Bridge lift, is it bad?

lars · Post by **lars** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:20 am

How does a bridge lift affect the sound, does it affect the sound at all?

lars · Post by **lars** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:23 am

(The bass pictured is not mine, but my -75 has a slight lift too)

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:16 am

My '73 4001 has about as much lift and I really like the sound of it, so I don't believe it has affected the sound. Than again I have a V63 horseshoe in it which probably helps make it sound great.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:55 am

A couple of mine have it, I just overlook it.

Its the nature of the beast.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:57 am

Yeah. It's one of the so-called 'Rickenbacker misconceptions', too.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun May 29, 2005 8:28 am

add 2 screws ... some Rics even come from the factory with the 2 extra screws ...

The Ric tailpiecs/bridge assembly is a pain in the rear ... it pulls up ... the mechanical mute makes palm muting almost impossible ... it is a pain to intonate ...

I've seen the pull up get so bad the the finish on the tailpiece cracks and peels off and the tailpiece digs into the finish on the wood and makes that chip off also ... and I have seen it pull up to the point where it can effect the playability of the bass ... the tailpiece looks pretty but it is not really a good design ...

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun May 29, 2005 8:58 am

You could replace it with one of these, no drilling required.

lars · Post by **lars** » Sun May 29, 2005 10:50 am

Yes, I will definitively (definitly...defeianate...def..#¤%&!) get one of those. Guitarpartsrecource list it as "out of stock", how many forumites have got one?

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Sun May 29, 2005 10:56 am

Lars...you should definitely do that!!

wints · Post by **wints** » Sun May 29, 2005 12:05 pm

The old pre 73 bridges don't lift, or at least not in my experience. All seven that I have on my basses have absolutely no lift. They are much heavier pieces compared to later versions.

lars · Post by **lars** » Sun May 29, 2005 12:43 pm

Thanks Chris!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:25 pm

The construction of the older ones are totally different from the ones that lift. They are solid vs. a hollow casting.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sun May 29, 2005 6:24 pm

At some point, bridge lift can damage the finish. My Black Star has small finish chips on either side of the tail piece where the metal flexed downward towards that wood. Not good. I have heard of some 4001CS's with the same problem.

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Mon May 30, 2005 3:04 am

the bridge lift CAN be a problem. i owned a 73 with a good ammount of lift on it, the E string rattled in the saddle unless the bridge was set high, there just was not enough angle over teh saddle

rickengeezer · Post by **rickengeezer** » Mon May 30, 2005 3:18 am

My white/BT 4003s/5 just arrived this weekend from Basscentral. It has a severe case of bridge lift....my MG s5 has the two extra screws in the bridge, but this one doesn't--given the tension from a 5-string, the lift seems inevitable. I would imagine that getting a replacement black s5 bridge from Ric would be unlikely, although I'll email them and ask. Jeff, did you put the two extra screw holes in yourself? Doing so makes me nervous, as the bridge already has the bend in it and it seems that it might damage the wood if I try to screw it down in its present shape.