[Help] Rickenbacker 4003 Truss rod

bass_giant · #1 02-15-2010, 12:49 AM

Can any Ric owner please help me to solve my problem ? Here is my case, I find that my bass neck is having a back-bow these months (maybe it caused by the wet-weather...?) so I keep loosen the truss-rod these days, 1/4 per day...

The neck become better, but still straight, when I wanna have a final twist today, i find that I can twist the Truss-Rod-screw out from the end of "E-A-strings-Rod" already, and I'm quite worry now...

Here is my questions:
1) Is it usual that I can loosen all the way off the truss rod? Did I just totally loosen the truss rod only ? I can still tighten the screw back to the rod in-position if I wanna tighten the neck.

2) Did I break the truss rod ?? How can I check it ??, I heard that when the truss rod broke, u'll hear the "rattling", and how to hear ?? Shake the bass ?? Or is there any other test for this ??

3) BTW, Is there a big issue that the wet-weather affect the bass wood ?? I did have this problem on my other bass before, and how to avoid this ??

Jools4001 · #2 02-15-2010, 12:57 AM

Truss Rod? A Rick4003 should have two truss rods...are you sure it's a real one?

Try this http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Rick%20maint.htm

Edit: Just seen that you're talking about the E-A rod where the nut is backed right out, so I guess there are two rods, make sure you're adjusting both equally. The method in the link is a good place to start. BTW...you won't damage or break anything by undoing the nut

bass_giant · #3 02-15-2010, 02:25 AM

Jools, thanks for the link,
I've read already, but there is no clear benchmark of broken truss rod/s.

You're right, my 4003 have 2 truss rods, so is that normal that I can screw the nut out at the end of "E-A rod" when I loosen the rod all the way?

Or no matter how I loose the truss rod, the nut/s will never screw out from the rod/s ?? (Mean I've broken it ...??

)

Ric5 · #4 02-15-2010, 12:27 PM

The 4003 rods have screws at both ends. Perhaps the neck body end of the rod had the nut come loose. If you break the rod then the end will shear off and the nut will come with it. You can only break it if you use a wrench with a handle at 90 degrees that becomes a level. If you use the Rickenbacker tool or one shaped like a screw driver then you cannot apply sufficent force to break the rod.

toomanybasses · #5 02-15-2010, 01:10 PM

You said that the neck is straight, that's the way it should be. Here is the paragraph in the owners manual that refers to truss rod adjustments;

A slight under bow (relief) is common
on non-Rickenbacker instruments
due to their limited range of
adjustment. Due to their extreme
adjustability you may prefer to
adjust a RIC neck almost dead
straight depending on the playing
action preferred.

Here is the manual link for reference;

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/manual.pdf

The only way to tell if you broke one of the truss rods is to try to pull one out, if there is a problem, you will know it. Ric sometimes covers the rod with tubing so the thing does not rattle.

Good Luck

bass_giant · #6 02-15-2010, 09:25 PM

Ric5 and tmb, please see the attached pics to see how I loosen the nut (not pull), and I screw it back on other pic, see the rod still hold tight, just the nut can screw out, I didn't open the pick guard to see the neck body end of rods, seems i can't pull the shear truss rod out from headstock, and yes, I did use a wrench,

but each time will turn only a quarter or less, as you saw the pics, is it normal ??

tmb, thanx for the menu, I did prefer a bit under bow too, that's why I try to loosen the neck. I tried to pull the rod out using fingers, didn't work, rod don't come out or move, is that mean it didn't break ? Or I need tools for a real hard pull ??

sad about the tubing, it make things harder to clarify.

OHSPyro89 · #7 02-15-2010, 11:44 PM

I doubt you can strip it by loosening the rod. The rod looks to be in the right place along with the other one, so I'd say your truss rod is fine.

Is the other truss rod loose also? If it's completely tightened down, it may be taking the full force of the neck bow. If you loosen it also, it may give you the relief that you need.

bodan · #8 04-04-2010, 11:04 PM

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I am in a similar position as bass_giant. I just received a used 4003 Ric at a great price. Cosmetically it is perfect. The problem is the neck...I think.

The Low E string never sounds right. It doesn't matter how much I try to tune it. It just sounds wrong. My tuner will show that it has the correct pitch, but it clearly sounds bad. The other strings are okay, it's just the Low E.

It looks like the neck has a little relief (concave). I want to straighten it as much as possible. After reading a few articles, one particularly at http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Rick%20maint.htm#tra, I have determined that I need to loosen the truss rod adjustments counter clockwise.

I was about to do this when I ran across Ric5's statement about 4003's having screws on both ends. I unscrewed the pick guard and took a peek at the neck joint. I saw 2 holes where the truss rod should be, but I didn't see any screws or rods. Is this normal, or are the rods broken?

Also, noticed that the nut was shifted toward the D and G strings. When I loosened the strings to look at the truss rod I slid the nut back so that it is centered. Would a warped or twisted neck cause the nut to shift in this way?

lowendblues · #9 04-07-2010, 07:56 AM

To rule out any "broken" issues, on a modern 4003, you can unscrew the nuts at the headpiece, lightly tap the ends with a center punch and pull the rods out the body end to inspect them.

Bass Giant: what guage strings are you using?

bodan · #10 04-07-2010, 08:45 PM

If all else fails I could do that, but it sounds a little chancy. How hard is it to get them back in if they aren't broken?

lowendblues · #11 04-08-2010, 04:33 AM

Its not real difficult, they just slide in and out.. If your not used to doing your own bass maintenance I'd probably advise you to go to a luthier.

However, you could just check and see if the nut came loose on the body end. In which case, you'd just have to remove the nuts on the head end, and tap them down until the body end nuts are accessible. Check them out, make sure the nuts are good and tight,, then tap them back in. Once again, if your uncomfortable doing your own repairs, take it to a luthier.

Chances are, if you have a broken rod you'd know it, most likely it would be sheared off at the nut.

lowendblues · #12 04-08-2010, 04:41 AM

A note of interest here, I once had a 2001 4003 that had no tension at all on the rods much like your describing here, I ended up putting a little heavier guage strings on it to get a little more pressure on the neck to allow some adjustment.

What guage strings are you using?

Gibenbackerbass · #13 04-08-2010, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowendblues

A note of interest here, I once had a 2001 4003 that had no tension at all on the rods much like your describing here, I ended up putting a little heavier guage strings on it to get a little more pressure on the neck to allow some adjustment.

What guage strings are you using?

Put some high tension stings on.