Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Dear MD:
I've just aquired a 1981 4001 which came strung
with GHS "Bright Flats". The set was medium guage long scale (?) the individual string guages were .049, 062, 084, 108. The bass had no dead spots, rattles, buzzing, had perfect intonation and the neck appeared straight as can be. Furthermeore, the previous owner said the strings have been on the bass for years (he seldom played it) and has been constantly tuned to A440 pitch! However, I felt these strings were too heavy for the 4001 and temporarilly replaced them with a spare set of Darco nickle round wounds (UGH!) .045, .065, .080., .105. Consequently, there is now considerable buzz and rattle on the E and A strings, though hardly any on the D and G strings. The neck is still straight, and amazingly, the intonation appears fine. As this is my first 4001, I am a bit unfamiliar with it. My question is, should I attempt raising the bridge to eliminate the buzz and rattle or does the bass now require full adjustment? I've normally used diAddario ground wounds (.045 - 95/100) on my past bases and would like to use them on the 4001. However, I can make do with .045s and even the .049s if necessary. I intend to use the 4001 on an extensive recording project and there are no reliable Ric luthiers in my area so I'm quite on the spot. Your advice will be most appreciated.

I used roundwounds for a while on my 74 4001 and had a similar problem. I changed to rotosound flatwounds and it stopped. You started with flats, maybe you should go back to them!

Should add that I use 40-60-80-100 flats if it makes a difference!

Rotosound Jazz strings (flatwounds) are amoung the HEAVIEST tension strings on the market .
I would suggest you try another brand of flatwounds on the Rick ...especially as it has the old style truss rods.

Sounds like what you need is a trussrod(s) adjustment .

To check this ,go look under the postings concerning the truss rods.You need to check that BEFORE you do anything.

Dear Mark:
I appreciate your response as I'm sure you are quite busy. I should first say that the original GHS "Bright Flats" which came with the 4001, is a misleading trade name. They are actually "GROUND ROUNDS", not true flats as it were. According to the previous owner, the bass has never been strung with true flatwounds. Nonetheless, I put the slightly lighter guage set of Darco (.045 - .105) nickle round wounds as a general test and as a precaution. Since the neck has been strung with heavier .049 - .108 gauge strings for so long, I thought stringing the bass with my prefered .040 - .100 diAddario Groundwounds would be too severe a change. I hope I did the right thing in that regard. Since I've found no reliable Rickenbacker luthiers in my area, a truss rod adjustment seems unlikely for the present. Would you recommend using a new set of GHS .049 - .108 groundwounds? At least until I locate an experienced luthier in my area (Phoenix Arizona)? In the meantime, I will check the postings you mention. Thanks again for your advice.

I know of a Rick collector in your area
He is in the cable TV business ..at least he was here in Seattle .

He is quite the collector....Jeff Baker look him up ,he is a real stickler for detail and picky .If you find him ,he can lead you to a repair person.

Also ...the stores will know him ,soft spoken ,but authoritative.

I worked on his guitars for years.