Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi Folks,

I have a 1985 Rick 360/12 and I'm trying to find the right strings for the guitar (roundwound, compressed, rollerwound, flatwound,etc). Also the gauge of the lower strings is proving to be very important.

1. I've read and have been told that mid 90's and earlier Rick's are supposed to have a .42 low E string. Indeed when I use a set with .46 low E and thicker low strings, the guitar plays terribly and the tension pulls the neck forward raising the action. In general I prefer the low strings be as close in gauge as possible. Can anyone elaborate on this?

2. I have tried regular .10-.42 rollerwound strings, .10-42 Pick of the Rick Compressed Roundwound Strings. Both sets felt GREAT, but the rounds were too bright, I want to go flatter.

3. I tried GHS Nickel Rollerwound strings, .10-.42 which are like half way between Compressed Rounds and Flats, but way cheaper than actual flats. I notice that even with all the gauges EXACTLY the same as a roundwound set, the flatter strings seem to have more tension. The neck seems to pull forward with these strings, raising the action uncomfortably. Should I just adjust the truss rod? Is this normal? I can image a flatter type string could have even more tension, even if the gauges are the same.

4. TI Flats. I'd like to try some of these but they are expensive and they come in .10-.44 they don't make a .42. Given that I don't like fat low gauge strings in relation to their octave pair, and that they seem to have higher tension. I'm not so sure if this is the route to take. But I really want to try flats!

5. The tension I am referring to with flatter strings/high gauges, it raises the action, presumably because the neck is pulled forward by higher tension. I could/should just adjust the truss rod to fix this correct? I've read that truss rod isn't for adjusting action, but in this case, it is. Right?

Can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks.

I would go with the ones that feel conmfortable and adjust tone in the output. It's all in the feel.

Hard to help you out. Strings really are trial and error.

My only advice is to make sure you follow the stock gauge -- that means low E at .042. Rics seem to be the guitar that reacts most to a change in gauge.

On my Ric I just put on the Pick Of The Rick factory gauge set. I've tried vaious other sets over the years, and these are the ones that seem to please me most. I like bright. Never tried and never will try flats on my Ric 12. Those Pick Of The Ricks roundwound strings are bright and do give great jangle.

Put on the TI flats. I really like them!

But I need to adjust the truss rods. Action is noticeably higher. I lowered the bridge but it made it lower and buzz on the higher frets and still action too high near the nut. So definite truss rod adjustment is in store. How much should I go? What tool does one use?

I have the T/I flats on all my ric 12 strings. Put em on, tune to 440 pitch. Let set a day. Remove the truss rod cover and turn adj nut 1/4 of a turn. Play the guitar. Try to get the neck as straight as possible. Only turn the nut 1/4 of a turn at a time. Once you get the neck and action right, it will stay there.

I have a youtube video on this. Search gary jacob/12 string guitar. There are about 100 videos on my channel. Its there somewhere. Also I stress, this is the way I do it, and it works for me.

I can’t get a tool on the rods because they’re too close to the headstock. I took it to a shop and they said it will require some new block to replace the big fat aluminum one that’s on there. I didn’t really have any other choice so I told them to go ahead and do it. It’s a reputable shop here in San Francisco. Still paranoid of course.

akpasta wrote:I can’t get a tool on the rods because they’re too close to the headstock. I took it to a shop and they said it will require some new block to replace the big fat aluminum one that’s on there. I didn’t really have any other choice so I told them to go ahead and do it. It’s a reputable shop here in San Francisco. Still paranoid of course.

What?!?!?

Just grind down the wrench, or get a different one with a slimmer shaft that will fit.

Yes, explain this block thing better. It isn't unusual to need to reduce the wall thickness of the adjustment tool because the clearances between the adjusting nuts and cavity walls is so small. The business end of the tool can be ground, filed or sanded down until it fits on the nuts.

The only aluminum "block" that I have seen in that area is like this one on one of my Arnquist custom jobs, where he replaced the thin steel truss rod block with an aluminum one that actually fits the cavity and doesn't chew up the wood around it.

I think I attached a photo. There's no room to get even a modified socket onto these, they are too close to the headstock. The guitar shop said they'd have to grind a bunch of wood out from the headstock and they didn't want to do that so they said they have someone who can makes a replacement block that pull the rods forward a tiny bit so that they can be reached by sockets. I don't have much more info than that, they told me this over the phone.

I've read some articles online talking about the pain in the *** process you can do to fix this issue, it involves a c-clamp and other weird stuff. I'm not sure.

OK. It's good that you have the block because it spreads out the strain over more area. Those tools are made more for automotive work than luthiery, so you do want to thin the tool out substantially, rather than having to take out wood for clearance.

One alternative to making a new block is just to enlarge the holes in the block up toward the string side and then use a small stainless washer over the end of the truss rods before the adjusting nuts are attached. That's how mine were set up. Both the block and the rods should still be able to do their jobs despite slightly larger holes in the block and the rods should be able to be moved a little bit away from the wood for tool clearance.

The good news is that it may be pretty much a one time adjustment. I put TI flats on both of my twelves about ten years ago, tweaked the rods about 1/4 turn and haven't needed to touch them since.