Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

just looked that the 4004LK thread about the new rods.. is it possible to put the new style truss rods into an old bass? Just to ease the stress on the bass (and me!) about having strings that have too much tension or something.

Negative, sir. I would have done it long ago (or had somebody else do it is more like it) to a few of my old Ricks if it were possible.

How you been, Nate man?

Not too bad. Life is confusing and hard, as usual. Nice to talk to ya again Jeff. How've you been?

Thanks for answering my question. Just wondereed if it was possible at all. I gotta get my bass worked on (still!) and hopefully I have enough money to do it this time. Plus I got nothin for xmas (I already know!) and my b day is next month, so hopefully I'll have money to get it done. Gonna try to get those tuners you sent me on there finally! Mine are falling apart. Plus the frets need work and stuff. I can't play anything on the E string or else it sounds like ****. And the tail piece.. I'll stop! Just hoping to put it back in working order. My uncle's $300 Ibanez bass is easier to play than my 4001. The string spacing throws me off a bit, but it's faster somehow.

It can be done but you would have to remove the fretboard and change the shape of the trench the rods sit in ... in other words get a 4003 or 4004 ...

nattiep wrote: I gotta get my bass worked on (still!) and hopefully I have enough money to do it this time. Plus I got nothin for xmas (I already know!) and my b day is next month, so hopefully I'll have money to get it done. Gonna try to get those tuners you sent me on there finally! Mine are falling apart. Plus the frets need work and stuff. I can't play anything on the E string or else it sounds like ****. And the tail piece.. I'll stop! Just hoping to put it back in working order. My uncle's $300 Ibanez bass is easier to play than my 4001. The string spacing throws me off a bit, but it's faster somehow.

As Jeff Rath points out, changing to the new truss system could be done if you had enough time, money, and determination. But you can't just slide the old ones out and slide the new ones in. It would be nice though!

Well hang in there Nate. You're a Rick man. Hopefully you'll get yours back and clankin' soon.

You're livin' in Cali now? Must be warmer than where you were back East. It's cold here in Chi town!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Maybe Nate could now come to a SoCal confluence .

Nope, movin back to Buffalo in 6 days, so I can't make it. Sucks too, those look great.

Ok, yeah that'd be too much work. The neck on my bass is really thin too, so having wood taken out for new rods wouldn't help my state of mind. I'd rather just get a 4003/4004. Those would be for major modding. I have ideas, just no money.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too Jeff!

You would have to change the shape of the truss rod channels to make them deeper in the middle, and add "packing" to the underside of the fretboard, to accept new style truss rods. But even if you did that, it will not enable you to use higher tension strings. The old expansion truss rods were as good as the post-'85 compression rods at handling string pull. It's the neck itself that was weaker in pre-'85 Rics, not the truss rods. RIC changed the construction of the neck to take heavier strings. As far as I can tell, they switched to "normal" style rods just because too many people did not understand how to adjust the old folded rods, and as a result caused damage to their basses, cracking necks and popping fretboards. The current rods are almost idiot-proof.

Makes sense. I measured the tickness of my bass neck and it acme out to 2cm. It's tiny, and that's what scares me about the rounds I use. Could find some lighter gauge ones or lighter tension, but then they might ruin the sound.

TI Jazz Rounds (JR344) are the lowest tension bass strings. They are even less tension than TI Jazz Flats. And they are nickel and not stainless steel, so they are easier on your frets. If you have an old thin neck that you don't want to stress, TI Jazz Rounds are the strings for you. They sound warmer, less clanky compared to Roto's or DR's, but that's what I like about them.

Sounds good, but I like the clank. What're the lowest tension clanky strings? hehe

nattiep wrote:Sounds good, but I like the clank. What're the lowest tension clanky strings? hehe

TI Jazz Rounds! At least they have the clank on my '73 4001.