Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

...and I wonder if any of my Rickensiblings have dealt with this issue?

I just spent a few hours putting the stock tailpiece/bridge and shoes back on my 4001C64S. Actually I spent about an hour doing that. The last few hours have been spent trying to figure out why the E and A strings would be pretty close to intoned... but the D and G weren't. Actually, the D was a just a little flat at the 12th fret... and the G was WILDLY SHARP! Adjusting the D saddle fully forward (towards the nut) still resulted in that string being just a smidge flat (but more in the ballpark). The G string, however, stayed very sharp at the octave, even after I flipped the saddle around to get the break point to be as far back as adjustment would allow! I guess I could squeeze a bit more travel out of the G saddle by removing the tension spring from within the bridge, but... should I really need to do that? Also, action ended up being a little higher than I was used to with the "hip replacement" unit... even though the bottom of the bridge is already riding directly on the tailpiece!!!

I guess I should also mention that this was also my first time trying a set of Rotosound RS77LD flatwounds (45-65-85-105).

Any suggestions or helpful insight would be appreciated!

I think it's the strings. I've tried Rotosound flats and they are very difficult to intonate until they break in. Those strings have a lot of overtones. I would set up the bass with a set of rounds in the same gauge then install the flats and work them in.

I tried Rotosound 77 flatwounds too. They were a 40-60-80-100 set (SM77). I couldn´t get intonation right on E-string, it was sharp on 12th fret. Other strings were OK. I had another set of RS77LD´s which I removed from my J-bass because it´s neck couldn´t handle the tension. I chose 45-60-80-105 combination for my Rick 4003 and tried again. Now the E-string was better but still sharp on 12th fret. However, I played the strings 3-4 months and finally removed them because 4003´s bridge couldn´t handle the tension and started to lift.
In my opinion Rotosound 77 flatwounds deliver the superior tone and playability (I like high tension strings) but otherwise they suck majorly.

I had trouble setting up a customer bass with Rotos. One string just woudn't intonate. I ended up turning the saddle around. It still wouldn't adjust right. I replaced that one string (leaving the saddle reversed) and it came in fine. My guess is that one string had a false beat. If my memeory serves me right it was the A string that I had trouble with.

I also think it's the string. A friend of mine recently gave me a non Rick guitar to check out because he could not intonate the low E string, which would stay sharp with the bridge saddle to the end of it's travel room. Turned out that it was the string.

So far, consensus is that it's the string. Hoping for some improvement with some "stretching/time", because I'm in agreement with mikko about the tone and playability, durn it!

Sad to say, I've had MORE TROUBLE with Rotosound strings....

Bad "E' & "A" strings right out of the package....MULTIPLE TIMES.....

One time, and Joey will remember this one....a new set was put on by my luthier, and entire set was out!
It drove me crazy! I kept trying to get the intonation set, and no matter what I did, it wasn't right.

Joey kept saying CHANGE THE STRINGS, and I kept saying BUT THEY ARE A BRAND NEW SET OF ROTO's.....he was right. That was the last set of Rotosound strings I bought. Shame...because I love the way they sound.

Yep, I remember!

Might be strings, might be action. Is your action set higher on the D/G side? I can see small intonation problems based on action, but if your nut is properly in place, having a major intonation problem with the bridge set to the general norm seems odd.

And it does seem odd that the strings could be the source of the problem, but then again, I avoid Rotos except for the TruBass88s.

Part of the charm of those Roto Flats is that "old school", slightly out of tune, tone.

I still blame the strings, but I think Rick bridge has something to do with this issue too. There´s not much room for adjustment. On the other hand, all the other strings (SIT, LaBella, DR, Rickenbacker etc.) I´ve tried, had no problems with intonation.
When I had the RS77LD set on my J-bass, I had no problems with intonation. I had to adjust the E-string saddle to the max though. Otherwise it was too sharp on 12th fret. Because J-bass couldn´t handle the tension of RS77LD set I thought I should try a lighter set, SM77. The problem was E-string again. Silk in the ball end end of the string was so long (about 2,5cm or 1”) it went over the saddle. Removing the silk didn´t help because there wasn´t full wound under the silk.
I tried SM77 set also on my Starfire (yes, it is short scale bass and strings were made for long scale). Intonation was OK, silk didn´t go over the saddle but again, tension was too high for that bass. And I didn´t like the tone of the combination of semi-hollow body and Rotos.

VRicky63, I'd be quite okay with "charmingly SLIGHT" intonation problems, but the amount this string is out is way ridiculous!

I think the problem might be related to action, seeing as the bridge is lowered as far as it will go, and the G is still pretty high off of the board (relative to the action that was set while the "Hippy-Hippy-Shake" unit was on it).

I'm gonna swallow hard and swap tailpieces again tomorrow so I can see if that other unit allows for a lower action on the G, and therefore a closer-to-pitch intonation.

Wish me luck!

pictures?

Here's a couple of pics of the bridge and a pic of the action at the 20th fret.

it looks like there is still room to move the G saddle back, just remove the spring, if needed.