Hipshot or Dipstick?

[nattiep]

But why should RIC tolerate discussions of competitor's products on their own corporate web site? Its just not good business.

It's called being grown up. Besides, the discussion wasn't happening on their corporate website: it was on the forum - a place which, if it is to be worthy of the name at all, should be exactly that: a forum for open discussion, where the members feel free to air honest opinions and, where necessary, offer justifiable criticism. The fact that the RIC forum isn't any of these things tells us all we need to know. But it goes further than that: even if RIC want their forum to be a platform for nothing but fawning praise, there's no justification for slinging schoolyard insults at other manufacturers.

I bow to you.

[antipodean]

I haven't played a Hipshot, BUT...the functionality seems to be there, but some of the aesthetics are lost. There has to be a middle ground, and maybe that's what RIC is working on.

At least the Hipshot looks better than those Badass conversions.

I'm about to invest in a Hipshot for my '74 4000. I'm tossing up between brass and aluminium - any opinions?

[VRICKY63]

Yes . You want to buy the aluminum Hipshot I have for sale on ebay !

[rictified]

You would not believe how many threads there have been on this subject in this forum which started long before Hipdick or whatever they're called started making theirs, perhaps the other forum wants to avoid the endless, repetitive, boring, nature of these perseverating threads. I have posted something along the lines of the following in most of the long winded digitalized tomes defending these terrible, worthless, out of tune, tail lifted, can't be intonated, cuts sustain, bla, bla, bla, threads which endlessly repeat the same things over and over again:


I've owned over 25 Ric basses since 1977, 4001's and 4003's and have NEVER had a tail lift enough on me to cause any problems with sustain, and have ALWAYS been able to intonate my basses once I set them up correctly. I do remember two cases where it had to be fixed, one in which the tailpiece actually bent right to a 90 degree angle, (now that is tail lift) and the other in which the taiilpice lifted some much the strings were higher than the bridge, but those were exceptions kind of like the exploding R tailpiece (anyone remember that one? haha!) The bridge is not the easiest bridge to intonate and it is hard to palm mute them if you're a pick player. But... on old Fender bridges the little screws get worn and drop by themselves after a while and louse up your nice set up. Gibson two point bridges are very hard to intonate (much harder than a Ric to me), the three point bridges are a little complicated to set properly although i like them. There is no such thing as a perfect bridge. From faraway the Dipshot looks like a Ric bridge, has the same shape but up close it doesn't exactly win any points for beauty. You want to try a simple mod that'll eliminate the worst thing about the bridges (not the tailpieces)? Drill the two indentations for the bridge Allen screws clear through to the wood and put in long Allen screws, the bridge stands up straight no matter how high you have it, that mod was done to my 79 mapleglo 4001 along with a wooden nut and the conversion varnish was taken off the neck during a refret before i bought the bass. This is one of the best sounding 4001's I've ever heard.

[antipodean]

Yes . You want to buy the aluminum Hipshot I have for sale on ebay !

That's definitely one of my options Rick!

[heinpete]

Yes . You want to buy the aluminum Hipshot I have for sale on ebay !

That's definitely one of my options Rick!

Best alternative for reassembling the Rick sound and not adding too much weight to your bass.

[heinpete]

There is no such thing as a perfect bridge.

That is a matter of point of view. For me the Hipshot A-Type bass bridge is pretty close. (Imagine a 5-string 4004 with string through! )

[MichaelStewart]

You want to try a simple mod that'll eliminate the worst thing about the bridges (not the tailpieces)? Drill the two indentations for the bridge Allen screws clear through to the wood and put in long Allen screws, the bridge stands up straight no matter how high you have it, that mod was done to my 79 mapleglo 4001 along with a wooden nut and the conversion varnish was taken off the neck during a refret before i bought the bass.

I also have a 1979 4001 MG that my wife found for me. It had this same MOD! My previous 4001JG was from 1972 had a soild (no holes through to the wood) tailpiece and I had thought that this was a Ric modification. Thanks for clearing that up!

[Darkhollow]

I just took the mute screws off of mine where my hand sits and it digs into my hand...and then promptly lost them. OOPS.
A lever would be a great idea for the mute, but where would it go?

Maybe tuck into the back end of the tailpiece? But then the bridge would lose even more mass. And run the danger of potential finish scratches from moving it back and forth.

A simple cam device even on the side of the bridge would probably do the trick. But the mute itself would have to also be adjustable off the cam across the bridge for when you raise or lower the saddle adjustment. Having a 1/8-3/16" eccentric cam underneath the mute with a simple lever off to the bottom side would probably work well. And allow you to easily turn the mute on and off on the fly.

Just a thought.

[woodyng]

"I'm about to invest in a Hipshot for my '74 4000. I'm tossing up between brass and aluminium - any opinions?" yes,the aluminum one is the way to go-it is a similar weight to the original rickenbridge,and retains 90% of the sound,in my opinion. i have it on my (ahem) 74 4000,so yes! there have been quite a few posts about the brass one changing the sound (more bassy) as well as adding a noticeable amount of weight,and my experience with heavy brass bridges in general lead me to avoid them these days....

