Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just bought a 2004 Montezuma Brown Rickenbacker 330 from www.ricpage.com, thanks Mike Parks! It played great and was in tune straight out of the case, I did notice that the Low E string was kinda dead sounding and has some slight buzzing. Now the G string goes flat whenever I fret a chord... I assume that I need another setup. Should I take it to just any old reputable repair shop for a setup, or should I search for a Ric snob in my town... I'm thinking about upgrading to some Rotosound 11.'s so I guess I'll need another setup anyways... I've heard that 330's have trouble staying in tune... Is this a common problem that I will just have to tolerate, or is it the way mine is setup at the moment?

Travis: It is likely that you will need some small adjustments.

Please tune you guitar using an electronic tuner and let us know what strings, if any, are flat at the 12th fret relative to the note on the same string when it is played open.

Provided the neck is straight, you may wish to raise the bridge on the bass string side a quarter or half turn using the two bridge adjustment screws. Loosen the E and A strings before you raise the bridge and then retuned to check.

Setups are common, however, you will not have to tolerate poor intonation with your 330.

I had emailed Mike about it, here's what he told me:

Sounds like you might just take just a bit off the bass side truss rod... maybe a 1/4 turn or less counterclockwise should do the trick..
or almost any competent music store can do this for you... If you change the string guage you'd need to readjust them a bit...

So I guess this is what you mean if provided the neck is straight...

Yes Travis, the neck must be straight first.