Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just got myself a 1996 4001v63 which was fitted with a high gain treble pickup and Hipshot bridge. It came with the original bridge and the horse shoe pickup which I have both reinstalled (wanted the vintage vibe). I put some Thomastik Infeld jazz 344’s on and set it up. It plays and sounds great but has since developed a buzz on the E string when I fret it at the 8th, 9th, and 12 frets. The buzz is coming from the nut end of the board. All the other strings are fine across the board.

I think it must need a truss rod tweek. Haven’t dealt with two rods previously. Any ideas or suggestions much appreciated.
Cheers from Brisbane, Australia.

Hi Allan and welcome to RRF.

Given that the buzz is happening between the fret and the nut end, is it actually being "heard" by the pups and amplified, or is it just an acoustic buzz that bugs you cos you can hear it? Logic suggests to me that it shouldn't be getting detected by the pups (or hardly at all), but I'm always ready to be proven wrong.

Yes, the whole "double truss-rods" thing can seem a bit off-putting, but in essence the procedure is exactly the same as for single-rod basses - it's just that you have the advantage of being able to adjust one "side" or other of the neck independently ...or if you want the whole neck to adjust by the same amount, you tweak both rods equally. The usual advice applies:

1. Turn the nut clockwise to tighten it (i.e. to introduce more relief to the neck) and anti-clockwise to loosen. "Righty tighty, lefty loosey".

2. Always do the adjustment in small increments - no more than a quarter-turn at a time - then leave the instrument on a stand to settle for several hours before checking to see if it's had the desired effect.

ADDED LATER:
I love TI flats, but they are notoriously soft, flappy low tension strings, so if your bass hasn't had them on before, it's not surprising you're getting a bit of buzz: the truss rod nuts may well need tightening to compensate.

espidog wrote: ADDED LATER:
I love TI flats, but they are notoriously soft, flappy low tension strings, so if your bass hasn't had them on before, it's not surprising you're getting a bit of buzz: the truss rod nuts may well need tightening to compensate.

If Allan had higher tension strings on previously and had not made any truss rod adjustments, it is most likely that the truss rods need to be loosened to compensate for the lower tension of the TIJFs, not tightened which could create even more fret buzz.

Awlcat wrote: I put some Thomastik Infeld jazz 344’s on and set it up. It plays and sounds great but has since developed a buzz on the E string when I fret it at the 8th, 9th, and 12 frets. The buzz is coming from the nut end of the board.

Have you checked the nut slot height? Maybe it is too low.

jps wrote: If Allan had higher tension strings on previously and had not made any truss rod adjustments, it is most likely that the truss rods need to be loosened to compensate for the lower tension of the TIJFs, not tightened which could create even more fret buzz.

Oops yes - wrong way round. Not firing on all cylinders today, it seems.

That okays, as long as a few of them are working.

When I read discussion on adjusting truss rods, it seems that it usually revolves around tightening them, almost like they are one-way devices. Very common, actually.

Thanks guys for your quick response and help. Many thanks.
P.S. you were right Ken, it’s an acoustic buzz.

Awlcat wrote:...it’s an acoustic buzz.

Ah well, there's a simple cure for that: turn the amplifier up until it no longer matters!