Howdy to all and Seasons Greetings,

I decided to post this in the Déjà Vu section of the forum since most of this info has been posted before. If anyone has anything to add, please don't hesitate to post as I know there are many other tips and maintence items that I just cannot recall at this time.

Steve

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TRUSS ROD ADJUSTMENTS - OLDER MODELS

If your Rickenbacker is an older model (Pre late 1984), DO NOT TIGHTEN the truss rods if the neck is bowed! This will cause the fingerboard to separate from the neck. The truss rods have to be loosened and the neck manually moved into place. When I am alone, the way that I do it if the neck is bowed and has to be tightened is to loosen the rods slightly, lean the neck at about the 7th fret on my knee with the body hanging down and then snug up the rods. The weight of the body hanging will bring the neck to its correct position. If I have someone with me, I place the guitar on my workbench and I have the other person hold the body in place. With a soft neck rest (I use a beanbag type), I then loosen the rods slightly, manually move the neck into place using the beanbag as a cushion, again somewhere around the 7th fret and then snug up the rods. If the neck is back bowed, then just loosen the rods evenly no more than ¼ of a turn daily until the neck sets. You can and should play the guitar between adjustments to get the feel that is right for you.
There is one other very important thing to know. ALWAYS USE A LONG SHAFT ADJUSTMENT WRENCH (¼ Inch Socket) WITH A SCREWDRIVER HANDLE such as the one that usually is available in the boutique section of this website, and NEVER use a "T" handle wrench. The reason for this is because on the screwdriver handle, if tightened too much your hand will slip on the handle and the truss rods will not snap. With the "T" handle, the danger of snapping the rods is much greater!
It really is a simple procedure once you get over the fear of doing it.

TRUSS ROD ADJUSTMENTS - NEWER MODELS

If it is a 1985 (Actually late 1984) or newer, then you can move the neck by adjusting the rods. The neck should be completely straight. Either way, the neck really should not be adjusted more than ¼ turn daily, regardless of the age. Of course you can play the guitar between adjustments to see how it feels to you. One adjustment may be all that it needs. Once the neck is straight, you may want to simply lower the bridge just a bit and also lower the pickups as well. This should keep the sound that you desire.

Please keep in mind that the neck should be perfectly straight on all Rickenbacker's, both older and newer.

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RESTRINGING A 12 STRING RICKENBACKER

When replacing strings, I replace first the slotted strings followed by the others. Before that, whether I am using the "R" tailpiece or the Trapeze tailpiece, I place all of the strings in the slots and place a small piece of masking tape on the bottom side or the tailpiece (Especially the "R" tailpiece) to hold them in place and place a cotton diaper underneath to keep the tailpiece from scratching the body. I then place a Kyser Capo with a weakened spring around the 5th or 6th fret to hold everything in place.
The actual order that I restring is:
11-2-9-4-7-6-12-1-10-3-8-5
The reason I do it this way is to balance the "R" or the Trapeze tailpiece while restringing. This works for me and it takes about 15–20 minutes with the older style slotting.
On the newer through the neck slotting, the time is about the same for me.

RESTRINGING A 6 STRING RICKENBACKER

Restringing the 6 string Rickenbacker with the "R" or Trapeze tailpiece is essentially the same as above using the masking tape, cotton diaper, and the Kyser Capo.
The order that I restring is:
6-1-5-2-4-3
Again, this keeps the tailpiece in place and balanced.

On models with a fixed bridge such as the 650D, the order of restringing does not matter and the masking tape, diaper, and Kyser are not necessary since the bridge is in a fixed position and does not move.

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USING THE 5th KNOB AS A BALANCE KNOB

How to use the 5th knob as a balance knob……
With the volume and the treble tone pots turned all of the way up and the bass tone pot turned to the off position and the pickup selector set the the middle position (Both pickups on), the fifth knob acts as a balance between bass and treble.

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"A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All"

Very thoughtful post eagle. Certainly there will be many new guys and visitors who will find this helpful. And for the rest of us, it is a good refresher. dog

Nice work, Steve. A mini owners' manual!

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Rickenbackers: I love to play them. I enjoy the challenge of working on them. I love the way they sound.

Thanks Paul....any additional tips that can be added here would certainly be welcome.

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"A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All"

Remove Bridge Cover.

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Jangle, Chime & Twang.

Unless it is a vintage instrument that should not be modified, for increased versatility consider using my wiring mods.

Consider adding my push-pull tone mod circuit, especially to three pickup instrumemts.

Here it is! Do you have any way of posting the wiring diagrams and the parts that are needed?

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"A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All"

Since this is a controlled factory forum, posting of pictures or hyperlinks is absolutely discretionary with Mr JH & RIC. So, I freely email them in pdf format to whomever wants them. Thanks to everybody for the continuing interest in the mods. And again, many thanks to Mr JH & RIC for allowing me to talk about my wiring mods on this forum.

The only parts needed are the push-pull which is put in the place of the 5th knob, and a .0047 cap if your instrument is not already so equipped. The mods work to some extent with all RIC pickups, although with the HB-1's the .0047 inline cap may not be so jangly because of the inherent nature of most conventional side-by-side coil humbucking type pickups to naturally compress and boost mids while truncating or comb filtering highs.

My understanding is that a .0047 cap is included now when you order a push-pull from the forum.

Please only use RIC approved parts, as other push-pulls may not fit.

Howdy iiipopes,

Great!! Would it be possible to email me all 4 schematics?
My email address is:
strummersteve@gmail.com
Thanks!

Steve

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"A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All"