To lower the action you just need an allen wrench, probably 1/8", on either side of the bridge itself are two allen screws, that's all there is to it.
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Help me with this Rickenbacker
- Thread starter Komadinic
- Start date
To lower the action you just need an allen wrench, probably 1/8", on either side of the bridge itself are two allen screws, that's all there is to it.
Yup, I'm able to independently adjust both sides of the neck of my 4001 within reason. It's subtle but it's enough to take out a buzz on one side without disturbing the other side.
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It's all the way down, and to answer your other question i did play with the truss rod but it didn't help. It might also be the fact I'm not good at it, a pro should be able to fix it up i believe!
If it works, it's fine and you got a rare bass there, it's worth some bucks.
With those necks just keep the truss rod cover off and if the truss rod nuts feel real tight, make sure you pull back on the neck as you do this but tighten each one maybe 1/8 to 1/4 turn and then leave it for a day and repeat, you should be able to get the neck straight, hold each outer string down at the last fret and the first fret and look in the middle of the neck and see how much relief you have in it.
Oh with a magnetic horseshoe just make sure you don't bang it with anything heavy because when magnets get banged they slowly lose magnetism
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Well I got the neck to the point where i hold 1st fret witha capo and press on 20th fret and the relief on the 9th fret is 0.20mm. i think that's the accurate number, but the neck doesn't have a nice bow to it like the rest of my instruments, it's straight all the way through
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BTW I'm reading the whole thread from the beginning to see if i missed any important information and I giggled at the unexpected twist of it. Came thinking i got a chickenbacker and ended up with a very rare legit one.
Life is funny like that sometimes, it's amazing that even complete strangers are able to help out and make your day that much better. I thank you all for all your knowledge and the willingness to share it with others!
Life is funny like that sometimes, it's amazing that even complete strangers are able to help out and make your day that much better. I thank you all for all your knowledge and the willingness to share it with others!
I usually set my Ric necks pretty straight, I'll back off just a hair if it buzzes. I just looked the picture of your truss rods and it looks like you have the old style 4001 rods. You need to be careful with those and make sure you relieve the forward pulling string pressure off the neck before you tighten them. The way I do it is:
1. take the truss rod cover off
2. get the 1/4" nut driver in my hand
3. stand the bass up in front of me on a rug so it won't slip with the front of the bass facing opposite me.
4. put the bottom of the bass behind my foot and but it up against the foot, out the back of the body against the knee of the other leg and then pull backwards on the neck just enough to make sure the strings aren't exerting any pressure on the neck, I will then turn them a little and make sure they're both approximately the same tightness and then turn each one anywhere from 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn if they're tight already, if not you want to snug them up and then tighten them the 1/8 to 1/4 turn, if you're not satisfied with the way it plays wait a day and do it again until it's almost completely straight.
If you do decide to bring it to a luthier make sure you tell him those are old style 4001 truss rods and if he's not comfortable working with them find someone who is, you can split the fretboard from the neck down at the nut, the end of those truss rods are on the other side of the aluminum block on top of where they jut through where the nuts are, they do a 180 near the body end and if the block tips the truss rods end will press upward and can pop off the fretboard or at least split it. It's not the end of the world, I did it once and you just glue it with with a good clamp but it's not a good thing to do.
Rickenbackers can be temperamental beasts especially the older ones so those of us who have gotten to know them like to help.
Oh, just one more thing, once you get them set they usually stay set up for a long time, years unless you change string tension drastically. 4001's like light gauge strings too.
I see the idea and I have to admit I'm afraid to do it. The reward is not worth the risk to me un this instance and my amateurism might cost me a lot more in the long run.I usually set my Ric necks pretty straight, I'll back off just a hair if it buzzes. I just looked the picture of your truss rods and it looks like you have the old style 4001 rods. You need to be careful with those and make sure you relieve the forward pulling string pressure off the neck before you tighten them. The way I do it is:
1. take the truss rod cover off
2. get the 1/4" nut driver in my hand
3. stand the bass up in front of me on a rug so it won't slip with the front of the bass facing opposite me.
4. put the bottom of the bass behind my foot and but it up against the foot, out the back of the body against the knee of the other leg and then pull backwards on the neck just enough to make sure the strings aren't exerting any pressure on the neck, I will then turn them a little and make sure they're both approximately the same tightness and then turn each one anywhere from 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn if they're tight already, if not you want to snug them up and then tighten them the 1/8 to 1/4 turn, if you're not satisfied with the way it plays wait a day and do it again until it's almost completely straight.
If you do decide to bring it to a luthier make sure you tell him those are old style 4001 truss rods and if he's not comfortable working with them find someone who is, you can split the fretboard from the neck down at the nut, the end of those truss rods are on the other side of the aluminum block on top of where they jut through where the nuts are, they do a 180 near the body end and if the block tips the truss rods end will press upward and can pop off the fretboard or at least split it. It's not the end of the world, I did it once and you just glue it with with a good clamp but it's not a good thing to do.
I appreciate all your input and I'm pretty sure it will eventually be okay and I'll get that 1 mm that's haunting me today.
If you don't mind please look at the picture i posted for you (#108). With your experience you'll tell me if I'm in a problem in a second
)
If you don't mind please look at the picture i posted for you (#108). With your experience you'll tell me if I'm in a problem in a second
Yes, that action looks high to me, it's not difficult to do, you can actually crank down on them without worry as long as you do it keeping in mind you need to take the string pressure off the neck but yes, my action is a lot lower. What gauge strings are on it? I'm sure that can be taken out but I would do it the easy does it way, like I said maybe 1/8- 1/4" turn clockwise each day. An easier way would be to have someone hold the body end down as you push down on the neck. Just tell them to make sure don't let it up at all while you're pushing the neck down and turning.
I have no idea, today is my first day getting to mess with it and i don't have a tool to measure them. I just wanted to ask you if the neck itself looks normal to you? Usually on my guitars the neck has a bit of a curve as it extends and that allows the low action, this Rickenbacker looks pretty straight to me though?
Not sure if i make any sense, never had a problem setting up my guitars but this thing is 8 years older than me and it's asserting dominance lol
That neck does not look straight at all to me you can really see it starting somewhere around the 5th or 6th fret, with the first and last fret down you should be able to only fit a business card between a fret and the string in the middle of the neck at about the 10th fret. Just get a friend to hold down the body end while you push the neck down and then tighten them 1/8 to a 1/4 turn. have you tried to turn them at all yet, if so how tight did they feel? That does look like it will take a while to take out though.
Using a set of feeler gauges and capo on the first and holding the 20th fret 0.10 (0.20mm) fits perfectly while .012 (0.30mm) starts to hit the string. Is that not the relief I'm looking for?
There's plenty of turns left in the truss rods, they are not very tight but also not loose. Sorry if I'm communicating strangely at times, English is not my primary language
