Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Greetings ~
I bought myself a Christmas present I found a new 360CW/6 on the web and made an impulse buy. well let me tell you this is a really great sounding guitar. I think it will take some getting used to the the action compared to other makes but every guitar has it's uniqueness. My 74 Strat for example had the high e string so close to the edge of the fret board I kept rolling off the edge... but I digress.
At last the point...
As I've been reading through the posting I see one common thread neck problem and now I'm scared!
I had a slight rattle/buzz on the low e string when I first got the guitar first tried to raise the bridge but I could not get it out with out going too high. so I then loosed the low side truss rod but found that after only turning it one flat of the nut the rod was slack, so I put it back to where it was. I've red that this is not total uncommon but I called RIC service anyway and he did not seem to think that this was a very big problem and suggested I take it to a local tech to have it set up.
wait..wait ...this is the point I promise
I was thinking (dangerous I know) Can one turn the rods in opposite directions the same (small) amount to even out the load on the rods (so one is not loose) and retain the straightness of the neck? or how do you adj. the neck when there is no adjustment left ?

I have a couple of questions that can help to figure out what you need.

1- Does the guitar buzz when you are NOT plugged into an amp ?
2- are you playing the guitar with the same intensity as you would playing an acoustic ?
3- Do you know how to check a neck for correct truss rod tension ? IE) do you know how to tell if there is a hump in the neck ? or a dip?

(TIP) don't hold the headstock and look down the side of the neck .

With a Rick you have a couple of things to check .

1- It needs to be tuned to the pitch you will use most of the time .
2- check the truss rods / is the neck straight ? does it have any relief?
3- check the nut slot depth ...is the string sitting on the first fret when not fretted ?
4- does the bridge saddle have any wobble in it ? front to back ? side to side ?
5- is the string end firmly in the hook of the tailpiece ?
6- roll the string over to look at the bottom of the string ... are there any markings where the strings hit the frets? dents at those points?
is there a kink anywhere in the string between the nut and the bridge saddle ?

you need to start with these . Then , make the necessary adjustments .

If it rattles plugged in , then all of these check points need to be looked at . And stay in the order listed . It makes a big difference .

thanks for the check list, I really didn't have to go to far to locate the problem.
after checking the first 3 I would have to say its operator error, a combo of trying to play it like an acoustic rather hard and a lack of finger strength. The neck by the way looks fairly straight with a very slight dip. like i said I bought it on a whim it's been many years since I've played. I think I'll go practice now. I'll get back to you in a month or two.
thanks for your help.