Hi first post here, and probably the most covered topic on this forum, so for that, I must apologize! Ok' I have a 75 4001, which plays and sounds fantastic, but after reading countless posts on neck 'straightness' I'm now wondering if my old girl would benefit from some truss rod adjustment?????? I'm saying this because my neck isn't straight in comparison with the body? but as I say plays wonderfully, with no choking / buzzing etc..... It's currently strung with a 105 gauge set of strings' but I am considering going with a lighter gauge i.e D'addario 170's to help ease the tension on the neck? My neck is similar to diagram 2 in the pic, maybe not as extreme but going that way none the less......... would I need to loosen the truss rod to relieve this and to straighten her up??

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6145/rickenbackerneckdesignz.jpg

Any advise gratefully received' cheers.

A truss rod adjustment won't help if your neck is pulling up too much. If your still happy with the action don't worry about it for now. If it reaches a point that you can't get the action low enough then it can be fixed but it's a pain. A lot of the 4000 series basses have a large rout for the neck pickup. this allows the neck to flex with time. You have to fill the rout with a piece of maple & rout out just enough for the pickup. Lighter tension strings can help some. Not all smaller gauge strings have less tension.

Thanks for your advice.

Thanks for the advice' appreciated.

Thanks for the great advice Badanovski, ok' now having restrung with the lighter gauge 170's the neck certainly sits in a better plane with the body! I think i'm going to leave well alone to be honest? as I say it's nowhere as extreme as figure 2 on the diagram, but I guess I just wanted everything to be perfect! ) Thanks again.

Having the neck pull a little is what allows a Ric to have very little relief in their necks. So perfect may be a relative term here. I've got a 92 4003s & it's got a rather large rout but still seems to be doing all right.