Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Some of you may have seen this FG at Pick of the Ricks . She's mine now . Plugged her in and thought.....that does not sound at all like my 77 4001 AG (must go). After much set-up work she is doing better. These things are sensitive to pickup height. As it was , the neck pickup was too close to the strings and sounded "tubby". It also sounded better with minimal relief in the neck. Toasters are probably going in soon (thanks Jeff).This one has the clear coat finger board . Very comfortable !! She's a Keeper but she sure needed some work.

Congrats and post some pics when you get a chance!

I've noticed the same thing about the pickups Barry. I like my bridge pickup pretty close to the strings, but if too close, I get a "chirp" when I catch it with my pick.

I'd be interested to know how other forum members have their pickups adjusted.

On all of my 4004's I have the p/u's adjusted as close to the strings as I can where the strings don't hit when I play aggressively (fingerstyle). I originally had them a little lower but find the tone to be better with them closer....they pick up more of the harmonics/overtones.

Just like Barry, when I received my Trans Green Cii the setup was horrible. The action was very high, the neck had a nice arc to it and the pickups were screwed as far into the body as they would go. I know the store didn't do it since they only opened the case to make sure it was intact before shipping it to me. I am very surprised Ric let it out the door that way. A healthy dose of tweaking straightened it out and it now plays like it should.

The Volume, Volume, Tone wiring brings out some subtleties that the toggle misses ...

Please educate me...what screws adjust the PU height?

I haven't done a thing to my Laredo, I love the way it sounds. But, if it can be improved I'd like to know.

Ed: The ones on either side in the center do the adjustments. The "spring" in this case is a piece of foam. The fit around the pickup is often very tight making some slanted adjustments a little tricky.

Ed....what I usually do if I want to raise the p/u is remove the center screws and lift the p/u. Then tighten the screws down until the p/u is the height you want. The foam usually isn't strong enough to raise the p/u on it's own.

is this closed-cell foam?

that stuff doesn't do too well here...

Still more tweeking . After letting the bass sit over night the neck was very different. Tuned the strings and re adjusted the truss rods and string height . Lots of buzz between the 3rd and 7th frets. Decided to change the strings and found them very twisted . Installed some Dean Markley Blue Steels , made sure they went on straight , checked the neck , no more buzz . Nice , Clean , ringing sustain . I feel much better now .

I haven't had to do a thing to my Cii, it arrived ready to rock.
I like those Dean Markley Blue Steels. They have a great tone that lasts longer than many other strings and I've never gotten a bad string.

When did you get yours Joey ? Mine is quirky . The truss rods....one is tight the other loose but thats how the neck sets-up . Glad it has a 5 year warranty . I am really starting to enjoy the deeper darker sound compared to my 4001 . This 4004 has a nice hit right in the chest .