Відео

Use a open-end wrench. You're not going to take wood off the neck, are you? That is never the intention. Otherwise the manufacturer would have done this themselves.

The new 4003 Ric's have a standard dual action - anything 23 and later (look on the jack plate). I got rid if my two 4001's because the hairpin truss stopped keeping the necks in place.

Back in the 80s I owned a 1974 Rickenbacker 4001 and I learned the single most effective way to make a neck adjustment as well as any/all other repair requirements for a 4001. I took it to a music store and traded it in for a Fender Jazz Bass. Problem solved.

2023 original UA-cam

I always thought that the 4001 only had ONE truss and that the 4003 models have a dual truss rod system, hence the discernibly thicker /fatter necks on the 4003 models?

Stop yanking on that neck like that. And stop telling people to do that. Worst technique I've ever seen. I catch you doing that to one of my guitars you're getting an ass beating on the spot. I don't know what moron taught you that but please let us know so he can be stopped.

Better late than never - just saw this and it was incredibly helpful. I have a 25 year old 4001 re-issue I hadn't played for some time (tend to use my Hofner now in the studio) and finally switched from Medium Round to Light Flat Wounds . . . lowered the action and got everything in tune. Many thanks for the detailed tutorial and also to the contributors below. The process has now been demystified!

You can save on clamping it to the table by holding the bass between your knees upright and sideways on (on a carpeted floor so you don’t scuff your strap button or the bottom of the bass). I think the popping the fretboard thing off must’ve been a combination of a some weakly glued fretboards ending up in the hands of some clueless people.

Adjustment should be máx.1/4 turno clockwise? Mor more right? Thankyou!

PERFECT EXPLANATION... in every sense! Congrats ftom Brazil!

My 2017 4003 manual just says you can adjust the truss rod just like a regular bass, it doesn’t mention to clamp down the body and bend the neck before adjusting the trussrods. I need to tighten mine but not sure how to go about it. Guess I’ll try to find a Rickenbacker Luther. I still have the original strings (I bought the Rick new in 2017).

There's just one nut adjustment missing. ME! I almost went nuts thinking I would have to throw my old 1971 4001 away! Now the neck is finally straight after 20 years and she finally plays great!

When i first got my Rickenbaker 4001, the neck rattled at certain frequencies. Tightening the truss rod did not solve the problem. I ended up pulling the truss rods out and adding a layer of masking tape around them. They both came out of the neck really easy. The truss rod adjustment was not easy because the adjusting nuts were so tight on the recess, you couldn't get a socket on it. I love the sound but the quality of build isn't as good as it should be. The bridge is crap and was the first thing I changed which meant filling a routed hollow under the original bridge. Not only can't you adjust each string individual height, but the intonation adjustment is hampered by not being able to get to the screw adjuster for individual strings because the string was in the way. Why do I like this bass? Well no other bass seems to have this sound and it's so thin, its a lot lighter than most other basses. It's worth the effort. Thanks for your informative vid.

Hi gr8 vid mate .But doing this will affect the intonation will it not ,or is this purely for the action in that the trussrod changes the bow of the neck

He was doing OK until 5 minutes into the video when he suggested using a Pry tool to try and bend the nuts away from the bottom of the truss rod cavity. On these guitars the fretbaord is glued onto the smallest of real estate only about a 1/4" of wood exists between the edges of the neck, and the truss rod slots and the same between the slots. This is the weakest point on the whole guitar. Putting any force under the nuts will transfer directly onto the rod, then into the thrust plate and finally to the underside of the fretboard, and if you are VERY lucky the fretbaord won't pop off. Ever wondered why so many old Rickenbackers have cracks between the fretboard and the neck? This is the reason. If you do need to create space under the nuts , first slacken off the strings ,and use an open ended spanner and release the nuts so the rod is exposed and the washers can be moved back. Then the nut and rod can be pushed into the neck until the nut ,washer and Thrust pad can be removed and the rod pulled out of the neck. Outside of the guitar is where you straighten the rods, where they can't hurt your guitar. Then slide the rods back in ,refit the thrust pad, and washers folowed by the nuts , nip up the nuts, tune the strings and then adjust . Yes you do need to pre bend the neck by hand on these early models , tighteneing the nuts ONLY to take up the slack. I never clamp the guitar to anything, but rather stand the bass on its body end strap button gripping the body between my feet, resting the back of the neck against the inside of my left knee, (I am right handed) and use my left hand gripped around the neck between the nut and 2nd/3rd fret to apply the bending force and using the correct tool (very much like the one used in the video) to adjust the nuts with my right hand . It is a progressive procedure, one I have done on hundreds of Rickenbackers over the last 40 years both on sound necks and after repairing many with lifted fretboards.

EXCELLENT video! Very, very useful! Cheers! ...from Brazil.

14 years later, where’s the bike now?

thank you for a very useful and instructive tutorial. too bad often i can't see what you're doing. anyway, i'll take heed of what you pointed out when i set to adjusting the truss rod on my '78 4001 for the first time in about forty years. yep. there was never a need, or it was pointless because of other imperfections, but after i installed a hipshot bridge, the bass sort of ressurected from aging apathy. the neck leans back too much, so i'm giving it some relief to obtain buzzless super low action.

