Boy, do I ever appreciate this site. The internet at its shining best.

Thanks RicNut63, you answered a few questions that were simmering: do you set the action with a string (or two, or all) ON, so you know the string height, or OFF so there is less pressure on the neck? I gather its best do this with strings off. So, how do you judge when the neck is flat--does a straightedge or a level do the trick?

I will get a little machine oil. I am in no hurry to do this until I know exactly how to do it properly. I guess I wouldn't be too surprised to find a broken rod---I saw the way Mr. Stinson played this thing on Saturday Night Live in '85---but I suppose I won't know until I try to turn the nut.

Anyway, I will take the time to get the proper tool from Rickenbacker. And maybe a T-shirt.

Lyle -

Both the truss rod adjustments (for neck straightness) and action (bridge/bridge saddle height adjustment) should be done with the strings detuned (it's not necessary to remove them). A 24" metal straight edge can be used to check for neck straightness. Place the edge of the straight edge across the frets while the strings are in tune. Be sure to check both sides of the neck, since you do have two truss rods. If the straight edge doesn't sit on the frets in the middle, you'll need to tighten the truss rod on that side by a quarter turn. If the straight edge doesn't sit on the frets at one end or the other (or both), you'll need to loosen the truss rod by a quarter turn. Then check the other side. Then detune and make the adjustments. Retune and wait 24 hours (you can play it in the meantime). Recheck both sides.

Once the neck has no bow in it, adjust bridge/saddle height for lowest action with no fret buzz.

Okay, that makes sense to me. One thing doesn't: don't you loosen the truss rod by loosening the nut? And if so, when I remove the nut to lube it, aren't I drastically loosening the truss rod?

You're absolutely correct. Be sure to detune before you do so.

Sorry,Lyle...(>_<)...the first thing I should've told you was to de-tune the instrument.I'm glad you've learned a little from our posts.On another note...do you suppose there's video on YouTube of your bass being played by Tommy Stinson?Check out the videos for "Bastards of Young",and "Kiss Me On The Bus" on YouTube,and see if that's your bass.Also,there IS a picture of him holding what APPEARS to be a Burgundyglo RIC 4001 on the Replacements album "Tim",from 1985...maybe you should take some more pictures of it before you totally restore it.

Thanks Ricnut. Well, I did watch the Bastards of the Young video, but not the other. I doubt any of these pictures would ever prove his ownership. All in all, I do believe it is my 4001, and even wrote a blurb a week or so ago to Tommy Stinson mentioning I probably have his bass. But as far as being concerned about attaching value to it due to his ownership, I long ago decided to blow it off. To me, its fun to mention, but that's about it.

You know, this whole Minneapolis Sound thing with the Replacements and Prince and the Time and the Jayhawks, Husker Du, Trip Shakespeare/Semisonic, Suburbs, Wallets, on and on...I lived it and played with many of them and consider myself one of that ilk, though I probably sucked in certain ways and achieved no fame. So to me, Tommy was just that guy in the 'Mats. I didn't know him, but he was around and we probably even met and got stoned together...I don't know anymore. But it's like he was just another one of the musicians we all partied with, and I refuse to profit from him, especially since he probably beat the living pajamas out of this excellent bass. Really, we were all just a bunch of idiots, but that was the charm of it. In my view, the best of them all was the Suburbs.

Still, it's fun to make the connections and say that it is a little piece of history. At this point, the bass itself is more important to me than the sad story of the Replacements. I want to see it return to the glory it knew before Tommy snapped the wood off its headstock, the drunken blighter.

I couldn't agree with you more,Lyle.It's a sorry fact that ALL of those "indie/alternative" bands that you mentioned are better than any of the "music" that's on the radio now.That was a Golden Age of music,in hindsight(20/20),fresh,exciting,new...when I listen to that stuff,I feel like I'm still 21...(>_<)...damn...and you MUST watch the video for "Kiss Me On The Bus";it's MUCH better than the other one!

At the time, most of us thought it mostly sucked. But it was ours and it was what we had.

And all my life, the Beatles are right there shining that unreachable standard in our faces.

What's been missing to most of us on this forum is that feeling we used to get when you turned on the radio and you had no idea what was going to happen next. THAT is the Beatles' legacy to me---the No Limits philosophy to creative output---and up until about 1973, you really never knew what was going to happen next on the radio.

Now we know. So as far as the next Coldplay album is concerned, I for one can wait.

Lyle, wondering about some of the bands you mentioned, I too was able to see these bands come out as a fresh new sound, some good so not so much, but it was our "punk" type of music. Was the band with Yanni chameleon? they too were a bit out there, and then look what happened to him!
I always have wondered about a reunion with those guys, could Yanni come back to his roots?
would we even want it?
Zel

Oh My God. Are you telling me Yanni was in Chameleon? That is hilarious---I had no idea. I can just imagine him at the Iron Horse in between the stripper acts. Makes perfect sense now that you show me the light! I'm dying here.