Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Pretty stoked that my Accent vibrato has arrived from Pick of the Ricks. Going to try putting it on my 330 tonight. One question though, how do I string it? Do I have to completely slide out the piece with the arm and pivot point, slot the strings in there and then slide it back in?

Nah, just grab the ball end of the string with needle-nose pliers and bend it at a 90-degree angle. Put the accent in place and slide the bent ball end into place one at a time as you string them up.

I like to start with the middle two strings and work outwards on both sides of the vibrato.

Hmm, from what I can see it doesn't seem like a ball end will fit through that opening. Guess I'll see tonight.

You can push down on the vibrato arm to make the space between the tailpiece and the strings slots bigger.

antiuser wrote:Hmm, from what I can see it doesn't seem like a ball end will fit through that opening.

If it did, it wouldn't work.

johnhall wrote:

antiuser wrote:Hmm, from what I can see it doesn't seem like a ball end will fit through that opening.

If it did, it wouldn't work.

Classic

Collin's right, and once you have some tension on the vibrato spring it will be easier to re-string moving forward. . . . speaking from experience. . .

cestlamort wrote:You can push down on the vibrato arm to make the space between the tailpiece and the strings slots bigger.

^^^ Forgot to add this part


Yeah, push down on the arm a bit and the gap between anchor and "comb" will open up enough to slide the string in between.

Most of my Ricks are so old the spring is worn out and a gap always exists, even without tension.

Right on. That clears it up, thanks.

Remember to bend the end 90 degrees the way Collin said; you'll want the ball ends of the string so seat all the way underneath the far end of the notch, otherwise you'll have a creaky-string vibrato, which generally drives the user nuts.

Oh, gosh, I just got me a 325 with an Accent. I had no idea restringing was going to be a chore.
Why don't they invent guitars that never need new strings?

Tommy wrote:Oh, gosh, I just got me a 325 with an Accent. I had no idea restringing was going to be a chore.
Why don't they invent guitars that never need new strings?

You're kidding, yes? Restringing with an Accent TP is about as easy as it gets; far easier than an "R" TP, a Bigsby, and a few others.

Ok, so I just mounted the vibrato assembly on and it was super easy, however it doesn't matter how far I push the bar, the gap is still too small for a ball end to get through. I use d'Addario half-flat strings, if that makes any difference... the ball ends are no larger or smaller than pretty much everything else.

Slide it in from one side.

johnhall wrote:Slide it in from one side.

Thanks. That did it. Would be handy if these came with instructions