The Last Bass Outpost

we made 40 to 75 instruments per day in the mid 1970's .... that got as high as 130 per day in 1992 .. today .. about 20 per day  if that .

Well I have no idea what a bass of that era is going for.

I just see one to 5 Ricks  hitting my bench per week.

its been that way for 30+ years.

Quote from: godofthunder on February 06, 2012, 08:42:13 PM
 They could snap, I've had it happen. They may bend back ,they may not, if they snap I am sol. Ain't the only thing that's wrong, the neck pup output is very weak, I mean almost inaudible. The bridge pup is intermittent ( most likely the switch no real big deal but come on) oh yeah the nut fell when I detuned it to get the truss rod cover off, again no big deal but you'd think they'd check things out before they sell them ? I mean I found all this stuff the first 10 minutes of the bass being in my hands.

Weak pickups ?  time for a meter... an audible is  really  just a clue here.
If the magnet does not touch the polepieces of the neck pickup .. it will be weak sounding.  It should read 6.5 to 8k  or even more !

Intermittant pickups are also dirty contacts on the selector switch and the switch on the mono jack .  A piece of sand paper (400 to 1500 grit) wiped across the contact once will fix it .

To fix the truss rods ... I will run a thread on that .

What year was that ?   Was Brian Carman Still the plant manager ?

There is an assumption that because  the Beatles , Byrds, Yes , Rush  Petty, Etc used this brand that they must be as easy to adjust from a mechanic point of view.

That just is NOT the case.

All pre 1985 basses need help.I have rarely seen one STOCK that did not need the bridge moved, the E  saddle modified so you COULD get the string intonated ...and the curling rods is easy to solve...THEY ALL DO THAT .

I can explain it .  Most repair shops deal with Gibson's truss rod . It does not matter what brand  that rod is in ..it is their design.
Rick has since 1986 used a variation on the Gibson design ... it too can use a little help IMHO. (I am not crazy about how the rods are anchored- a fairly easy fix )

Quote from: godofthunder on February 06, 2012, 01:28:20 PM
VERY disappointing, The truss rods are bent, pushed into the truss rod cavity. Looks like someone tried to dig under the nuts to get a wrench on them  I emailed the seller, there is supposed to be a seven day return policy.

With the mild steel used... more than HALF the pre 1985 basses have this so called PROBLEM... its not a problem. Its not a HUGE issue.

Well if you ask me ... you  have not seen enough Rick basses.

These gouge things are and were done all the time.

Both BEFORE they went into the spray booth...and then in the assembly area.

this is no big deal .

I don't see a problem with this bass in question... it just needs adjusting by some one who knows HOW to do it.

Its not that big of deal.

I invite you all to look at all my postings prior to 2004 on the RRF .

Peter has kindly  kept them all there for the world to see .

I have read and seen several comments about this truss rod adjusting from  so called Authorities on the web.   NONE of them worked in Check out and Assembly at Rickenbacker.
NONE of them dealt with 40 to 60 basses a day  in the 3000 or 4000  series .

NONE of them  understands HOW to really do this ... including the current so called expert  Dingle Dangle .He does not have the experience.

So if you hear....Arnquist  does not know what he is talking about .. let me know , please.

I then arch both rods.. wax them with JOHNSON'S paste wax (comes in a Yellow tin at most grocery stores in the USA )
Then slide them back into the neck.   

I slip the bar back onto both rods ( this can be tricky )  then the real mod.. Slip two Metric washers  over the rods after they are poking out of the bar. Then Tighten the rods up and get an arch in the neck .

Next.. Unclamp the neck

Tune .. You may need to raise the bridge temporarily (Yes this is more work.. but remember... its NOT  a Fender P Bass .)
Then loosen the rods to get the correct neck relief .

Now set the bridge height.

I pull both rods OUT of the neck ( Yes they pull out ! )

Then I chase the threads on both rods.. this cleans up the mild steel rods (this is NOT cold rolled steel like Fender or Gibson truss rod stock )

Then I look at how much thread there is to both rods... if there is little or no thread past the upper rods end.. I extend the threads at least 3/4" onto both rods (this is for future needs .

Then I look at how much curvature there is to the neck .

With the strings loose .. I see if the fretboard is arched (most of the time .. this is NEVER the case)
If its flat .. then I just reinstall the rods.
If the neck has a back bow of any amount .. IO clanp the neck at the 1st fret .. leaving the body floating in the air. I have a special Rick rod adjustment  set up for this task. It is something we had in the factory.

Quote from: godofthunder on February 06, 2012, 01:28:20 PM
VERY disappointing, The truss rods are bent, pushed into the truss rod cavity. Looks like someone tried to dig under the nuts to get a wrench on them  I emailed the seller, there is supposed to be a seven day return policy.

In th factory , we used a curved gouge to chisel out material under the rods. This was done to about 99% of all instruments.

The rod curl is extremely common. It is due to the materials  the rods are made of and the way the rods  opperate.

I use a SNAP-ON 1/4" open end wrench where the head is set at nearly a right angle to the shaft.   I back off the nuts .. Then remove the truss rod bar. (thats the aluminum piece)
.
Next I flatten the bar as they usually are chewed up from being tensioned.

There is a problem with nearly ALL pre Santa Ana made guitars.


The fret locations can be wonky  on many of them . Every Combo 6oo and 800 I have worked on had problems.

There is a formula .. for laying out frets. This was used... but the saw set up traveled .. so you get frets that are not necessarily parallel to one another.

Yes .. they are cool looking ,....very cool  .

Guild Bluesbird