Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey all!

I've been doing small adjustments to my month-old 4001C64, and have hit a bit of a snag.

The neck is dead flat on the treble side. When fretted at the first and last fret, the G string touches every fret all the up the neck, so it's flat, if not back bowed (I don't have a straightedge with which to test this). the bass side, however, shows some relief (slightly less than a sheet of paper's thickness at the 8th fret). I've tightened the bass-side rod, and loosened the treble-side rod to the point where it can be moved with fingertips.

additionally, the E and A strings seem to make sort of a "BRONG" kind of buzzy sound around frets 6-8 ("BRONG" being an onomatopoeia). The D and G seem to have a bit more fret buzz in the lower frets than further up the neck.

Any ideas?

Thanks, everyone!

Is your axe under warranty? If so take it back and get them to look at it, if used take it to a tech. I don't mess with truss rods. One wrong turn and you could be very sad.

I would refer this to Wildwood and/or RIC. They'll take care of you. When I played your bass at Wildwood I didn't notice this--setup seemed good. What strings are on it?

My luthier in Denver actually likes to work on Rics so he can deliberately put a subtle twist on the neck with the dual truss rods... basically leaving some relief on the E string side but having the G string side be dead flat. This is how he set up my 4003FL and I love how it plays. He says it helps you get away with lower action overall by compensating for heightened string excursion of the bigger strings. So a little bit of torque is probably okay.

cassius987 wrote:I would refer this to Wildwood and/or RIC. They'll take care of you. When I played your bass at Wildwood I didn't notice this--setup seemed good. What strings are on it?

My luthier in Denver actually likes to work on Rics so he can deliberately put a subtle twist on the neck with the dual truss rods... basically leaving some relief on the E string side but having the G string side be dead flat. This is how he set up my 4003FL and I love how it plays. He says it helps you get away with lower action overall by compensating for heightened string excursion of the bigger strings. So a little bit of torque is probably okay.

TI's, which is what makes it even more baffling, since the E and A are so low tension on that set.

Maybe that's how mine was set up, with little bit of torque on it. I'll give it a few days to settle with the new adjustment and see how it's doing. I'll then test it at full volume and see if any of the buzzes, rattles, or "brongs" are even audible. If not, i'll be stylin', because the action is pretty good right now!

When I most recently set up my 1975 4001 I ended up with virtually no relief on the G side but just enough to slip paper under on the E side. It seems to play well with a low action and minimal fret buzz like this and there is no discernable or visible twist to the neck. Joshua is saying the he feels this is ok too but I'd be keen to hear other opinions too. Is there any danger in having this slight disparity and should the relief ideally be the same on both sides?

I'd get a straight edge to check the E side. It sounds like you might actually have back bow on the neck.

I've give the G side truss rod nut a quarter turn counterclockwise (loosen). Then check it the next day. Repeat if necessary. You'd wind up doing the same process with or with out a straightedge.

johnallg wrote:I'd get a straight edge to check the E side. It sounds like you might actually have back bow on the neck.

There is relief on the E side. I checked it against the string fretted at both ends of the fretboard. The G side is either dead straight or slightly back bowed, based on the fact that doing the same test yields the result of the string touching every fret.

rickenbrother wrote:I've give the G side truss rod nut a quarter turn counterclockwise (loosen). Then check it the next day. Repeat if necessary. You'd wind up doing the same process with or with out a straightedge.

I'll take a look now that it's had some time to settle. If I can loosen the G side nut at all, I'll try that, but it was pretty loose already. The only thing is, it feels like if I loosen the E side nut too much, I'll have more relief.

Just curious, what strings do you have on it now?

I think you shoult turn in only the E side trussrod... the problem should go away.

rickenbrother wrote:Just curious, what strings do you have on it now?

TI JF344s apparently.

rickenbrother wrote:Just curious, what strings do you have on it now?

As Joshua said, I have the TI JF344 set on there, which only adds to the confusion, since the E and A strings on that set are super low tension, yet that's the side of the neck that bows. The D and G strings are a bit more taut, yet that side of the neck is dead flat, if not back bowed, with the truss rod nut so loose that you could almost adjust it by hand. The bass side rod has to be doing most of the work right now.

Slight tangent: I could be convinced to give Fender 9050CL's a try if they'll get me similar tone to the TI JF344 set. What say you, 9050CL fanatics (mostly looking Joshua's way on this one)?

Have you thought of taking all the tension off the rods and "resetting" the neck? (Again though, you could just let RIC warranty folks handle this and avoid a headache.)

coolingitdown wrote:Slight tangent: I could be convinced to give Fender 9050CL's a try if they'll get me similar tone to the TI JF344 set. What say you, 9050CL fanatics (mostly looking Joshua's way on this one)?

I would say they eloquently combine the supple feel and mellow timbre of TIs with the growl of Chromes, with better balance. Tensionally they are medium, probably high 30s/low 40s (lbs per string @ 34'' scale). I would certainly give them a try, I feel they are better than TIs if not just as good... and a lot cheaper.

Jonathan, leave it with me for a few days, should be fine when you get it back.

cassius987 wrote:Have you thought of taking all the tension off the rods and "resetting" the neck? (Again though, you could just let RIC warranty folks handle this and avoid a headache.)

That's an idea, resetting the neck. I'd probably try to do that before sending it in for warranty.

cassius987 wrote:I would say they eloquently combine the supple feel and mellow timbre of TIs with the growl of Chromes, with better balance. Tensionally they are medium, probably high 30s/low 40s (lbs per string @ 34'' scale). I would certainly give them a try, I feel they are better than TIs if not just as good... and a lot cheaper.

As long as I can get VERY similar tone out of them, I might want to try them. From what I hear about the feel of the 9050CL set, I am very tempted to try them. I might even be able to afford to change strings every now and again if I start using them!

I only stick with the TI set for the tone, which I absolutely love. I put up with the horrible balance and feel just to get that tone, which is especially sweet with the RIHS and the toaster in the 1/2" position.

rickenbrother wrote:Jonathan, leave it with me for a few days, should be fine when you get it back.

I think I like this idea better!