Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was working on both my Rics this evening, changing strings, and generally cleaning them. I don't normally remove all the strings while swapping out, but tonight I also wanted to give the neck and frets a good cleaning.

During this process I've a couple of observations on both that I'd like to get some feedback on.

On both, the nuts are loose, and I mean there is no bond whatsoever, with all the strings off the nuts are simply lifted out of the slots.

Is this normal, or should the nuts be glued in place ?

In the case of my 4003 the nut had packing under it, looks like folded newspaper. With this packing removed the nut is too low, the strings would be touching the the fretboard without it.

Has anyone seen this before ?

I was changing strings on a Gretsch Roundup tonight and the same thing happened, the nut just fell out when I removed all the strings. I assumed it had come unglued, but when checking could not see any glue residue. As I didn't buy it new I'm not sure why it is like that, but don't think that is the way it is supposed to be. I have not seen this on any other guitar or Bass I own or have owned.

I think they are supposed to be glued on the Ricks. In any guitar I've made, I always glue them. You should use a mild glues such as white glue or titebond yellow woodworker's glue. The nut on my '73 4001 I used to own was glued and was made of bakelite.

The nut on my '72 is most definitely glued, and is made out of what looks to be the same stuff as the binding.

As far as I know the nuts on Rics are always glued.
I have a recent 4003 which I bought from new and it is glued.

As far as the packing under the nut on your 4003 goes, this is a fairly common procedure.
If for some reason, someone had filed the slots down in the nut, to accocomodate a larger guage string for instance, it's easy to be a bit too aggresive with the file and leave the slots a little too deep.
A shim of card or paper or whatever, can then be placed under the nut to bring it back to the correct height, so nothing to worry about, but you could always have a new nut cut to the correct size.

The nut on my '74 4001 came off once and I stuck it back with woodworkers glue as Greg does and it's held in place for years.
The advantge here is that it is strong enough to hold the nut in place ,but it can be removed easily with a small ammount of force without pulling any wood away from the end of the neck .

The nut should be secured because any movment is undesireable. The paper was there, most likely, to act as a shim. This is done often to cheaply eliminate rattles and buzzes. Try using it without the paper. If it works, leave it out. Nut shims are not good substitutes for proper nut and fret work. If the nut is not worn out, glue it back in with wood glue. You can also use simple white glue. Tune up quickly while the glue is wet then align the nut. The string tension will clamp it down and hold it as the glue sets.

Thanks for the input guys ...

I've already glued the white one in on my v63.

On my 4003, I need the shims in place to hold the slots high enough so the strings don't end up terminating at the end of the fretboard and not the nut.

Mike Parks has nuts for sale at his site so I may just replace it altogether.

Most builders just use a dab or two of glue, that and string pressure are enough to prevent movement and it makes for easier removal later.

I use Elmer's glue.