all the work he did.

Anyway if you end up with the same problem in NY area I'd strongly advise you to go to him. He's a great guy and i doubt you'll find a better price as well!

Great news, congratulations on a great recovery and for finding a great resource to help restore your v63.

Glad it's worked out so well for you, Dorde. Now what we need are some audio samples!