Rickenbacker 330/12 FG - revelations
So, I've had the Ric for 1 year and 5 months. Truly an item of luxury and craftsmanship. It puts the build quality of my other guitars to shame.
Since then I've tried the Pyramid strings that people rave about which had nice flatwound feel but terrible intonation, didn't fit in the nut of the guitar properly and were unbelievably expensive. I've now gone back and tried the Rickenbacker strings to find they have excellent intonation, even on the six saddle bridge. It must have been the strings that were originally on the guitar when I got it that were terrible. Maybe because they were at least a year old? Another strange thing about the strings is the gauges seem light at the bass end, but when strung up the tension still feels right.
When I changed the strings, I took the opportunity of setting the guitar up properly. With the 12-string, just changing the strings is a mammoth task, so why not go the whole nine yards? After a little research on the Rickenbacker website I discovered that instead of having relief in the neck, Rics are meant to have an absolutely straight neck! So off with the bridge cover, off with the truss rod cover and to work with a nut driver and the allen keys. But what did I find?
When I originally got the guitar, it was meant to have been set up professionally. Removing the truss rod cover revealed some terrible sins. Whoever set the guitar up had not adjusted the truss rods incorrectly but had done so with a spanner and left large scars down the soft metal. For a guitar that was sold to me as being brand new, this is a bad thing. Maybe the lesson here is to buy from a reputable Rickenbacker dealer and no to go for the bargains?
Anyway, using the proper tool (an imperial nut driver) I managed to take out the relief from the neck that the previous 'professional' had put in and get the neck completely straight. I then tuned the guitar up to pitch and checked the intonation, corrected that, tuned to pitch, checked the relief, detuned the strings, adjusted the truss rods (different amounts on each one) and repeated ad nauseam until I was satisfied (quite a long while after). For the relief, I found the point where I had a very slight amount of relief on both sides of the neck and then adjusted each truss rod back ever so slightly until it only just disappeared.
Now with the guitar set up as it should be, straight neck, intonating nicely on all string pairs and with fresh strings I had a play. It was like having a completely different guitar. From a slow feeling and difficult neck with pairs of strings that went relatively out of tune with each other as you played higher to a slinky beast that feels fast, has almost no buzz and stays in tune all the way up the neck.
Amazing what a little research and effort can do. And a raised middle finger to that unprofessional 'professional'.
Since then I've tried the Pyramid strings that people rave about which had nice flatwound feel but terrible intonation, didn't fit in the nut of the guitar properly and were unbelievably expensive. I've now gone back and tried the Rickenbacker strings to find they have excellent intonation, even on the six saddle bridge. It must have been the strings that were originally on the guitar when I got it that were terrible. Maybe because they were at least a year old? Another strange thing about the strings is the gauges seem light at the bass end, but when strung up the tension still feels right.
When I changed the strings, I took the opportunity of setting the guitar up properly. With the 12-string, just changing the strings is a mammoth task, so why not go the whole nine yards? After a little research on the Rickenbacker website I discovered that instead of having relief in the neck, Rics are meant to have an absolutely straight neck! So off with the bridge cover, off with the truss rod cover and to work with a nut driver and the allen keys. But what did I find?
When I originally got the guitar, it was meant to have been set up professionally. Removing the truss rod cover revealed some terrible sins. Whoever set the guitar up had not adjusted the truss rods incorrectly but had done so with a spanner and left large scars down the soft metal. For a guitar that was sold to me as being brand new, this is a bad thing. Maybe the lesson here is to buy from a reputable Rickenbacker dealer and no to go for the bargains?
Anyway, using the proper tool (an imperial nut driver) I managed to take out the relief from the neck that the previous 'professional' had put in and get the neck completely straight. I then tuned the guitar up to pitch and checked the intonation, corrected that, tuned to pitch, checked the relief, detuned the strings, adjusted the truss rods (different amounts on each one) and repeated ad nauseam until I was satisfied (quite a long while after). For the relief, I found the point where I had a very slight amount of relief on both sides of the neck and then adjusted each truss rod back ever so slightly until it only just disappeared.
Now with the guitar set up as it should be, straight neck, intonating nicely on all string pairs and with fresh strings I had a play. It was like having a completely different guitar. From a slow feeling and difficult neck with pairs of strings that went relatively out of tune with each other as you played higher to a slinky beast that feels fast, has almost no buzz and stays in tune all the way up the neck.
Amazing what a little research and effort can do. And a raised middle finger to that unprofessional 'professional'.
posted by Dan Burgess at
8:57 pm
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1 comments
