Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi everyone.
Ok, I've just removed both Rods from a 4003...again(not same Ric)and noticed the Treble side Rod is dead straight but the Bass side Rod is Really curved, much more so than my own 4003's rod. Both my rods where nearly the same with both having slight bends but the bass one just slighlty more than the treble, this one however is very bent, is this normal??
Thanks a lot.

I reckon it would be normal, but I'm no expert. The bass side strings exert more pressure than the treble side. So I suspect that the bass rod would be more bent. The rods are supposed to bend, so RELAX.....

1st of all, why did you need to remove the rods? The Arc in the truss rod slot is approx. 3/8ths of an inch from heel to nut(heel/nut being zero and the deepest part being approx. 3/8ths.) When you pull the rods out from the heel, it's not uncommon for them to take on a straight look to them. When putting them back in they will follow the curve of the truss rod slot.

Hi Dale, removed the rods cos no matter how much the rods where tightened there was still a curve in the neck, to the point where you couldn't tighten the rod any further. So removed the rod to see where the fault was. The rod is so bent it takes on a banana shape, REALLY bent whereas the treble rod is straight as you said it would be. They are back in now untill I get another rod for it cos I'm convinced its not right as it is, still too much curve on the neck and its got low tension strings.

Is there a lot of thread showing at the headstock end? If so, there may be some compressed wood at the body end that must be fixed. Can you post some pics?

Hi Ted, I check for any compression and there is none. There is also very little thread showing. I cant seem to get pics uploaded, tried when the bass was apart, its now back together.
It is playing well, its not excessive curve, just a smidgeon too much, it could definatly go flatter. The Treble side is perfect, bass side just ever so slightly off, case of a twisted neck maybe?? Hope not, I blame the massively curved Rod.
I'll update once my new Rod arrives, I'm postive it'll be the main culprit in this case.

Steve, if you e-mail me the pictures (e-mail address is in my profile), I will resize them and post them in this thread so the experts can better assess what's going on.

Hi Gary, thanks for the kind offer.
Once the new rod arrives and I strip it down again I'll take pics and send them to you.
Thanks again.

Cool!

Steve: The problem could be as simple as a high fret and might not have anything to do with your truss rods.

Hi Ted. I checked that too. If I look down the profile of the neck it is slightly more bowed that it needs to be. I've double checked to see if the neck is twisted but it looks ok. I'm pretty certain that its the Bass side Rod, when I removed it is was Heavily bowed, I mean nearly a full half circle bend!!!! Whereas as you've read the treble side is straight. Now whether this is normal or not I dont know as nobody has really said whether it is or not but I'm sure if I had a straighter rod in the Bass side the neck would adjust better. The rod nut physically does not adjust it any further and I put it down to the rod not being able to straighten up further due to its natural9or unatural)curvature.

Gary, I'm emailing you the pics of my Rods, cheers man, then you can all asses if the bent rod is totally outa whack!

Got 'em; here they are:




BTW, I think you mistyped "assess" ...

Steve, I just removed some rods from one of my basses and the bass side was curved almost exactly like yours is. The reason I pulled them was I couldn't get my neck to be dead straight, it was always about .020 upbow(concave fretboard) no matter how much I tightened it. I suspected wood compression but after removal there was none. One thing I noticed was with the strings off and the nuts loose on the rods, there was still an upbow, which is not good. After the rods were removed the neck went dead straight- the curved rod was causing the upbow and fighting the straightening process. I have some rods on order, there seems to be a shortage right now, and I'll report back when they're replaced.

This is interesting. I was beginning to suspect such on Steve's bass, but never having experienced this it was just speculation...