Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Gary, thanks for the detailed reply. I understand what you are saying, that I need a good setup. What I hear is that you are saying the neck clearance should be 0 to .002" at the high E and 0 to 0.004" at the low E. That's pretty close to flat, as I'm running about 0.010" on both my acoustic guitar and my strat. Regarding the saddle height, I would work on the nut first, and make sure the slots were the correct depth: generally about fret height above the fingerboard. Then I would adjust the saddle height by measuring clearance from string to fret top at the 12th fret. I guess you can do it by the buzz test that you explain, and I guess that's what we're really going for. Do you happen to know the string height measurement for your setup?

Thanks,

jv

jviss wrote:Greg, thanks for your reply. I think I have a train wreck of a setup. Since one of the features of this is that the nut slots are nowhere near deep enough, I can't blame this on MF, since they could only have made the slots deeper if they messed with it. The good news is that it is not terminal, i.e., relatively easily fixed.

jv

John, could you post a close-up photo of your Ric's nut and the bridge set-up? If it's really out of whack it should be easy to spot.

I really dont really suspect the nut as the problem unless somebody changed it or something like that. What we did is lay a machinists scale down the neck and measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the machinists on the 7 8 9 frets. I kept tightening the truss rod one quarter turn till i got 2 thou.on the treble side the tighten the bass side rod till i got 4 thou. Do the measuring with a feeler guage. And again sure make the guitar is tuned to pitch before u make any adjustments. After it was done i had turned my treble side 1 and a quarter turns. Dont worry about the string height rite now make sure u get those numbers with the scale and feeler guage at the 78and9 fret. When you get it down to those specs then adjust your string height. Take. em down till they all buzz and then raise each side a quarter turn this will raise it up 2 and a half thou. Keep doing this till the buzz is all gone. My 360 turned out great cant believe its the same guitar.And again i would put a set of the thomastic flatwounds on they sound killer.and feel great. Just take your time just go a quarter turn at a time on the truss rods,then put the scale down the neck and measure with the feeler guage. If you need more help just give me a shout. Gary

Did yob your ric new or was it used? These nuts are cut at the factory with cnc machines. Still you have to get the neck and the set up rite.I think if you get ur neck rite i think the nut problem will go away. It did for me. Keep me posted. Gary

I would take your guitar to someone who really knows how to set up Ricks. When I first bought my 620 six-string several years ago, it was setup okay but not great. Luckily there's a guy here in Houston who really knows how to set up Rickenbackers. He widened the nut slots slightly (I think they were pinching the strings a little bit) as well as doing the same for the bridge slots. He also slightly adjusted the neck. Wow! It was like a completely different guitar!

He also worked similar magic on my 330/12 a while ago.

stsang wrote:

jviss wrote:Greg, thanks for your reply. I think I have a train wreck of a setup. Since one of the features of this is that the nut slots are nowhere near deep enough, I can't blame this on MF, since they could only have made the slots deeper if they messed with it. The good news is that it is not terminal, i.e., relatively easily fixed.

jv

John, could you post a close-up photo of your Ric's nut and the bridge set-up? If it's really out of whack it should be easy to spot.

Ah - you did post photos on page 1 of this thread (seems so long ago...). It's hard to tell from the angle the photo was taken, but it does look like your strings are not sitting properly on the nut. They look slightly raised toward the bottom of the nut. That might be due to the bridge being too high or it could be the nut slots need to be widened just a fraction. It's really hard to tell from that photo. I agree with the previous post - if you can find a qualified tech, he/she should be able to sort it out. Good luck. --Simon

John, one more thing. I re-read the thread and I didn't see any mention of what strings you have on your 360/12 (except for some mention that you may have a mismatched set). The nut is set up for a 0.046 gauge low E. If you have something heavier, that may cause some problems. Before you do anything, maybe you could try changing the strings? I suggest starting with the Rickenbacker factory set #95404. If things are still out of whack, then you should consider other actions.

