Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

A little preface: I worked at the Gibson factory here in Memphis, setting up guitars (cutting nuts, notching bridges, setting the action/relief/pickup heights, etc.) before they left the factory. I did this long enough that after playing 25 335's, 355's, and 339's all set up the same way a day, that setup is what I'm comfortable with. All of my guitars are set up somewhere close to the Gibson factory specs, just because that's what I like.

Enter the Rick 620 I got in August. The neck was extremely straight when I got it, and the action was kinda weird: 5/64" above the 12th fret on both E strings. I bought it from Dave's Guitar Shop, and they set it up before it left the store, but when a piece of wood gets shipped to Memphis in the summer, all bets are off--the wood is going to shift like crazy because it's so humid here. Anyways, the thing hasn't played right since I got it. The lower three or four frets all buzz a lot. I read the manual that came with the guitar, and after reading here, it seems like everybody sets up Rics with arrow-straight necks and really low action.

This week I've tweaked the setup a little at a time so I've got it pretty close to Gibson factory setup: A little relief (more on the bass side than treble, but not by much) and a medium-low action (5/64" over 12th on bass side, 3/64" on treble side), and it rings out and plays like you wouldn't believe. I finally feel comfortable with the guitar. So that prompts some questions:

(1) Why am I getting a lot of fret buzz when I adjust my neck to be extremely straight? Isn't this how they're "supposed" to be set up?
(2) Am I going to hurt something if I've got relief in the neck?
(3) Are there any tips and tricks for getting the straight-neck-and-low-action thing that I'm missing out? Am I missing part of the Rickenbacker experience by not having mine set up this way?

Thanks, experts. This is the best the guitar has felt since I got it (and OMG does it feel good), but I don't want to damage the guitar over the long term.

I'll let the experts answer questions 1 & 3, but I can say that the answer to question 2 is "no", it won't hurt anything by having some relief in the neck.

IMO, the bottom line on setting up a guitar is: use what works best for you.

I always set mine up with a bit of relief. Just personal preferance. I have never had an issue doing it this way. Just set the intonation afterwards.

Hi Kevin, welcome to RRF.

If I may ask: what were the reasons you got a 620? The ES-series are great guitars, so I'm curious what made the sale on the 620!

I'm trying to keep my Ricks as flat as possible, just tweaking it with very small steps of the trussrods. If there's some buzz at a side, I just slightly go the opposite direction turns in small steps until it's gone. Scott says I'm obsessed with it

After setting up 25-30 guitars a day, I'm sure you've realized every guitar has its own sweet spot. What works for one doesn't always work for another. Rickenbackers are no different. Dead straight is just a starting point.

Wildberry wrote:Hi Kevin, welcome to RRF.

If I may ask: what were the reasons you got a 620? The ES-series are great guitars, so I'm curious what made the sale on the 620!

The sound, the feel, and a general disgust with Gibson as a corporation The Ric is just more my thing. I like the necks, I like the lacquered fretboard, I like the way it plays and feels. It's just my thing, in a way that the ES series aren't. I played a lot of really awesome guitars on a daily basis at Gibson, but none of them spoke to me the way my Ric, or my SG, or my Strat do. Something about the feel, I guess.

...I also wouldn't p*ss on Henry J if he were on fire, but that's another thread. I bought my SG used.

deadllama wrote:The Ric is just more my thing. I like the necks, I like the lacquered fretboard, I like the way it plays and feels. It's just my thing,

Ahh, I could've written that!

Congrats on the 620. What colour is it? Maybe I missed you mentioning it? Pictures of it always welcome

This is the picture from the Dave's Guitar website, because it looks better than the fuzzy phone-camera pictures I took:

That photo is the beezneez, and is worth a thousand words to me as to why you chose it...

Great looking FG, and nicely photographed. Welcome aboard RRF.

It really does look that good in person, too. I'm just a poor photographer, or I'd have more pictures of it. Sometimes I just kinda sit and stare at it when I'm not playing it, which just makes me play it even more.

deadllama wrote:It really does look that good in person, too. I'm just a poor photographer, or I'd have more pictures of it. Sometimes I just kinda sit and stare at it when I'm not playing it, which just makes me play it even more.

Ahhhh, I remember my first RIck........ Same story.

deadllama wrote:Sometimes I just kinda sit and stare at it when I'm not playing it, which just makes me play it even more.

She's really a beauty! I still sometimes stare at my JG from a distance... a first love you might forget, a first Rick you'll always remember