Rickenbacker 4004L Truss Rods. Really?

[Woodinblack]

OK, so I need to do the strings on my 5 string ric, but the nut is too high and the action is too high, so tonight is the night to sort it out. Was really worried about filing the nut down as it always goes wrong, but for whatever reason, today it didn't, I filed the nut down and it is mostly ok (I could have probably gone further but its close enough). So next job the action, might as well adjust the truss rod, take off the TRC and.. oh, two truss rods, I thought that was just a 4003 thing, rather than a ric thing.

Still, how hard can it be, head to youtube to see what needs doing. First video, guy loosens the truss rods, bends the neck back manually, does them up and says thats fine. OK, that can't be right, second video, have to skip half of it as hes just spending his time time talking, drinking and smoking, but then he undoes the truss rods and bends the neck down. hmm.. then I tried the 3rd, same thing.

 

So at this point it is either a global conspiracy by bass manufacturers to break rics or is that is actually how you adjust a ric neck?

[Stub Mandrel]

This freaked me out so I had to google it.

 

I found this:

 

https://forum.bassbuzz.com/t/rickenbacker-truss-rods-myths-and-realities-revealed/29854

 

It give a detailed explanation (and also hints that more modern rics may work differently). There are hints that you might strip the truss rod threads or cause the fretboard to pop off, and that you will probably end up with more relief than you want because the process is so scary:

 

Quote

 

Rickenbackers of older vintages use a dual truss rod system but it works entirely different. The tightening of the nuts does not change the bow of the truss rod, but instead ‘sets’ the neck where you physically put it.

 

 

What can I say? Good luck, and video the process, so if it goes wrong at least you can get a viral video on Tiktok.

[Woodinblack]

Well, that is sort of what I thought, but this is a 4004L which is anything but vintage, but sure enough it does have twin truss rods that look just like the ones in the 4003.

Luckily with the bridge drop and nut reduction, it is much lower than it was, so it isn't so much of an issue, other than there is nowhere to go if it was wrong, and I do need to change the strings, so my current dilemma is that I have a pack of 40-125s, and a pack of 45-130s!

[Hellzero]

With twin truss rods, the process is to act on the treble one first, after freeing the bass one, until the neck is as straight as you want on that side and then slightly tighten the bass side until there's a very tiny slight resistance.

 

That way the relief will be perfect.

 

All my Leduc sixers, but one, have twin truss rods, furthermore I owned several Alembics and, I must confess, some Rickenbackers and Rickenfakers too.

[gary mac]

I've worked on plenty of Ric truss rods and nearly always clamp the neck straight, prior to carrying out adjustments. It is an efficient way of taking the stress off of the rod during the process of straightening the neck.

[Woodinblack]

OK, now a bit more reading and I find out that all of that information was pre-1984 truss rods. Post 1984 truss rods work like any other truss rod, except there being two of them, so back to a bit more of a comfort zone, except for not having any imperial sockets!

 

[prowla]

It's generally a good idea to push the neck to position anyway and use the rod(s) to hold it in place.

(Unless they're dual-action ones.)

This chap explains the reasoning.

Ric documentation used to say bend it over your knee, but using a bench and clamps is probably a bit more refined.

On a Ric, keep both roughly in-step, ie. don't do all on one and have the other loose.

Also, on a RIc, press on the fretboard (at the 1st fret), not on the headstock (since you've got the TRC off, you can see there's not a lot of wood there to be pushing against).

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

OK, now a bit more reading and I find out that all of that information was pre-1984 truss rods. Post 1984 truss rods work like any other truss rod, except there being two of them, so back to a bit more of a comfort zone, except for not having any imperial sockets!

 

 

I shall sleep more soundly tonight, knowing that!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The twin truss rods were one of the two reasons that put me off rics for  years — the other being the bridge. Now that there's an easily adjustable bridge and a two way single truss rod I had no reason not to buy a 2024 4003.

[Woodinblack]

23 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

so my current dilemma is that I have a pack of 40-125s, and a pack of 45-130s!

 

I put the super light 40-125s on it, and combined with the trimmed down nut, it is pretty well spot on now, took it to a practice tonight and it works very well.

I think I can not worry about the truss rod after all.

[BlueMoon]

They are a bit finicky to set up initially but I’ve found Ric necks to be very stable over time. Glad you got it sorted.