Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all. Last year I replaced the nut on my '98 360-12 with a Rickysounds wide-spaced nut (i.e. more distance between each pair). As well as stealing some space from the edges of the fingerboard, I believe that this nut also slightly reduces spacing between the strings in the courses. A consequence of this is that for the low E course the two strings seem to be smacking into each other and buzzing at anything other than feather-light pick pressure. I've isolated each string by bending the other out of the way and they appear fine individually, ruling out a relief, action or fret issue. String gauge is 42/26. Spacing on the saddle is about as wide as I'd be comfortable with and the buzzing is far more pronounced closer towards the nut.

Anyone else had this problem? I really like the way this plays, but it's annoying me enough to consider going back to the old nut. I'm thinking about trying heavier strings for that pair but the intonation is already iffy for the low E. I figured that since this is a common mod others may have encountered the same issue.

From personal experience I’ve found a heavier gauge is the way to go as you’ve already identified, it’s worth a try at least. In regards to intonation problems if you haven’t already tried is to tune the low “E” a hair flat or just tune it to “G” at the 3rd fret, that 42 gauge pulls sharp real easy, works for a lot of folks.

Thanks for the response. I will try the heavier string.

I actually bought one of the sliding bridge plates to help with intonation (my bottom E saddle is maxed out to the back) but I need to drill a couple of new holes to allow for even more backwards movement. I wish I could still get the Thomastik flat wound sets as they intonated perfectly.

In the past I’ve bought 2 six strings sets and made up my own twelve string set, pricey I know but the T.I’s do last a long time and you get a few spare strings to boot!

Wouldn't you need 3 sets, since there are 3 .010's and 3 .013's? Or would you get 2 sets and 2 singles?

jdogric12 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 9:37 am Or would you get 2 sets and 2 singles?

Yes my bad it’s been a while since I had my 660/12 and it was early this morning when I left that post

I know this is an old thread, but wondering how this turned out since I am considering installing the Rickysounds nut. If the buzzing is due to the lower gauge strings hitting each other then wouldn't going to a higher gauge string, as someone suggested, just make the problem worse?

I've talked to a couple local luthiers about these kind of nut modifications and they just look at me like I am asking them to solve nuclear fusion.

lazerdriver wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:14 pm I know this is an old thread, but wondering how this turned out since I am considering installing the Rickysounds nut. If the buzzing is due to the lower gauge strings hitting each other then wouldn't going to a higher gauge string, as someone suggested, just make the problem worse?

I've talked to a couple local luthiers about these kind of nut modifications and they just look at me like I am asking them to solve nuclear fusion.

I took my 330-12 (ca1997) to have a Rickysounds nut installed. After a couple weeks, I heard back from the tech. He could not install the nut because the outside strings were off the fret board. No go. He worked on the existing nut, installed a TI set I put together from individual strings and made a complete set up.