Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Both my rods came out straight!!

Ted,
If my rods are straight, I should bend them?

Oops, Ted, I already straightened them and am going to install now.
If it is a problem, I guess I can pull them and put the bend back in.

Donny: If the neck has been stable and playable, leave 'em alone. Straight is "normal" for them.

Mike: Try them straight if it does not setup right put a little curve in them.

I think I'm gonna be good here. It's assembled, tuned, somewhat adjusted and waiting to settle.
I used a 1/8" shim under each acorn nut at the body end, straightened the rods and lubed the threads with bar soap before installing the nuts.

After I verify it's good, I'll report back later.

Thanks again for the help. Turns out the fear of the unknown was bigger than the actual problem...I hope!

The rods in my '86 came out bent to almost a half circle. I asked here the same question - should I straighten them out, and John Hall posted that the rods were bent like that at the factory and they should be this way.

I assume that the rods must have somehow flipped over inside the neck to an up-bow position, so when I inserted them back inside the neck I made sure they had a back-bow.

It worked great. I was able to set up the neck to flat, zero relief, with medium gauge DR's. It took minutes to adjust and it hasn't moved since then. I played that bass in band rehearsal last night and it still plays like a dream.

Well, that's three days since the work was done and the bow is back, and the bass side is a tad higher this time.

Ilan, can you describe how much curvature your rods have?

I posted a picture but now I can't find it in the archives, I'll post it again later when I get home from work.

Ilan,
Yep, mine were curved that much, too. I straightened them before installing, since didn't know about this "the rods were bent like that at the factory"...

I gigged it last night, brought it home, tweaked it a little more, and it seems close, but I may give more time to settle before I can say it's fixed.

I'm thinking about the benefit of bending the rods. hmmm.

John Hall said that they can't become arched like that just sitting inside the neck, which makes a lot of sense. So there must be a good reason for RIC to pre-bend them.

Agreed.
The question comes to me, is why some are bent while others are not. Just in this thread we have heard of both examples.

If mine won't hold a flat setting after a little more time and adjusting, I'll pull them and re-bend, and try again. It's real close, now so hopefully it won't be needed.

"why some are bent while others are not"

I guess it's because not all necks are the same. Maybe certain necks require the rods to be pre-bent to adjust them properly.

When you buy new rods as a replacement part, they are straight.

This is solving nothing for me.

Both rods were straight on removal. A small kink was put in both the rods and washers added at the nut behind the acorn nut; a small improvement is observed. I am sure that the E side rod rotated upon tightening, so if Ted says the rods should be straight, then inserting them with the kink counteracts their action if they rotate.

As an aside, this bass's neck is much lower on line-of sight than the bridge/tailpiece assembly.

So, having them straight, or with a small kink on the rods, and with washers, the rods haven't afforded a straight neck, even at full tightness!

Sorry, guys, but I don't know why I should bother with this any more. This is a relatively new instrument and it's neck will not pull straight, even with a light gauge and two of the companion strings absent. I'm bored...........

Running into the same problem in another thread with mine. I'm still waiting on heavier gauge strings in the mail, but I've used this particular gauge for years with no problems, even on another Ric. Still have back bow, bridge adjusted way too high, rods straight, curved, in, out, turned...none of it seems to get rid of my back bow.

Frustrating, but maybe it's time for another Rick. This one's not cooperating.