Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Okay, so the weather got hotter... I checked my tuning and it's fine... yet, when I play the g-string something inside the guitar is vibrating along. It's soooo annoying. I took the scratch plates off, looked inside, closed it up... still the vibrating. Anyone any idea? Here's what I looked at:

Pick-up covers - no
Tailpiece - no
Knobs loose - no
switch loose - no
scratch plates - no

lying the guitar down on the bed and hitting the g-string... put my ear to the soundhole - it IS coming from the inside

Truss rod or bridge saddle, most likely...

jingle_jangle wrote:Truss rod or bridge saddle, most likely...

Paul, I took the bridge saddle off - no, still got the sound.

I decided to remove the pressure from the strings a bit and then retune it... now the sound is as good as gone.
One can hear it a faint tiny bit if you hear closely (put your ear near the strings). Does that mean there's something wrong with the truss rods or am I majorly overreacting (as usual when I suspect there's something wrong with the Rick)?

How did you play the guitar with no bridge saddle? I suspect you thought I meant "bridge cover".

The saddle is the tiny alloy square that the string passes over on the bridge.

As to any other diagnosis, I can't be more specific without having the geetar in my hands...

jingle_jangle wrote:How did you play the guitar with no bridge saddle? I suspect you thought I meant "bridge cover".

The saddle is the tiny alloy square that the string passes over on the bridge.

As to any other diagnosis, I can't be more specific without having the geetar in my hands...

Woops, sorry, Paul - I'm talking about guitars all day in german these days... or maybe I just need to learn to take the time to read what people write?

The sound is coming from the direction of the neck pick-up - which I raised a bit, and lowered a bit. Loosened and fastened the pick-up cover, too.

Last time I checked there was a small puddle between us, so not much chance of seeing the guitar anytime up close.

But, your help is much appreciated in this verbal way too, Paul!

just an idea - if it has toasters - couldn't it be one of the magnets going in and out ? i have seen loose magnets before...

grazioso wrote:just an idea - if it has toasters - couldn't it be one of the magnets going in and out ? i have seen loose magnets before...

My 360 has the modern hi-gains, Dusan, where one can adjust the individual poles with one of the little wrenches.

Thanks for mentioning the pick-ups again, though, as I just remember, I adjusted the poles last weekend - I'll remove the neck pick-up if the sound reappears. Just checked and luckely no evidence of the sound anymore.

There's barely ever anything wrong with the 360, so when something does seem wrong I panick. I'll never get rid of this guitar

Okay, so the noise re-appeared at d-string. Turned out that when it's out of tune the lower scratchplate vibrates, too... slightly turned the screws and retuned that string.

In the meantime the b-string is still giving off a weird noise... had our DPS Andy check it at work... we spend over 2 hours trying to find it!
Nothing seemed to work - only when he pressed down the bridge on the high E-string side did it stop.
Nothing wrong with trussrods or neck or anything else.

Still I get this extra sound - never when playing it open, always when picking 2nd or 3th fret - a chime sound. Very annoying.
We looked at the bridge, of course, but nothing we did seemed to have effect except for the little pressure... any ideas?

Oh, and some advice: if you take your Rickenbacker to work, expect some drooling, comments on the great quality and overal positive impression the guitar has on folks that sell another brand

Werner slacken off all the strings and remove the bridge cover.Then take off the 6 Saddle Bridge and make sure that all the screws are of equal distance( I normally place on a mirror or glass) so that all contact points are level and bridge is at a level when placed flat.Put back on the guitar and keep bridge at a level so you know all the contact points are bedded.Also just a question does this make a noise when the bridge cover is both on and off? My 360 doesnt like the bridge cover so i dont use it.
Werner it might help to get a few pics of your bridge at different angles and is your string action maybe a tad low.Maybe even a small video with a webcam?