cassius987 wrote:I love the official Rickenbacker bridge that was recently released. It's on my 4003AC. Wonderful. I just wish the tailpiece teeth/mute would be taken out of a future design to make palm muting a bit easier. It's far from impossible as-is, but not optimal.
Honestly I never palm mute on bass. I've tried. Just don't find myself liking how it sounds.
My 4001 has a Hipshot and I've been thinking about modifying it to accept Babicz saddles because while the tailpiece part overall is very solid, the saddles themselves are a little flimsy.
This looks clunky and very much like an add-on part. At $169.00 it's WAY overpriced. He should have designed it as part of a compete assembly without a mute for that price. At only $21 less than the new V2 from RIC, this makes no sence.
aceonbass wrote:This looks clunky and very much like an add-on part. At $169.00 it's WAY overpriced. He should have designed it as part of a compete assembly without a mute for that price. At only $21 less than the new V2 from RIC, this makes no sence.
I already have a Babicz on a Precision Bass and I really like it. The neck on my 4003W needs adjustment anway so I probably order one and will do (or let it be done) at the same time. I will post pictures/review when it happened.
aceonbass wrote:This looks clunky and very much like an add-on part. At $169.00 it's WAY overpriced. He should have designed it as part of a compete assembly without a mute for that price. At only $21 less than the new V2 from RIC, this makes no sence.
I like that it preserves the mute functionality, but I agree that it's overpriced for what it is.
I've priced out custom metal stuff like this and it ain't cheap. I think this is a decent price... BUT in the wake of the availability of the RIC V2 bridge, it makes the V2 the no-brainer unfortunately. The FCH would have sold like hot cakes 10 years ago. Who knows, maybe it still will. I certainly appreciate the effort they put into this and hope they don't lose money on the operation.
I just took a look at Babicz website and I can't actually knock the concept. I am sure it is a viable alternative, but I don't get it.
In context of my 4003 (y2k build) there are a few things that irk me. I am still running a standard bridge, which has a little bit of tail lift, but I can still get the action I want. Not long after I purchased it, I installed a new set of saddles and filed these myself, because either the factory didn't do a perfect job on string spacing, or the previous owner messed it up.
A little bit of treble pickup reassembly and new saddle slots had her lined up perfectly. I think we all know just how far out these things can be from factory, or previous mods, or age.
So I look at the Babicz and think, what?
1. No orthogonal (sideways) adjustment? We would have to assume this bridge has the perfect spacing already. What if it doesn't? My other main bass has a Hipshot B I think, which has sideways saddle barrel adjustment. Now that's a bridge!
2. Adjusting intonation requires loosening the side grub screws which are effectively JAMMING ALL THE SADDLES TOGETHER, relying purely on friction/interference to stop them from moving?!?!
Is this how it works? In that case, if I loosen the grubs, then I risk other saddles moving accidentally, or completely out of whack. What if I am clumsy and bump the bass, or tilt it while adjusting, does it have to lay absolutely flat?
So I can't play, tweak, play etc to adjust intonation based on an average of my playing heaviness to ensure it is right across the board?
If my tail lifts any more, I would probably go a V2. Honestly I don't have a problem with V1, except maybe the saddle block tilting, but I find that actually helpful - moving it a string winding or two as weather and conditions dictate, to fine tune intonation. It ain't hard to get the little screwdriver out to quickly tweak an individual string.
All that said, I never had a problem with Gibson/Epiphone 3-Point Tune-O-Matic bridges either, once you do a little fine tuning.
I have to agree that in light of the V2, it seems a bit of a waste of time to me. But hey, people like options and if it floats your boat,go for it. Anything I get in future that is post-original-aluminium tailpiece is going to get a V2, assuming it hasn’t already got one.