I have a brand new 660-12 that I noticed had too much relief on the neck [bowed up], when I received it. Since it didn't come with an adjustment tool, I ordered the Ric nut driver from the web site so I could adjust the truss rods, but found the end of the nut driver could not engage the ends of the truss rods. Simply, there wasn't enough clearance in the headstock well behind the nuts to allow for the driver head to fit over them. I either need a very thin nut driver head, or I need to remove a little of the wood from behind the truss rod nuts - probably about 1-2 mm. Has anyone else seen this problem on their Rics, and/or know of a better solution than cutting into my new ax and possibly reducing it's value? I can do the woodwork involved to solve the problem, but it seems like that shouldn't be necessary in a new guitar.
Thanks for the help and advice.

We have another member here who had the same issue with how his 4003 settled. He carefully removed a small amount of wood under the truss rods nuts. There are some thin walled nut drivers available, you just have to find them. For many years, I'd used a interchangeable bit driver with a long shaft that worked the same way.
You won't lose value on your guitar if you are careful about removing a small wood behind the truss rod nuts. Besides, no one will see it unless they remove the TRC. Carefully done, it will probably look like how the guitar was made. As long as the guitar plays and sounds great, don't worry about it. Get it setup well and enjoy it.

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Throw that piece of firewood where it belongs and get yourself a Rickenbacker!

Thanks for the advice. I actually decided to try grinding the nut driver I got from Ric, and try that route first. It took some time with my Dremel and a decent metal grinding wheel, but I was able to take about 2mm from the outside of the driver head to enable it to fit over the truss rod nuts. I got the neck totally straight, then I deepened the slots in the nut to take care of the issue of pulling the lower stings sharp when fretting in the lower positions. After that, and adjusting the intonation on a few strings, and it now sounds and plays like a dream - the one i had in mind before I got this thing. I didn't fully appreciate the fact that although Rics are indeed beautiful instruments out of the factory, and have that unbelievable sound, they don't come totally set up the way one might expect. Fortunately, I do have some experience in wood/metal/guitar working that enabled me to fix the issues, and I was amply rewarded by diving in to make these adjustments - I was just very reluctant and somewhat discouraged that would be needed on an expensive, first rate guitar like this is in every other way. I am now a very happy Ric owner, and although I have several other guitars, none put a smile on my face the way this one does when I strike a chord to a familiar Petty, Beatles, or Byrds song. What a sound! I want a 6 string Ric now, when I can get enough dough together to buy another. I also appreciate the tips I found here on this forum from other owners like you [and the guy with the 4003 you referred to] concerning all the issues I had. Many thanks to all.
Here attached are a couple of pics of what I did to the nut driver for those that might be interested

I had the same trouble, and I too ground down the outside of my RIC nut driver; the metal is tempered, so it's doable without damaging the integrity of the metal.

Had the same problem with a 330 that I had bought off eBay, supposedly "set up by our luthier". I had my doubts about the setup, especially after I removed the truss-rod cover and realized that both nuts were loose! I tightened the rods to remove all relief from the neck, but then it became more and more of a struggle to remove the driver as I was nearing 0 relief.

The guitar soon found a new owner...

I had that problem also. Took a nut driver and ground the driver down till it fit! Easy fix with no modding to the guitar just the nut driver. Works great!

I'm the guy with the 4003 Rickenbrother was referring to. I went the other route and just did a bit of parring with a chisel and everything's great. Since the TRC covers it, no worries about anyone seeing it and since I will never sell it in my lifetime, wasn't worried about this affecting its value.

It would be easy for us if, one, everyone wanted their instrument set up the same way and two, everyone lived in Southern California or an identical clime.

Peter Buck, for instance, has action so high and strings so heavy that I can hardly bear to play his guitars. But for him, that's his perfect adjustment. On the other hand, the lead player in my band likes his set up virtualy bottomed out, strings practically on the frets.

We hope we're going meet to "one's" expectation more often than not by sending them out with an average, middle-of-the-road adjustment but there's plenty of people at both ends of the spectrum too.

And then there's the climate; not much we can do about that.

And then there's my recently acquired blueburst 4003 that seems to have a neck angle problem (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14938), which I hope can be remedied by filing the saddles. Any thoughts John?

A "neck angle problem" is just about impossible, given the way a 4003 is constructed. The full length laminated blank is quite literally machined and becomes the entire basis upon which the parts are mounted. The body "wings" are essentially ornamental and ergonomic, nothing to do with the set up.

My guess is that your instrument has a humidity warp quite near to the body end of the neck. To correct it would likely require some form of heat treatment, concentrated near the neck-body joint. I'd say this is one for the climate side of the equation.