[espidog]

This is how the 'instant mute' was achieved on the Ovation Magnum. See the little push-bar thing above the mute? Push it in, and the mute rises into place. The mechanism was, I'm sure, very similar to that just decribed by woody.



And by the way... while we're talking bridge design, if the style of the Hipshot is currently being regarded in certain quarters as an 'infringement', just get an eyeful of the shape of the Magnum's bridge!

[blueflamerick]

I think the Hipshot bridge is craptastic. I put one on my 4003 and couldn't wait for a string change to take the lousy thing off. The saddle height adjustment screws on the A & D strings were loose, so by the end of practice, I was getting a terrible fret buzz. When I plucked the G string, the entire saddle moved. I didn't notice any additional sustain and it's ugly. Sure, it's easier to adjust the intonation, but it's not really that difficult to do with a Rick bridge. I didn't care for the additional weight either.

My hipshot bridge is now in a sock wrapped in duct tape under the driver's seat of my car to twart any would-be car jackers.

[qwezirider]

I'm about to invest in a Hipshot for my '74 4000. I'm tossing up between brass and aluminium - any opinions?

I just posed that question to Hipshot tech people and the reply I received was that the aluminum bridge retained more of the Rick sound. The brass adds another pound of weight and produces a more Fender-like sound.

[rickaddict]

I think the Hipshot bridge is craptastic. I put one on my 4003 and couldn't wait for a string change to take the lousy thing off. The saddle height adjustment screws on the A & D strings were loose, so by the end of practice, I was getting a terrible fret buzz. When I plucked the G string, the entire saddle moved. I didn't notice any additional sustain and it's ugly. Sure, it's easier to adjust the intonation, but it's not really that difficult to do with a Rick bridge. I didn't care for the additional weight either.

My hipshot bridge is now in a sock wrapped in duct tape under the driver's seat of my car to twart any would-be car jackers.

The Rick tail ain't perfect, but with a little effort I've been able to get all 21 of mine to work just fine. Surprisingly, one of my best sounding Ricks is also the one with the most tail lift, (more than 1/8") my July '73.

The mute also usually needs a little effort to get it to work properly. Yes, its too bad that they don't all work perfectly when bass leaves factory, but all it takes is a little trimming of the mute pad. If the mute pad is ruined, they cost ONE DOLLAR! I haven't fixed all of mine yet, but the few that I have can be raised in between songs in less than 10 seconds. Twist both of the screws forward 6 times..."mute on," twist back 6 times..."mute off." No big deal. No force required. I know how badly they can work when screws are rusty or cross-threaded or when the pad is too long and hits the underside of the tail piece next to the screw, but with a little effort it can be fixed.

And for the record, I'll say this...RIC shouldn't have listened to the whiners back in the 80's. The two extra screws in the tail were a simple, effective and cost-effective solution . If people whined enough in the 80's about those two little screws to get RIC to eliminate them (and return to a tail lift problem), I can't imagine how much people are going to whine about whatever new bridge/tail piece RIC might currently be working on. And likewise, I'm sure that any lever RIC could design to engage the mute would change the look of the tail enough to activate the whiners once again. RIC is between a rock and a hard place.

You want to try a simple mod that'll eliminate the worst thing about the bridges (not the tailpieces)? Drill the two indentations for the bridge Allen screws clear through to the wood and put in long Allen screws, the bridge stands up straight no matter how high you have it, that mod was done to my 79 mapleglo 4001 along with a wooden nut and the conversion varnish was taken off the neck during a refret before i bought the bass. This is one of the best sounding 4001's I've ever heard.

I also have a 1979 4001 MG that my wife found for me. It had this same MOD! My previous 4001JG was from 1972 had a soild (no holes through to the wood) tailpiece and I had thought that this was a Ric modification. Thanks for clearing that up!

That ain't no mod, guys! I have two '79's that came to me with the longer bridge height adjustment screws and the tail piece indents drilled straight through to the wood, and I've seen at least 5 other '79's that are the same way. RIC made them that way for a while in '79. The other interesting thing I've noticed in '79 (and late '78) is a batch of beige truss covers. I have two and I've seen probably 20 others. Its not faded, its not the result of smoke, they just weren't made in bright white.

[rickaddict]

It would also be nice if said saddle didn't rock back and forth on its grub screws as soon as string tension is slackened, making it nigh impossible to put the thing back in exactly the same position it came from - a fairly basic requirement, wouldn't you think?

The tech at my local music shop once gave me a good tip, Ken. All you have to do is make sure that the bridge is fully tipped toward the mute side of the tail piece. When you tighten the strings, they will hold the bridge there. Once your intonation is set, all you have to do whenever you change the strings again is make sure you tip that bridge forward and your intonation will probably not need further adjustment provided you use the same brand and gage of strings.