Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I can get the neck dead straight (with just enough tension on both of the rods to hold each side straight) but my problem is that one or both of the rods starts buzzing really bad when I hit certain notes (mostly on the A string upper frets & a faint buzz when the E & A strings are played open) I've made sure that the nut & saddle contacts are solid on all strings, & checked for loose screws & internal electronics. All are good.

My next step is to take the truss rods out & check to see if one or both are bent. Is this the right thing to do? If so, How do I remove them? Any help at all is very much appreciated.

PS/ What is the factory standard action @ the 12th fret? I ask this because with my neck perfectly straight (along with the truss rod buzz grrrrrrr) & my bridge ALL the way down (with the screws not even touching the bottom of the plate) my action @ the 12th fret on all strings is 4/32. I think its high, am I correct? Could the saddles not have been filed down enough at the factory? Thanks again to anybody willing to help.

Is this the other thread you meant?

Action at the 12th fret is 4/32"? 1/8"? That's fairly low. At this point in your investigation, I'd get a known straight edge (HAS to be straight), and put it on the body and see how it lines up with the maple/bubinga line along the neck. Is it constant or is the neck angled up starting at the neck/body joint?

angled up @ the neck joint.

johnallg wrote:Action at the 12th fret is 4/32"? 1/8"? That's fairly low.

Are you sure John? All of my (fretted) basses come in at just over .04'' (converting from mm) at the 12th fret. So to me, 0.125'' sounds quite high.

I typically measure the action at the very end of the fingerboard, and set my basses up to have no more than 2.5 mm action there, the most at the E string and the least at the G string. Tends to work best with a straight neck for me, because with this setup the action stays almost the same across the register.

Thanks guys, do any of you know how to take the truss rods out?

Yes Kris. I have seen it done in under ten minutes.

There are some acorn nuts at the body end. Take off the pickguard and remove these and set them aside. Then I believe you take off the nuts at the headstock end and pull the rods out and inspect them. They reinsert similarly. When you are reinstalling them the acorn nuts will stick out but the neck will "suck" them up a bit as your torque the nuts at the headstock end.

If you really need detailed notes I can get my friend Christian to explain what he did more clearly. I have to admit until I have done something myself I have a hard time being very technical in explaining it. (And even after that fact I still have problems.) I hope my description helps. Count yourself lucky you own a Ric--they are THE easiest basses to work on if you need to repair/replace truss rods.

If your friend has the time to explain a few pointers as to what I might need to look for besides cracks or warps in the rod that would be great. The buzzing really bothers me & has me worried... Thanks

What year is the bass anyways? Newer models have heat shrink wrapped around the rods and that really seems to effectively silence them. You could try that.

My friend would not be able to tell you much about what you are asking. He just knows how to take the rods in and out of a bass and replace them. I don't think he's ever actually worked on repairing a truss rod. I had him replace mine once.

2006

Well that was around the time they switched to heat shrink. Yours might still have tape insulation.

If the rods are no good order a new pair from RIC, the newer ones will have the heat shrink which is an improvement. Or if the rods are okay and you just need better insulation get some heat shrink yourself and apply it.