Hope that helps.
-SImon

Thanks everyone, for your replies and your interest in helping me. I bought the guitar new, from Musician's Friend. (The return policy is 45 days. I haven't decided yet).

I assume the strings are factory, which are Ric 95404. I bought another couple of sets of these. I was never a big fan of flat wound strings, but given the reviews here, and my love of Thomastik-Infield's classical strings I may just have to try them some day.

That said, this is a fine instrument and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it, but I'm sure it could be set up better. Part of my hesitation to keep it is just the initial disappointment at purchasing an expensive new guitar that arrived set-up such that it is really not playable at the 1st through about 4th frets.

After careful examination and measurements, I'm certain that the issue is that the nut slots are not cut properly. While I know what to do, were I to do it myself, I don't have a set of nut files; in the past I've done this (always on classical guitars) with a set of needle files I have. I don't have one that goes down to .010", but I could use a razor saw, or just break down and buy a set of nut files (~$90 I guess).

I have taken some more, better pics of the nut, I'll upload them when I get a chance.

I was surprised to find that the nut was glued down, with what appears to be black glue, based on the squeeze-out. I'd appreciate others' knowledge on this topic on Rics. None of my other guitars have the nuts glued down.

As far as Gary's excellent input on set-up, for neck clearance (concavity) what have done is just use a capo at the first fret, press the 14th, and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the 7th fret with a feeler gauge. I'm surprised, though, that you are going for a different clearance on either side. Note that with a single truss rod you end up accepting an average.

For nut slots, I think that you want nearly zero from the string to the top of the first fret when you put a capo at the third fret. Mine has a pretty large gap. You can clearly see quite an angle the string makes up to the nut when fretted at the first fret.

Anyway, going forward, input from others on neck clearance and saddle height are much appreciated.

Thanks,

jv

You seriously need a good setup. I didn't read all the posts, so maybe you already have had it fixed. My 330-12 played badly at first. I had two techs work on it, and both messed it up even worse. I took it to my regular guy-he wasn't then-and he finally got it all right. Now, the guitar plays fine. It's usually just about in tune when I take it ouit of the case. I can't stress the need for finding a tech who knows what to do with Rickenbackers.

John: I sent you a long email on some details you may want to consider. These instruments require a serious setup when new. Everyone has their own idea of how their instrument needs to be setup. They can be real dogs initially, but after a detailed setup, can/will be described as a go to instrument instead of avoiding it because it is so uncomfortable to play.
Best of luck to you....

John, what happened in the end?

I began reading this thread out of interest and became hooked on the ebb and flow of it. You can imagine my disappointment when I get to the final chapter only to find nothing there. Like reading a novel with the last few pages torn out.

Did you get it fixed John, or did you return it? It would be nice to read the final chapter in this story.
I am hoping for a happy ending.

Hixy wrote: John, what happened in the end?

I began reading this thread out of interest and became hooked on the ebb and flow of it. You can imagine my disappointment when I get to the final chapter only to find nothing there. Like reading a novel with the last few pages torn out.

Did you get it fixed John, or did you return it? It would be nice to read the final chapter in this story.
I am hoping for a happy ending.

Protip for noobs: (welcome btw)

A search of OP's profile and posts shows he's only made 18 posts, the last June 2012. A pm or email may be more effective, and would eliminate what I like to call NIGHT OF THE LIVING THREAD.

OK, thanks for that advice.

jdogric12 wrote:
. . . . and would eliminate what I like to call NIGHT OF THE LIVING THREAD.

Can someone explain to me why this would be a problem? I am also curious to see the OP's end result. If a thread still attracts attention and remains relevant, no matter the start date, why is it a bad thing that it gets bumped?

As another noob, I have to say that I'm grateful that this undead thread rose from the grave in search of braiiinnnssss!

I don't mean to contribute to the zombie thread problem, but I just bought myself a 360/12 from MF, as well (they let me use a coupon, so the price was too good to pass up), and the nut needed therapy in a big way. The nut slots were high enough that fretting at the first through third frets was a MOTHER; a visit to a good luthier had her fixed up in no time.