Bowed Neck on a 4003 Rick

[Musicmaster75]

Thanks in advance for any help!

I found a 4003 Rick that has a 3/16 to 1/4" bow in the neck. I'm wondering how much bow is too much for the truss rods to straighten ? It's sitting in a pawnshop in near new cond. I think I found only 3 very small blems in the fireglow finish total, real clean. In sighting down the neck using the E as a straightedge noticed a pretty good "in" bow of about 1/4". I could see trying to pull the neck back to straight and having the frets fall on the floor like a bunch of toothpicks. Not knowing whats a fixable amount I passed on it but think about alot as I've wanted one for a long time. Thanks for the help !

[AltGrendel]

I'd ask the mods to move this over to the "Hardware setup and repair" thread, maybe try there first. I think most of the Ric repair guys hang out there.


Just sayin.

[Musicmaster75]

Originally Posted by AltGrendel

I'd ask the mods to move this over to the "Hardware setup and repair" thread, maybe try there first. I think most of the Ric repair guys hang out there.


Just sayin.

Thanks for the heads up guessed this was the right spot to post my quest. a swing and a miss ! with gettin it moved ?

[Beej]

There's nothing wrong with posting that here, its just that this forum moves much more slowly than many others on this site. My reply:

How do you define "bow"? If you're referring to the distance from the bottom of the E string and the 12-17th fret, 1/4" is not too much that it can't be adjusted out. It really depends on the guitar and its hard to diagnose without handling it, but I've successfully repaired/adjusted necks that I thought were done for, and on the converse, I've been unable to repair/adjust necks that I thought for certain would just require a little truss tweak.

The bottom line though, is that its certainly possible that the guitar is perfectly repairable, and they aren't super common so tough call. Is the shop/guy willing to give it a full setup? This will bring the problems immediately to light if they exist...

[JLS]

Originally Posted by Musicmaster75

Thanks in advance for any help!

I found a 4003 Rick that has a 3/16 to 1/4" bow in the neck. I'm wondering how much bow is too much for the truss rods to straighten ? It's sitting in a pawnshop in near new cond. I think I found only 3 very small blems in the fireglow finish total, real clean. In sighting down the neck using the E as a straightedge noticed a pretty good "in" bow of about 1/4". I could see trying to pull the neck back to straight and having the frets fall on the floor like a bunch of toothpicks. Not knowing whats a fixable amount I passed on it but think about alot as I've wanted one for a long time. Thanks for the help !

You made the right call.

[Musicmaster75]

As I dont how best to define "bow" in a guitar neck or should I say in the correct terminology I'll try the only way i can. If I sight up the neck ( edge of the fingerboard) from the last fret to the nut it has a concave bow of 1/4" to possibly 5/16" for the length of the neck.My guess this is from overtightend strings and or sittin in it's case for 10+ years and not gettin any playtime since it looks brand new new. It's that clean. It does not have any twist that i could see. I only had mentioned the E string as a handy straight line to reference from and not as a action measurement if that makes any sense. If anyone could recommend a good book on the subject of setup/tuneup/repair I'd like to pick one up as a learning tool. Thanks for all help and Happy Holidays to all

[xaxxat]

Originally Posted by Musicmaster75

If anyone could recommend a good book on the subject of setup/tuneup/repair I'd like to pick one up as a learning tool. Thanks for all help and Happy Holidays to all

Dan Erelewine's book:

Guitar Player Repair Guide 3rd Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-.../dp/0879309210

[Musicmaster75]

Originally Posted by xaxxat

Dan Erelewine's book:

Guitar Player Repair Guide 3rd Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-.../dp/0879309210

Hey, thanks so much for the sugg. and the link ! sweet, I got it ordered now.