Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So, I recently picked up a newish 360/12c63 and had it set up by David Neely in Hollywood.

Shortly after getting it home, I noticed that a couple of the strings -- the octave G, and one of the B's -- sounds slightly dead. Just a tad, as though there were a piece of thread squished in between the string and the saddle. Less sustain, less output, and the slightest "sproing" in the tone. I contacted David and he offered to take a look at it, but said it was fine when he worked on it.

I thought I'd investigate a little more before handing in over, so last night I played around with it a bit, comparing it to my 660/12, and whaddaya know -- the 660 has the same issue (to a lesser extent).

I recalled hearing something similar to this when I restrung the 660 a few months ago, and found that it was caused by the strings intertwining a little as they came out of the tailpiece. I repositioned them for some separation, and that problem was solved.

Everything looks right now. So what's going on? Is there a problem with my saddles? Is this something to be expected with a trapeze tailpiece? (It's not the nut, by the way; the issue remains when the string is fretted.)

And ideas?

Have you checked the saddle notches to make sure they are clean and smooth? And sometimes strings just are bad from the git-go. I once had a bass G string that was bad out of the envelope. I thought I had a massive dead spot in my neck, and tried everything. I finally woke up and changed the string and everything was alright.

Now, because of its lesser diameter, and if you have toasters, the string being marginally farther away from the pickup due to the crown radius, octave G strings have been known to have a little less volume, but it should still be the same general tone quality as far as timbre and sustain.

Which B string is it ? I do the same tests, and get a different sound when picking up, compared to picking down. To test the top B string, you can only really test it picking upward. There is always a little weirdness with a 12-string Ric ...

Thanks, guys. I'll check these things when next I am alone with my baby...though I'm not sure how to check a saddle notch. I guess I could seat the string in question into a different saddle and see how it sounds that way.