Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I am not an expert but since they recommend re-stringing one string at a time, I would say you need to check the truss rod setup and intonation when done is all.

David. Sounds like you have already done untold damage to that poor neck. I feel really sorry for these abused instruments. Being the generous chap that I am, I will take it off your hands and give you $200 to buy some beers with.

To be honest I don't think what you are doing will cause any harm at all. At very worst do what Charly says. I have often worked on frets, nuts, tuners etc with the basses unstrung for a couple of days. When the strings go back on they took a couple of days to settle again, but good as new.

I would relax both rods, then re-tighten with equal tension gradually as needed when you get around to restringing.

David: you haven't done any harm.

Do not, however, be surprised if the neck takes awhile to settle in after you restring it, especially if you fit it with different strings than it had before you unstrung it.

When you're finished with the beauty treatment, string it back up and tune to pitch slowly. It may play badly right after the restring. Advice in this event: Don't change anything; let it settle overnight, then try again. You'll probably see an improvement. Two or three days later, it should be playing as well as it did "before". If not, then you can tweak the rods slightly.

I left my '64 4001S unstrung for 16 years with no problems...