Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I am going to do a 4003 truss rod replacement ... the old ones were over tightened and a nut snapped off ... I got the old rods out and I am ordering the new rods ...

Are there any tricks to putting in the new rods?

Should the rods curve or be straight?

What is the procedure for removing them? I know how to do the old rods, does it work the same way? The problem I see is that there is no channel for pushing them toward the bridge to aid in removing the nuts. The body gets in the way.

you have to pull them out from the body end of the neck ... I had to pull up on the rod a little to get them out ... they actually came out easily ...

Same happened with my 4003..if i recall the rods had a slight bend in them so i think i did the same for the new rod..the rods in my 2030 bass were straight though when i took them out..maybe depends on the actual condition of the neck when they build it on whether the rods will be bent or straight?
p.s. i had to remove the pick guard to get the rods out

I know with the old rods you should bend them slightly so the middle is slightly higher than the two ends, the necks adjust more easily that way, I don't know about the new style rods.

As I look at my 4004Cii the top lamination of the body blocks almost half of the opening for the rods; I don't see how the rods would have room to pull out through them.

yeah i wonder how you get the rods out of a 4004..anyone?

To remove the truss rods on 4003's and 4004's, undo the nuts at the head and gently tap the end of the rods, using a screwdriver or punch to give you clearance. After they've extended out a bit at the body end, you can remove the nuts at that end. In the case of the 4003, you'll probably find it easier to push the rods back in and take them out from the head, whereas the 4004 has enough clearance to remove them from the body end of the neck.

It's perfectly acceptable (and desirable) to bend the rods into an upward arc, both during removal and insertion of the rods as it gives them a predisposition to the natural bend of the neck.

FYI, the tail end of the rod is the place to add some washers if you need extra neck adjustment. In extreme cases when encountering a particularly soft piece of wood, I'll remove the rod and put a little cyanoacrylate glue around the edge of the hole where the washers fit to give them a hard bit to bite into.

Yes ... a little tapping helped ...

Should the neck flatten out without rods or strings in it?

This one still curls ... I have it sitting destrung and counterbalanced ... letting the weight of the body and gravity pulling down and flattening out the neck ... I will let it sit that way for a while ...

It's not an issue if there's a little bow either way although a slight overbow is to your advantage. However, if it were me and felt the need to straighten it some, I'd use padded blocks and clamps on the neck only as otherwise the bow is going to be more at the heel rather than centered around the 12th fret. You can even control some twist that way too.

Changing the subject slightly..... Any ideas for finding replacement truss rods for a 4005??

I don't see how the nuts at the heel end of the rods have any room to extend out of the neck to enable removing them. The openings on my 4004Cii ,S/N 03 24108, are closer to semicircles with the lower half sunken below the top of the body, blocking almost half of the nut. I would have to route out channels in the body between the end of the neck and the pickup in order for the rods to have space to slide out. I wondered about this when I first got the bass in October, as I know these are field replaceable; the construction does not seem like it would allow this. I am familiar with how to remove the rods in my '73 4001 and '67 4005WB as there is plenty of space to let the rods slide out past the heel end of the neck once I remove the pickgaurd or pickup respectively.

Is it possible the opening was not made correctly on my 4004Cii? I compared it to my 660/12, S/N 02 36133, which does have plenty of clearance as the opening completely clears the top of the body. Measuring the neck thickness where the neck meets the body, from the top of the body to where the fingerboard attaches to the neck I get 1/2" on the 660/12 and 1/4" on the 4004Cii. Obviously something is wrong here. Would those of you with 4004s please measure what this distance is on yours, and whether you have complete circles or not to let the nuts pass through? Basically, how high off the body is your neck? Am I making any sense to you as I find this kind of difficult to describe this?

Well, how do you figure the rods got in there then? They're not inserted from the body end until the instrument is out of the finish department and in final assembly.

You do have to bend them up going in and out at the heel end.

Graham, are the rods completely missing? If not, straighten them, maybe retouching the threads with a die. If the threads are totalled, cut both side of the rods off 25-30 mm and rethread. The bass will never notice the slightly shorter rods. We can set you up with some new nuts if necessary.

John,
I don't doubt you, I just don't see how they could get past the body surface. I don't have a digital camera, but I will try to gets pics at some point to show you what I am talking about. I appreciate your input on this.

Im with you Jeffrey, I dont see how to get them out without damaging the bass.