Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i have a simple question about the truss rods on my 91' 4003. looking down the from the headstock at the adjusting nuts, which way do i turn to tighten (straighten) the neck?

Turn clockwise.

thats clockwise with the head nearest to me, downing down to the body?

clockwise right? with the head nearest to me , looking down towards the body?

Affirmative, Owen.

another question, is it normal for rickenbackers to have a buzzyness around the 12/13th fret, when i play in that position the strings tend to hit the lower frets, causing a "clanking" this does not occur on say fret 15, just in the "middle of the neck

Er... Let's 'stoke the fire'. Back in 1990, the neck of my then recently-acquired '76 4001 needed adjusting - badly. I proceeded to torque both truss-rods to no avail. That's when I realized I could turn both rods around in order to make them adjustable at the body end of the neck - 4003 style. This particular 4001 required no routing for each truss-rod nut - the neck pickup cavity extends right up to the neck. The modification allows me to adjust both rods with the greatest of ease.
Has any of you ever done or had someone (maybe Mark?) do this mod to your 4001? When adjusting the rods at the headstock becomes too much of a pain -and it sometimes does - this is the answer.

um,,,, i have a 4003

Owen, I'm not sure I understand what the trouble is with your Rick, but if I had to take an educated guess I'd say the truss-rods on your Rick have been over-tightened or the action is too low. You better take this one up to Mark Arnquist in 'Ask A Rickenbacker Luthier'

Owen, to answer your question about the buzziness and clanking, that's not normal, your action may be too low. A certain amount of noise from strings occasionally hitting the frets is unavoidable, though.

ok, well i forgot to mention that no clanking comes through my amp, its more of a "feel" thing"