Odd tuning failure

[merciful-evans]

If anyone has any insight as to what happened here, I would appreciate hearing your opinions.

 

Something strange happened while playing my new Ric 650 last Sunday. I had been playing for about 2 hours and I noticed it had fallen out of tune. It was mainly the top E. The G was very slightly out. Not uncommon because I had been using string bends a lot.

 

When trying to retune the E, it was immediately slipping back out of tune. I have never experienced anything like this before. The tuner seemed to be winding OK but the tension was not being held. I carried on trying to raise it back to correct pitch when the string broke (at roughly about the nut position).

 

The Ric has small Schaller tuners. They are all securely screwed to the headstock.

The guitar is brand new and the strings were as shipped with Ric strings (no change of strings yet made). The tuner in question seems in good condition with no discernible slack.

I have played the guitar for about 24 hours in total since buying it.

The E String path at the nut is about 4 degrees (plan view). I don’t think there was any binding in the slot, but it’s possible.

The bridge is fixed (A Combi) and the neck is thick & heavy.

 

The only thing I can think of, is that the string was not securely wound when applied, though it’s kept tension pretty well up to this point.

Yes, the strings are about ready for a change, but they are not ‘dead’ yet.

 

According to this advice feature I found, my Schallers are German or USA made. The writer states that the Korean made Schaller copies are better.

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/GenMaint/Gears/GearTune/geartune2.html

 

POSTSCRIPT

That’s not quite the end yet though. After replacing the 0.010” E string, I nipped up the key screw on the tuner. Not overtight, but secure.

Oddly, the guitar set-up had been affected. The action was now higher. I checked the neck relief and it was about right but not perfect. I did think it might benefit from less relief on the high E side, so I adjusted the truss rod on the treble side (Rics have twin truss rods) only and tightened it by a half turn. This immediately improved the playability again, and as yet I’ve made no further adjustment. In fact this is the first adjustment of any kind that I’ve made to this guitar. It came perfectly set up from new. I will check the neck again this coming wend and if no further movement occurs, will tighten the same rod by another ¼ turn. This should make the relief minimal but still functional I think. After that, I will adjust the string heights if/as needed.

 

Curiously, the Ric manual recommends changing the strings one at a time (remove 1 string and bring the new one to pitch before moving on to another). I had only done this before with Floyd Rose bridges and with the G-Force equipped Gibsons. Perhaps there is something about the Ric design that needs this also?

[stein]

If the string broke at the nut, clearly it was either the string going bad, or the tuner wasn't registering the note properly and you over did it. But in any case, that problem seems to be solved.

 

Don't know anything about the Ric truss rods, but a buddy who had a Ric bass who wasn't a particularly "anal" guy would not ever lean his bass on the neck, because of the truss rod he said. But I always thought that was more of a Bass thing, long neck and all.

[merciful-evans]

Well there is an alarming condition on Ric basses (maybe guitars also?) made before 1984, where it takes 2 people to adjust the truss rod(s).

To adjust the truss rod, you need to push the neck in the direction you need it to go while turning the spanner/wrench. If you try to adjust it in the 'normal' way, the rods can prise the fingerboard right off the neck.

 

On a YouTube vid I've seen, one guy manages it by himself by first clamping his 400 series bass to the bench 1st.

 

Ok, that's over 35 years ago and not affecting me.

 

The movement is puzzling though. Ive now been in touch with the shop (who are experienced), who are none the wiser either. Though they did tell me I didnt need to only change 1 string at a time, but doing so stops the bridge falling off (worth knowing - I assumed it was captive).