Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have just finished remodeling my basement, which gives me a great place for my stereo and guitar gear. I am a little worried about having my '87 4003 down there, and I wondered how much I have to worry about it.

I have a dehumidifier down there to keep it as dry as possible, and generally I would say it's a very dry basement comparatively, but it is still not as dry as upstairs. I am sure that in other parts of the country (I live in New England) or the world, people are keeping their guitars in these types of environments.

How bad does humidity have to be to really start to mess up the neck of a Ric (or guitars in general)?

Thanks

I don't know about how high, but if it's less than 40%, it ain't good.

Supposedly the comfort zone is 40-60% I thought. My music room averages 45 so me and the basses all seem happy. When it does get humid in the house, the Ricks do seem to be fussier than the rest of my stuff though. To the point where if I want to play them, I do need to put a little relief in the neck. Especially since the action is pretty low to start. No biggie though!

Fran, I have not adjusted the neck on my 4003 yet, but it seems like it may need it due to the humidity change. I had raised the action on the E side of the bridge awhile ago as I was getting some buzzing, but the G side was fine. Just the other day though, the D started buzzing on the lower frets, so I raised the action on that side too.

It seems like the neck may need to be bowed up a bit, and a truss rod adjustment is in order. I am pretty new to bass adjustments, and had this one professionally adjusted when I got it. Since then, when I bought the mute assembly that was missing on mine and installed it, I got familiar with bridge adjustments.

If I consider the truss rod adjustments, I'd like to get a little info about the order of getting everything adjusted properly. Is it best to get the neck right first, then the combo of action/intonation on the bridge, with E-A-D-G tuning all the way through?

Thanks

Well, others here know more, or can put it into better wording, but my thoughts: Start with a flat neck. That seems to be the consensus here and from John Hall himself. I start there. Then I get the action where I want it from frets 15 up, with no bad buzzing, by raising or lowering the bridge. Then I look at the middle, where the truss rods seem to do the most. If there's too much space, I tighten the rods a little at a time to close the gap, with just a trace of buzz or hiss when I dig in playing. If it's already buzzing, I loosen the rods until I get the same result. Then, on to the intonation. Lastly, pickup height adjustment. Sometimes Ricks follow the rules, other times it's a bit of a peeing match with you vs. bass! Again, if it's already really humid, just a little bit of of relief in the neck should get you through. Or, if you can wait til the weather changes, just do that. Sometimes they follow the weather always, other times, they need help either way. Let the really smart guys ring in now! Fellas?

Greg, I also live in the north east, and keep my gear in the basement most of the time. I haven't had to make any changes at all on my 4003 in 2 years. I actually think it's better that my gear is in the basement rather than upstairs. The basement keeps a constant temp, while the main living areas fluctuate too much.
Dry heat in the winter, and AC sometimes on, sometimes off in the summer.

I live in AZ (oh yes, a dry heat). Just got myself a humidifier for the summer months. Sorry Greg, just the opposite of your problem. I've been meaning to do this for a couple of years. Guitars and basses have been fine and am curious what the result from this will be. If anything, will help out any archtops, I believe.

I live in Michigan ... I keep a lot of nice basses in my basement ... I run a dehumidifier in the summer ... currently in my basement the temperature is 75 and the humidity is 62%... the real harm comes when the humidity level drops in the winter ... without humidifiers in my basement the humidity level in the winter will drop below 20% very easily ... wood shrinks when it gets dry ... this can damage an instrument ... so low humidity is more of a problem than high humidity ... but if you store an instrument in a humid basement the metal will rust and corrode ... I heard the perfect humidity level for an instrument is 35% to 50% ... so I run a dehumidifier in my basement in the summer in addition I have central air ... but I also run humidifiers in the winter ... I find the humidifiers help improve my health and comfort in the winter in addition to protecting my instruments ... in the winter my aim is to not let the humidity drop below 25% ... 35% is better but when it get into single digits outside that is hard to achieve ...

today it is 75 and the humidity is 45% ... the weather outside changed ...

A few weeks ago it was very humid here in Ma. and I had to loosen slightly the TR's on several of my Rics as they were buzzing. This is a seasonal thing here, when winter comes I have to take out the relief by tightening again as it dries out here.
I think low humidity is worse for a bass than high, with low the necks shrink and the ends of the frets stick out and can actually crack the binding.

Millbury's not too far from the Cape, right Bob? We've ha alot of humidity out here lately. I have been afraid to touch the TRs, having never done it (Newbie ). Not much to worry about there? What do you do after you adjust the TRs?

I'm about an hour, hour and a half from the cape Greg right next to lovely Worcester. I just turn them counterclockwise an 1/8 turn maybe and then check how it plays, if it feels good and doesn't buzz I leave it. If it still buzzes or plays hard I compensate, CCW a little more for less buzz and CW for if I have overdone it, it's easy on a 4003, not so easy on a 4001. If you want tips on a 4001 send me an e-mail.

David, I believe the optimal humidity range is 50-55% and a temperature of 70-72 degrees. Keeping them in your case is the best idea. Winter conditions can often be the worst thing on a guitar, especially cold, dry climates. Also, too much humidity can affect your guitar.

You can purchase a simple humidity gauge and place it inside your house. Again, keeping your guitars out for an extended period of time with, and I'm assuming, a gas heater running, isn't good on a guitar in the long run. Most home gas heaters suck the humidity out of a house.

You got me on that one, David. I have no idea. I'm not familiar with your heating system, at all.