String changing, rickenbacker 620

[Hagront]

I just bought a totaly new Rickenbacker 620, and the strings on it is 8:s and I would like to change them to 10:s. I have read a lot about changing the string sizes, and it seems that you need to adjust the neck and stuff when you change sizes. What exactly is it you need to change when you get thicker strings?

 

The pickups seems to make a strange russling sound when I hit the higest notes, the sustain just disappears and it sounds weard. Anyone know what that is?

[mc5nrg]

To respond to this question as well as your other post on string gauges:

 

Hard to say sight unseen, but it sounds like the Rick needs to be set up. That is various adjustments are made to the bridge, truss rod, pickup height and other things including intonation and possibly the nut slots so the guitar plays comfortably and sounds good with minimal or no buzzing.

 

A .008 set seems kind of super light for a Rick. Thicker strings exert more pull on the neck and sometimes require a truss rod adjustment to straighten out a concave dip in the neck. Because the Rick probably has dual truss rods and a maple neck you may not need to adjust anything and this at first would be best left to someone with experience. Your "strange rustling sound" could mean the action is to low possibly requiring a bridge adjustment or the pickup is so high the strings are rubbing the pickup. In general thicker strings will give you bigger tone but be harder to fret and bend as the diameter increases- on a Rickenbacker 620 a typical light gauge set .010-.046 should be fine with a good setup. If you bought the guitar new chances are good the store will set up the guitar with strings you prefer gratis or for the cost of the strings. Otherwise, find local folks with a good rep and spring for a decent setup and feel free to ask questions or tell them your concerns.

 

Ever heard of the Nick Hellacopter/Scott Morgan soul revue, the Solution?

[Mudder1310]

Rics were set up from the factory for .010, so I don't know who put .008 on that. Part of the rustling you're hearing could be some buzz because the light strings aren't pulling the neck enough to give you relief.

 

If you've never set up a guitar I'd take it to a pro, not guitar center, for a set up and string change. You could just change strings yourself and see what the difference is. You might not need to do much at all.

 

Also pick up a book by Dan Erlewine about how to care for and work on electric guitars. Learn to do it all yourself and save some cash.

[Help!I'maRock!]

go buy a pack of rickenbacker 10-42 strings and get the guitar back to factory spec. once you've done that and the guitar has settled back to where its supposed to be, then you can experiment with other gauges.