4004 bridges

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:31 pm

An earlier thread was discussing what brand of bridge is used on the 4004. If you look at page 96 in the November '96 issue of Bass Player magazine you will see a photo of Jim Robert's Zon Legacy that has an ABM bridge that is identical to that on the 4004, just thought I'd feed the fire some.

By the way in my earlier post about a replacement bridge for the 4001 and 4003 I was hoping to see how many of you would be interested in a direct bolt on high quality bridge that would solve the original bridge's shortcomings but not many responded. Does this mean there is little interest in such a product?

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 5:09 pm

Jeffrey-- Perhaps most of us here who would be interested are a taking a quiet "wait and see" approach to the replacement. Speaking strictly for myself, I rarely have to make any saddle intonation adjustments so it may not be cost effective for me to replace the original bridge. Also, those of us who are pretty hardcore about Ric aesthetics would have to have something virtually indistinguishable from the original.

This is only my personal take on it, and YMMV.

By the way, unless John Hall says otherwise, I'm convinced the 4004 bridge is an ABM.

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 6:54 pm

That's also my view on a possible replacement bridge. And in addition to the appearance issue, the tone would have to be indistinguishable from the original. I really doubt that there's even much of a potential market to develop.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 7:32 pm

The original 4001 bridge looks good and sounds good ... it quite often pulls up ... it is a pain to adjust ... it does not allways have sufficent travel distance for intonation, and the mute is useless and cumbersome ... but I've never seen an after market bridge that I would put on one of my 4001/4003 basses ... I had a Ric with a badass .. it was ugly and it didn't sound as good ...

If you make a replacement bridge it should have a similar shape and mass and look and feel to the original ... then it has to fit with the strange routing for the mute ... that's a lot of work for niche market ...

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 9:04 pm

I ,like many here, hate the thought of non-Ricky parts on my basses so I modify their bridges to fix all of the problems mentioned above. Now if RIC stopped making the 4001/4003 bridge then there might be a market as a replacement for worn out, peeling or missing bridges.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 6:27 am

I don't think you have too much to worry about. Given the trademark and Lanham Act coverage for this part, as we have on most all of our unique components, it's not likely anyone will offer a replacement- at least not one with similar appearance.

We've also had something up our sleeve on this front for a long time but then you all know by now I no longer discuss future products on the 'Net!

ABM used to offer one which was more or less a flat plate upon which something like our Cheyenne bridge was mounted. It worked well and didn't look too bad. However Klaus told me he learned quickly that there was essentially no market for such things! Nevertheless, you see them around from time to time.

We've had something up our sleeve on this front for quite awhile now but then you all know by now that I won't discuss future products on the 'Net anymore.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:27 am

TEASE.

:}

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 9:12 am

I haven't seen any photos of this bridge yet but I don't believe that it will be a knockoff of the original bridge but will have a similar profile in order to cover up the route in the body and not look like some of the things we have all seen on eBay. Given this manufacturer's reputation it should be of the highest quality and will not infringe on any trademarks as this company has integrity.

John, I am surprised that you have had a design for a more user friendly bridge and have not produced it yet given all the folks who talk about modifying the original to make it better to adjust and such. I understand the concept of tradition but wouldn't improvements that really are such be to everybody's advantage?

Asthestically the 4001/3 bridge is a work of art until one has to adjust the intonation, plus on most of them that I have seen , the bridge saddle assembly is tilted back towards the strap button. This actually helps with the intonation and lowering the action, but I don't think that was the intention originally.

As always, your input in these discussions are highly valued and much appreciated, thanks.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 9:45 am

The only thing I don't really like about the bridge-tailpiece assembly is that it is very hard to mute the strings with your palm and use a pick at the same time, and that problem for me is minor as I only want to do that when I play surf tunes such as Pipeline, Walk Don't Run, etc. And Jeff, I agree with you, it is a work of art, as is the whole bass. I think that the Rickenbacker bass is the most beautiful bass ever built, bar non.

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:35 pm

Jeffrey Scott-- Have you seen the thread "4001-4003 replacement bridge" started by David Mitchell? By any chance is that the bridge you're talking about in this thread?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 5:10 pm

Sorry, double post.

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 5:11 pm

Jeffery,
Yes, this is probably the bridge I am talking about. I had not seen any photos before this but I do know that David was No.1 on the list to get one and I am No.2 to get one. I agree that the design does need some refining but the idea of having a bridge that is not a PITA to adjust may be worth what we have here, especially as it is basically a drop-in and the original bridge can be put back with no modifications to the instrument. I do not know any details about it's construction; I am planning on talking to the manufacturer tomorrow about it's aesthetics and whether the production version can be a little nicer looking. I do have some ideas on how it could be better now that I have seen pictures of it.