Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi,
Just about to duck out the door to a gig.
I notice that when I tune my 12 string Ric with a tuner, it's great.
However, when I finger the G string, seemingly anywhere on the neck, the smaller of the two strings is flat.

if I raise the string, then it sounds funky on open chords. Never seen this before.

What can I do about this?

intonation- had to adjust my low E this week after changing gauges of its string- can you adjust all 12 strings individually?

Thanks for the reply. See that's the thing, the one G is fine. The higher one is flat...

do you have a 12 saddle or 6 saddle bridge?

It could also be that you got a bad string.

Bryan,

Your guitar probably needs an intonation tweak. Let me repeat Seth's question: Do you have the stock 6-saddle bridge or a 12-saddle?

Robert

oops, missed the question, sorry about that.

I haven't changed anything on it as far as hardware, so I would imagine it's just the stock 6, even though it's a 12-string.
COULD it be just a bum string? Because these aren't the easiest strings to change, I do tend to leave them on
pretty long, but they're not grungy or anything.

COULD it be just a bum string?

only one way to find out grab a 10 and do it!

I broke this one practicing bends the other day- It's a quick swap compared to the some of the others...

Has it always been that way, or is this a recent phenomenon?

As far as I know, totally recent.
Yeah, I could just grab another.
Odd that it'd tune up correctly and not fret right though.

yeah, you might need to get one of these: http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/BRIDGE ... p_737.html

Sounds a bit like a bad string to me, too. You said that it is a recent issue, didn't You?!
So if nothing else has been changed only the sting could be the reason, IMHO.
Maybe it is just close to cracking, a gradually thinning down wire works like an elastic band now?
Is it difficult to tune, too?
(please say yes!)

Spending one buck and exchanging that one sting would be my next step. There is no cheaper and faster diagnosis by exclusion. To avoid further confusion use the gauge that was at that place and that worked obviously good - until shortly.

Surely You do not need suddenly (!) a 12saddle bridge. If You like these - grab one. But that is more a question of religion...
IMHO a 12er needs that imperfection in sound to sound perfect:

I found now some interesting tuning variation on my acoustic Ibanez 12 string: The bass strings of E, A, D and G I tune slightly lower (using an analogue displaying tuner): E about 2ct, A about 1,5ct, D about 1ct and G about 0,5ct.
All octave strings to the point as usual. The B and e pairs, also.

The effect is (with that guitar) an always perfect sounding tuning. Even the higher frets sound fine now. Remember: westernguitars just have a non adjustable, filed bone as a saddle! I found out that the octave strings are the touchstone for a correct adjustment of the saddles. Fortunately the intonation of them is perfect (still after nearly 34 years!!!).

yeah, the string is easy enough to change.
I've just never seen anything like that and it seemed odd, so I asked.
Will give it a whirl and see what happens.

Bryan,

Could it be that you're pressing down too hard on your G-pair and bending the strings against the frets? I think it was Todd Bradshaw who chimed in here a couple of years ago about this problem. I still have it with my 1991 330/12. When I apply too much pressure on the low E-pair, I get sour notes. Try fretting your G-pair with a lighter touch and your problem may go away.

Robert

HOLD THE BUS:

Major important question not asked yet:

Is the unison G string a plain or a wound? If it is a plain, then the saddle has to be so far back that the octave string will be flat.

A wound G-unison string is what is necessary on a traditional six-saddle bridge to intonate properly with the plain octave G string.

iiipopes wrote:HOLD THE BUS:

Major important question not asked yet:

Is the unison G string a plain or a wound? If it is a plain, then the saddle has to be so far back that the octave string will be flat.

A wound G-unison string is what is necessary on a traditional six-saddle bridge to intonate properly with the plain octave G string.

Very interesting, Scott. Once again you've taught me something new!