Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There's been a few posts about RM1999's lately, so here us another one.

I took mine (DK571) into our local repair shop (Clingan Guitars, Melbourne) to get a few things done: stabilise some checking on the back of the neck near the nut; and regauss the horseshoe. Without me requesting it Jereme decided to adjust the neck as there was a little bow on one side. When I picked it up yesterday, Jereme advised that as far as he could tell, the TRC had never been removed and the truss rods were unadjusted and in the same condition as when the bass left the factory! After 50 years this must be some kind of record.

Neck is now flat as a tack, intonation perfect, and everything was done for a very reasonable price. It's nice to deal with a business who is so friendly and has initiative.

That's cool. I don't think I've touched the ones in my '79 maybe once in 35 years.....

A few months after the renowned Paul Wilczynski (or his crew of students?) finished my '72 ("Mink") 4001 back in 2006, I noticed that the TRC was sticking up a bit from the surface of the headstock. Odd, I thought, what's going on here? I could see that something was holding the TRC aloft a bit. I removed the three screws and there are the ends of both rods projecting too far from the neck, and there were no adjustment nuts. Apparently, Paul (et al) had removed the hairpin rods during refinishing, and replaced them, but then someone forgot to put the nuts back on and check for setup. The bass played normally for me, and I bet if I removed the rods it would probably still be OK. It took a while to get the nuts from PW, and I carefully put them back on but never tightened the rods. And it still looks OK.

There are still people who think that the truss rods "strengthen" the neck. Not really. They are used to correct the bending of the neck caused by the tension of the strings. Technically, not the same thing.

Yikes! That's quite an oversight after a 'refin' ....and requisite set up. You'll never know what preoccupation caused such a glaring omission.

Captain Bob wrote:Yikes! That's quite an oversight after a 'refin' ....and requisite set up. You'll never know what preoccupation caused such a glaring omission.

Was her name Monica?

Well, in all fairness... I once dated a 'Monica' that would make your teeth brittle, and cause you to sweat into your eyes.