Hello can you use this.method on a newer one to get it nice and straight

Thanxalot for your video, I made it that way and the Ergebnis is wunderbar! Herzliche Grüße :-)

Why doesn't Rickenbacker make their basses with ONE truss rod? Seriously. After decades of suffering, if I was the CEO, this would be completed changed.

I have been doing custom guitar work for years and I must say that this not how you should adjust truss rods, I don't know who showed you how to do that on a Rickenbacker but that isn't how, I could show you if I were there but please for the sake of others doing damage to their bass remove this post.

You don't have to pry the truss rod nut. You can get an actual truss rod wrench designed to squeeze under the truss rod nut.

Thank you... valuable info.....

Setting the intonation on these is a real joy, too.

Would you do the same on a hollow-body 360-12 String??

Great video. Thank you for showing this. Like you, I have always heard how to do it, but have never seen it live.

if you guys knew how rickenbacker did it at the factory you would be stunned lol ask some of the old guys that worked in the factory in the 70s

Hey man good video. I have to disagree with prying up the nuts with a small catspaw. Doing that may cause fret board separation also as I found out the hard way with my 72 4001. You can get a special adjustment driver from Stewart Macdonald. www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Wrenches/Hex_Truss_Rod_Wrenches.html The quarter inch one will fit and with a minimal amount of figgeling it will go right over the nut pretty easily. I demonstrate it in my video "Rickenbackers Suck" on my channel. Anyway great video and keep on rockin in the free world.

Thanks for the in depth detailed explanation. I’m going to try this for the first time to rescue a 4001. Great video!

excellent. I am about to put this knowledge to a 1980 4001 Maple Glo. Thanks a bunch!

You’d be surprised how much force you can apply to that neck. I actually mounted mine to the table with a block of wood under the neck joint, and bent the neck down SEVERAL inches (unstrung), then tightened the nuts down. I had to do this, as my bass neck had been horribly mishandled by the previous owner. Also, after years of having roundwound strings on it, those truss rods have lost some tensile strength. I store it with the strings detuned now. I recommend this on all 4001’s.

Don't do that. PLEASE! Don't do that!

What year is this bass?

sexy

The factory uses a jig that pulls the neck back with a constant force when adjusting the rods....You can use your table clamp for the body..with the addition of a rope tied to the headstock and tied down to a floor anchor, adjust and tie off rope to get neck in position for nut adjustment... Also it is important to make sure you use new steel washers under the adjusting nuts with a tiny bit of molly lube or atleast check the washers are not damaged...This is because the nuts can dig into both the washers and aluminum block....if the nuts are hard to get at ....you can grind down the OD of a socket to make it's wall thinner... Rickenbacker's thoughts on why they want you to use their strings is because the uniform string tension which keeps the dual truss rods close to equal torque... Also the Rick strings are slightly smoother/flatter so they wont chew up the frets as quickly as a typical round wound.. There is truth to that...However I still love the magic of Roto 66 Stainless with a Rick.. When the truss rods are torqued differently to handle a non-uniform string tensions...then the bass could suffer from dead spots aka dead notes...this is when the traveling waves in the separate truss rods are not uniform in torque and length , thus creating canceling nodes..

Are you using flat wounds on your Ricky? And if so, which ones?

My main concern with this tutorial is the "prying up" on the truss rod nuts with any kind of tool as he did here. Nothing will crack your fingerboard quicker. If you don't have the proper 1/4" truss rod wrench, or if there's not enough room for your nut driver to fit, take it to a professional

Rickenbacker seems to be particularly proud of their double truss rod system. I personally think it's a pain in the ass every time you want to adjust your neck. Proper tools are not supplied with the new instruments - well, at least not with mine - stupid inch-size crap that is only still in use in the US, while the whole rest of the world is on metric and, indeed, there is no way you can properly place your nut driver around the nut. it just sucks. And conservative as they are in the US, it will probably never change into a better version. "PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA!"

2 truss rods? What were Rickenbacker thinking?

This should be stickied as a standard for working on old ricks, thank you for the video.

Nice tutorial. Only constructive criticism - when you are saying 'tighten' i dont know if you are turning clockwise or counterclockwise and it's hard to see.

this guy sounds like Hooper from "jaws" very helpful nonetheless

thanks!

I have a 1978 like yours . Would you give me the name of someone that would fix my truss rod problem. They have the tip at the end bent so I can't remove them

This was VERY helpful!!! Thank you.

Wanted a video showing how to do with the latest versions... My Rick got as huge relief... and i tried to adjust the truss rods but get no better... Think that i´ve run both of them until the end. They are stucked... And the relief still there...

A very thoughtful and helpful tutorial. Thanks : )

Surely the way you're demonstrating adjusting the rods and not consciously noting how many turns you're making on each, risks putting a twist in the neck? Would be much easier to just back the rods off completely slack, then mechanically clamp the neck into a back bow, then tighten the rods evenly to hold the neck in place, as to not risk developing a twist....

FINALLY!! Thank you. I've been trying to find good info on this for quite sometime. This was very helpful. That's a beautiful bass. What year is it? Check mine out. It's a white 1978 4001.