Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, Thank you all for such a wonderful forum and resource for Ricks..I inherited this stunning guitar close to 15 years ago from the original owner and it never stayed in tune and had no intonation so I just put it away and stuck to my other guitars and raised my kids.
Fast forward. I would like to play it, but need advise on how to set it up. The bridge is a floating type and seems to pin up against the pick guard and the inner saddle torques forward. I see no way to adjust the position, forward or back except for adding BS shims. Is there something under the pick guard I cant see that may be missing? I didn't want to start taking the guitar apart without understanding the original set up. I know there are aftermarket TOM bridges to address this floating issue, but I'd like to keep it stock in order to play it as intended. Any thoughts on how to set it up?

Howdy John:

Welcome to the RRF!

You will find much expert advice here. I don't claim to have that knowledge myself mind you...

Biggest note is to use the correct gauge strings on it. It won't intonate unless you use exactly the right ones.

The Register is full of pics if you want to see others made in the same era.

http://www.rickresource.com/register/ga ... =0&month=0

Thanks Brian....
I reviewed the images you linked (...will upload mine after I figure out how to do it...)
I saw a image without the guard on..
http://www.rickresource.com/register/us ... 8567/7.jpg

Wow..It does truly float like on a violin. I put on strings previously and installed them in the correct order, but seems like I just need to loosen the strings and move the bridge to set intonation. I'll at least try that first. Next, I will order a set of strings that ric fans here recommend and do it all again. I guess a trick is not to take all the strings off to try to keep the bridge in place. I can see why people who gig with these swap the bridge out. I do not plan on gigging with it, just recording.

Hot diggity dog! I spent less than 1/2 hour setting it up. The strings were new - that is 2 years ago, but I never played it due to the terrible intonation so they were still perfect. I loosened them up, slid the bridge back to a first guess position. Significantly back from the pick guard where it used to be and tuned it up. OMG!!!!! it sounds and plays like a shimmering dream. A simple 2nd fret D chord was perfect and the same chord up at the 14th fret was also perfect. I got so lucky on the position. I played it for an hour and it stayed perfectly in tune. I can't believe how easy the fix was. I never had a floating bridge guitar before and didnt understand it at all before today.
Score one for the forum. I needed to see that photo to understand it was floating and not missing a part. Thanks!!! next step, to register the axe here and upload some photos of this beautiful mint '66 gem.

Glad to hear there was a happy ending!

And my thanks for adding your guitar to the register,

Just in case you discover your guitar is there already - Private mailing Peter (ADMIN) will get it assigned to your account.

Love to see some pics if you get the chance to post them

It's funny how people swear by 12-saddle bridges, yet I've never come across a 450/12 that couldn't be intonated properly, excepting the natural "offness" of a few of the octave strings way way up the neck - but that's part of a 12-string's charm if you ask me.

Your right because the intonation was perfect and this is only possible since the bridge is an absolute piece of engineering art. I stared at it a while up close. Someone with mad skills designed it.
Now, after doing it correctly and after having it wrong for so many years (in ignorance), I think the issue is not the ability to set the intonation of this model, but the ability for the bridge to move out of correct position. I'm simply going to pencil in reference marks on the inside edge of the bridge pick guard cutout for the current placementline of my bridge. I'm guessing you can tap it gently to tweak the intonation and may have to loosen the strings first to do this and not stress anything. That is not a big deal because you always have to retune anyway when you change the position. I registered the axe and included photos. See Dec 2 register.

fullcirc wrote: I registered the axe and included photos. See Dec 2 register.

Yes I saw it there last night. Very cool.

Here is a link to it so that everyone can enjoy the pics.

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... 6order%3D7