Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have been wondering for the longest time about this subject, and since I am going to be doing a little Ric maintenance this weekend, I figured I would tap y'alls expertise.

Is there a published 'recommended' string height (ie. at 12 fret, or wherever) for Ric 4003's? Other action/intonation dimensions?

Sorry if this has been posted before (I am new), and thanks in advance for your help!

I forgot to mention... I have consulted my Rickenbacker Guitar/Bass Care & Maintenance Manuals and also www.rickenbacker.com and haven't found the info yet.

Thanks!

What did I read here a while back about that? Was it 3/32" at the 20th fret? That is just how the set them up in the factory. Your mileage may vary.

I get the action as low as possible and make the neck as straight as possible and get the pickups as high as possible ...

Jeff's right on, but I'll add some more insight based on my experiences. Setting the action is best done with a staight neck with no back-bow and level frets. If you have a nice metal straight edge, you should be able to run it up the neck to ferret out your high frets and also check neck relief--you generally want just a little (a very few thousandths) right in the middle of the neck.

String height is measured as the distance from the top of the 15th fret (some say 14th fret) to the bottom of each string. For medium-low action, go for 7/64" on the E string side and 5/64" on the G string side. This is ballpark, depending on how straight you can make the neck, the condition of the frets and how new your strings are, as the bottom side of the string naturally flattens as the string wears. You might have to raise the strings to reduce or eliminate fret buzz, or get lucky and be able to lower them some more! Please be aware that adjusting the bridge height screws can affect your intonation, so be careful to not let the bridge slip. Lastly, adjust the neck pickup and high as you can without cracking the pickguard or having the pickup contact the strings. You can always trim the rubber mounting doughnut to gain some additional clearance. Then, adjust the bridge pickup relative to the neck pickup to keep the volume level balance as close as possible between the two pickups. You also need to sent the height for volume balance across the strings. The Vintage neck pickup option with the scatterwound Toaster just doesn't put out as much as the high-gain, horseshoe or humbucker bridge pickup. If you've got a hotter pre-scatterwound era '90s Toaster, then you should be able to dial in the balance fairly well.

Greg (and Jeff, Ted) - thanks for the great information. I have much more experience playing Ric's than I do working on them, I must admit. I have done some very minor adjustments in the past, but I have one bass that really needs an overall 'look' - the string action is just too high for comfort.

If I encounter any high frets, is that something I can address myself, or is that strictly luthier-only territory?

The factory standard, designed to hit an average for general use, is 6/64" on the bass side, 4/64" on the treble, at the 12th fret.

Fretless is a bit different: 7/64" and 6/64" respectively.

Maybe I should add that to the manual although I think there's a lot more to setup than a spec. I'd really like to see the official specs for some other makers to see which parameters are normally disclosed.

(Using 64ths is an old industry thing.)

Thanks a lot, John. That's very helpful, especially knowing that that is an average for general use.

I pluck very aggressively, so the average might be a good initial target. I don't mind a little higher action, but my one bass is high enough to cause left-hand fatigue during songs with repetitive, fast figures. I agree that there is a lot more to setup than specs, but having a point of reference is useful to me, for sure.

As far as what other makers are publishing for official specs, the only other one I'm familiar with is Ernie Ball for the Stingrays, which I've seen on their website, given in a FAQ section:

http://www.ernieball.com/site/faq_bass.php

BTW, I like my Ric's much better than my Stingray, but it is a nice alternate.

Thanks again for the info!

String height is really subjective and the specs help to start you out in the right direction.

String tension and gauge play a big role in action height. On my '51 RI Precision Bass I have the action rather high but then again I use TI flats which are extremely low tension. The low tension allows the strings to be depressed more easily but also causes more fret buzz when I dig in, hence the higher required action.
The D'Addario Chromes on the '97 4003 are a little tighter but not as tight as most rounds so the action can be set lower with less risk of buzz.

VMMV

Yes, Dave you're right about string tension and guage, because they affect the tension on the neck.

I use standard Rickenbacker strings these days, ordered directly from Ric, in the standard guage, and keep my bass in standard tuning for the most part, so the info posted above will be useful to me, as a reference point. I suppose that it would be useful with any strings, but I am going to have the factory settings to benchmark against for sure, along with some info from experienced players on their preferences.

I really want to thank you guys and this Forum in general. I was very superstitious for a long time about messing with my Ric's whatsoever. Or allowing anyone else to, for that matter. Pre-internet, and with no local dealers, I just didn't know much about my basses. With knowledge comes power. Hopefully this weekend I will fine tune my bass and unleash the instrument within. Thanks!

on a modern ric adjusting the action is pretty easy ...

I know Fender publishes suggested set up guidelines...I was looking at them yesterday while I was researching issues about string tension. The guitarist I play with has meticulously set up his Strats using their numbers...

Damned if I can't find them now. Fenders web site SUCKS. But either way they give specs onstring height and PU height, etc...If one can find the information it's pretty helpful.

The specs should be in Mr. Gearhead. For RIC specs look under Rick-O-Spec! Not!

I use the Ted-O-Spec as a reference when I set up my basses. My hands and ears know what is right for me.

Guys, thanks for bearing with me. I am fully engaged in a complete set-up of my bass and am 4 days into it, taking my time. My first time for this activity. The metal straightedge suggestion was very helpful. I have an almost perfectly straight neck and just a little fret buzz on the A and D strings from frets 5-9, so I am close. I am taking the trussrod adjustments slowly.

I'm glad that you guys are as helpful to newbies as you are to experts on this Forum. We all have strengths and opportunities for improvement... you all have helped me notch my instrument care skills up a notch or two.

Thanks!