Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello folks! I'm just beginning Week #2 with my new July '06 4001C64JG. Just finished bypassing the .0047 capacitor and am absolutely astonished at the sound of the horseshoe de-strangled.

My next order of business is the keywinds... I know they're historically accurate, but compared to the stock Schallers on my April '01 4003JG, they just don't feel very nice... maybe they just need to be lubed? One of them is OK, another is so brutal that it makes it hard to tune since I'm putting so much force on the neck just twisting the thing... plus I cannot get used to the backwards winding business.

I tried swapping one keywind from the 4003 to the 4001C64 but only three of the screw holes line up exactly, the other is just a tad off... ~1mm. It'll work but I am slightly hesitant to hurt the thing... plus the colour is off - I am guessing the 4003's keywinds are chrome plated while the 4001C64's are nickel?

I don't care about the exact look but I do care about the colour, otherwise I'd just order up a set of the Rickenbacker-branded Schaller BMCs...

Schaller makes a nickel-plated BM which would work but of course the bore size is totally different... I have a set of BMFL keywinds in my Jazz bass, so I tried seeing if some kind of nasty hybrid could be made but no go.

So long story short... am I SOL if I am looking for nickel-plated nice-feeling non-backwards keywinds for my C64?

Thanks!

Welcome, Jeff.

Good job bypassing the cap. My C64S just HONKS since I bypassed its cap.

I've found that switching keywinds can lead to problems and heartache! Posts can be a slightly different size, meaning drilling out or doweling and re-drilling, bushings can have slightly different diameters inside or out, or screw patterns can be different (as you found out, the chrome RIC Schallers do indeed have a slightly different screw pattern to the old-style nickel-plated reverse tuners).

Sometimes you go through all the headache to change tuners only to find out that the break angle of one of your strings over the nut (usually the D string) is no longer sufficient with the new tuners and your string rattles in the nut slot.

I'd recommend leaving the original tuners. They are a well made and very accurate reproduction of the real '64 tuners. In my opinion they go a long way toward making the 4001 C64 look authentic. I wish my 4001v63's had 'em! It shouldn't be too hard to get used to the reverse direction.

So it sounds like one of your tuners is binding for some reason. Maybe the post hole was drilled slightly off center. Maybe the big screw on the center of the post is on too tight. Try to loosen it. If that doesn't do the trick, maybe the tuner itself was put together in such a way that its binding. I'd take a couple tuners off; a good one and the bad one and compare them when they're off to see if they both spin the same. If the binding tuner is still not turning freely and you can't get it to turn freely, I'd contact RIC customer service. Kenny Howes should be able to get you a replacement tuner.